Drop Dead Gorgeous
by citrox
Summary: Post Dead & Gone, Sookie has several big surprises while Eric gathers his forces.
1. Chapter 1

DROP-DEAD GORGEOUS

Thanks to Charlaine Harris for creating most of the characters in this story.

CHAPTER 1

I've often heard "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger". Well, I'm no philosopher and I didn't go to college, so I don't know who said that, but he should try my life. I felt as weak as a kitten, and boy, had a lot of people been trying to kill me lately. Of course, I might say they weren't really people, but does that really make a difference? Okay, I hadn't invited anybody else to this pity party, so I was only entertaining myself here. I should just get myself out of bed and get on with it. I couldn't let Amelia down, and I owed it to Trey.

I hadn't been out of the house since the fairy war, not even to the grocery store. My face had been too bruised to show in town. Amelia had spread the story that I'd been in a car accident, and when a few visitors had come by to see how I was doing, she had put them off, saying I was napping.

Eric, or somebody, had driven my car into a tree or something to give it a big old dent to back up my story. My poor old Malibu had been a gift from my friend Tara. She had sold it to me for a dollar. I don't know what Eric had been thinking I would do for a car now. Maybe that he would buy me a new one? I was going to need to deal with that situation soon. As it was, when I had looked at my poor dead car outside the window, that had just made me burst into tears. My life had pretty much fallen into pieces. Well, Amelia would just have to drive today.

The funeral was scheduled for the afternoon, and I really had no idea what I would wear. The last funeral I'd attended had been for the Shreveport pack leader, Colonel Flood. His service had been an important event in the politics of the local were pack, so I'd borrowed an outfit from Tara so I would be dressed appropriately. I didn't think that was an option for today, since I couldn't very well borrow something I might bleed on, or that would fit too tightly. Just thinking about wearing a bra or underwear against all my stitches and healing cuts was more than I could imagine.

Not sure what to do, I figured I'd better enlist Amelia's help. I could hear her stomping around upstairs, probably cleaning something, to better handle the stress of the day. That's what she does when things get to her. She cleans. I might have tried that myself if I could do more than hobble around at a snail's pace. With that thought, I hauled my damaged body out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

When I finished washing up as well as I could, I took a good look at myself in the mirror. The circles under my eyes were finally going away, and the yellowing bruises were fading. I thought I might not frighten small children if I put on some make up and fixed up my hair. My eyes looked dull and listless, but I didn't know what anyone could do about that. I guess the darkness that had seeped into my soul was showing there.

"Snap out of it, Sookie!" I said out loud to myself, and walked out to the bottom of the stairs to call up to Amelia.

"Amelia? I really don't know what to do about clothes for today. Can you help me go through my closet and see what I can wear?"

Amelia's head popped over the railing and she looked down at me. "Are you sure you are up for this, hon?" she asked. "Maybe you should just let me send your regrets and you can stay in bed. I'm sure Jason would come sit with you. No one will think less of you for not being there."

"Amelia, I can't stand the thought that I wouldn't be there to say good-bye to Trey after all he went through for me. I don't want you to deal with this all on your own, either. I wouldn't feel right not to be there."

"Well, let's see what we can do about finding you something to wear", she said as she headed downstairs. "Everyone will have to just be understanding if you aren't at your best. They know you're healing, Sook."

Amelia had taken Trey's death hard, and I had worried she would decide to go back to New Orleans and I would be left alone again. But a few days after the whole ordeal, she'd become whirlwind Amelia again and had made me her project. I think she was just trying to get her mind off her grief, but I was sure glad to have her here to help me.

Jason wasn't much of a nurse, although he had been a better brother in the last week than he'd been in years. I guess he'd decided that he'd lost enough, and he didn't want to lose that last bit of family he had. I still didn't know how I felt about him or if I was still mad at my brother, but he was all I had in the way of family now, and I guess I would just have to put up with his ways.

Amelia found a charcoal gray tunic style top and some loose black flowing slacks that she thought would work for me, and not put too much pressure on my thighs and tummy, where the worst of the bites were still painful. The clothes were loose enough to hide the bandages. If I just wore a tank underneath, I could get away without a bra, although with my figure, I rarely left the house without one. I settled for some soft cotton panties, panty lines being the least of my problems.

There was no way I was going to try walking around in heels at this point, so I put on some black flats, a pretty necklace that had been my Gran's, and matching earrings. Amelia helped me get the top on; I still couldn't comfortably raise my arms over my head. She brushed out my hair and I left it down. I wasn't going to wow anyone, but no one would call the fashion police. I guess I was as put together as I was going to be. I tucked some tissues into my little black purse and sat down at the kitchen table to wait for Amelia to put on her finishing touches. I was worn out just getting dressed.

When we walked out of the door, the sun almost blinded me; I had been holed up in my bedroom so long. Usually I was so glad to be out in the sun, but leaving the house now made me fearful. I looked around the yard, focusing first on the tree line into my woods. That's where the fairies would be skulking, if they were still around. I guess they were all gone now, or most of them, the ones my great grandfather hadn't killed. Since the Brigants had won the war, I should be safe now, but I sure didn't feel safe. Amelia gave me her arm walking down the porch steps, and then helped me get settled into her car. I sighed and gave my crumpled up car a forlorn look as we headed out my gravel driveway.

The drive to Shreveport seemed to take forever, and if I hadn't been feeling a little dizzy and nauseous, I probably would have slept all the way there. Amelia was being awfully quiet although the thoughts in her brain were going a mile a minute. She was thinking maybe I should have stayed home in bed, and it would be all her fault if something happened to me while we were out and whether she shouldn't call Octavia and see if she could come and help at the house when she went to New Orleans to deal with the work on her house. She was wondering if Bob had found his family and whether she would ever hear from him again. She was trying hard not to think about Trey and how much she missed him. I pulled my attention away from Amelia and watched the trees go by along the highway. It was better not to think too much.

Members of the local were pack were milling around on the sidewalk outside of the church in Shreveport where the service was being held. Amelia pulled out front, got out of the car, and waved for Alcide to come help me get out of the car. I was embarrassed at the attention this drew, but I guess it would have been worse if I had fallen on my face getting myself out. I just had to suck it up and let people help me.

"You okay, Sookie?" Alcide asked. "We didn't expect to see you today. You've been through enough, you should be home in bed."

Alcide was the leader of the Shreveport wolf pack, and we had a history of sorts. Alcide looked great today, in a well-tailored gray suit and a crisp white shirt. Concern was plainly written on his face when he offered me his arm.

"I'm fine, Alcide, just a little tired from the drive. If I could just go in and sit down, I'll be just fine."

I wasn't sure that I was, really. I felt so dizzy and tired. I also didn't want to start crying out here in front of the church with everyone watching. The sorrow and grief I was feeling was almost overwhelming. I think Alcide must have sensed that I wasn't doing so well, so he took my arm, signaled Amelia that he had it under control, and steered me inside the church to a pew by the aisle. It was almost time for the service to start, so he made sure I was settled and went to sit up front right behind the family.

Amelia came in a few minutes later, and sat next to me. Tension was just humming through her. She took my hand, and maybe held it a little bit too tightly. We both focused our attention on the front of the church, the wooden coffin draped with flowers, and the whole Shreveport pack sitting respectfully waiting for the priest to start the service.

If you've ever been in a Catholic church, one of the first things you see is usually a big crucifix. Crosses are in just about every church of course, and I think they are supposed to represent a sacrifice made for mankind. In a strange way, it was a symbol of hope. Now, looking at the crucifix, I couldn't help but think about the death poor Crystal and Jason's baby. I thought about Arlene wanting God to strike the weres down. I thought about Claudine trying to become an angel. I didn't know if I could stand up to all the hate in the world but I would stand up where I could. I had been to a place where I had given up all hope and I didn't want to feel like that ever again.

I didn't take in much of the service. The priest got up and said some nice words about Trey, then asked if anyone would like to come up and speak. Alcide got up and talked about what a strong, brave and good man Trey had been, and how so many would miss him. I could see Trey's son up in the front, with his head down, and it made me think of myself at Gran's funeral, how numb I had been at the time, not really absorbing that she was really gone. I thought about Claudine and her unborn child, in the Summerland, wherever that was, with no service at all. I would miss her so much.

Amelia sat very still next to me. She was thinking she should have done something more to keep Trey and me safe and that her magic should have been able to save him somehow. The guilt and grief were tearing her up, and I had to put up my shields because I couldn't stand any more. If it weren't for me, we wouldn't be here now. But I guess really, I was a victim of the whole thing too. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty and I'd had enough of trying to analyze what I should have done differently. My guilt or Amelia's wasn't going to bring anyone back.

When the service was over, the mourners began to file out. Amelia and I stayed put, knowing that it would be slow walking for me to get back out to the car. As the pack members passed me, each one bowed his head in my direction. I could hear their thoughts; amazement that I had survived what Trey had not, shame that a "friend of the pack" had not been better protected, sorrow that one of their own, albeit a rogue, had met such a horrible and painful death. None of them blamed me for Trey's death, although I still blamed myself. Alcide bowed too, as he came to offer his arm to help me out of the church.

"Sookie, are you okay? You shouldn't have come today. It's too soon for you to be out of bed," Alcide said.

He seemed so distressed, as if he'd been somehow responsible for me being there. I had asked for the protection of the Shreveport pack and they had sent Trey. That hadn't been enough and maybe that was my fault for not telling Alcide what was really going on. Alcide felt guilty about it though. He thought if he had come himself, he could have kept me safe. I patted his hand. This wasn't his fault.

Alcide walked me out to the front of the church and waited with me while Amelia went to get the car.

"Thanks for your help," I told the were after he helped me get settled into the car, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll call you soon," I said as he closed the car door.

Amelia started the car and headed down the highway back to Bon Temps.

"Are you comfortable, Sook? We'll be home soon," Amelia said.

I could hear the strain in her voice. I knew her concern for me was genuine, and it was all that was keeping her from falling apart over losing Trey. I wanted to tell her not to worry, that I was fine. I wanted to console her too, to say something comforting, but I really wasn't feeling good. All I could do was ask her to pull over. I needed to throw up!

Amelia pulled over and I barely made it out of the car in time.

"Oh God, Sookie, you are really ill," Amelia said. "We need to get you home and call Dr. Ludwig".

She handed me a tissue to wipe my mouth and helped me back into the car.

"Don't fuss, Amelia," I reassured her. "I feel better now. I've just been feeling nauseous all day, since I woke up. Maybe I should have eaten something, but I just couldn't. I'll be fine when we get home. I just need to sleep a bit."

Amelia got back in the driver's seat and sped home to Bon Temps as I leaned my head against the door. I had thought I was healing, that I would be back to work soon and all of this would be over, but this trip out had sure done me in. Maybe I was being optimistic about how soon I would be well.

By the time we got home and in the door, all I could think about was my bed. Amelia insisted that I get into one of my favorite softly worn flannel nightgowns and I lay down with a sigh.

"Do we have any ginger ale, Amelia? My stomach is sure not feeling good."

Amelia rushed to the kitchen and came back with a ginger ale and some crackers. I took a few sips and that seemed to settle my stomach a bit. Laying my head back against the pillow, I welcomed sleep.

When I woke up a few hours later, I barely made it to the bathroom in time to throw up again. I felt very dizzy so I sat down on the bathroom floor, afraid to get up. The world was just spinning. Amelia came running in, saw me on the floor and rushed out to the kitchen. I could hear her calling someone, but I didn't even care at that point. I just rested my head against the bathroom wall and closed my eyes. I wasn't going anywhere!

When I opened my eyes again, I was looking right into the face of Dr. Ludwig. She didn't have to look down very far to me on the floor; she was such a tiny little thing. I always thought of her as a hobbit and had wanted to get a look at her feet to see if I was right. You just can't ask your doctor to take off her shoes though, can you?

"Well, it looks like you're not feeling too well tonight," she said.

I didn't need to call a doctor to know that much, I thought.

"Let's get you into bed and see what is going on. Do you think you can make it that far with the witch's help?"

"Yes, I think so," I replied.

Amelia reached down and braced me under my arms, and Dr. Ludwig reached her hand down to take mine, pulling me up to my feet. She was sure stronger than she looked. It took a minute for the world to stop spinning, but then I knew I would be okay to walk to the bed. I lay down and waited while Amelia fetched a little stool for the doctor, so she could be at a good height to examine me.

"I think I am okay now, Doctor", I told her. "I just got a little dizzy. I was so upset today, about the funeral and all, and I didn't eat. My stomach has been upset, but I think that's just nerves. I'm not used to being out yet. You didn't need to come. Really. I'll be fine."

I didn't want to see the doctor. I knew she would be checking my stitches, and I just didn't want to see what was underneath the bandages after an already stressful day. I still hadn't gotten a bill for being in the supe hospital either, and I was a little concerned about more doctor bills.

"You let me decide if you are alright," said the doctor in her no-nonsense way. She put her hand on my forehead, looked into my eyes and touched the pulse on my neck. "Pull up your gown and let's take a look at those bites. Have you had any more vampire blood? Where is your mate tonight?"

"I think he's at Fangtasia tonight. He said it might not be safe to keep feeding me blood," I replied. "He thought he might be giving me too much. I don't want to be turned!" I whimpered.

The thought of being turned by accident was a constant worry to me now that Eric had given me so much of his blood, even though without it, I would be in even worse shape than I was.

"I doubt that you could be turned if he drained you dry," Dr. Ludwig stated confidently. "You are not human, you know. No one exactly knows what you are, but that telepathy didn't come from your fairy blood."

I dropped my jaw and gaped at her. "Catching flies" my gran would have said, so I instantly shut my mouth. What did she mean, no one knew what I was? I was human with a little bit of fairy, that was all! And was it true that I couldn't be turned? Was that because of the fairy blood (or whatever kind of blood I had)?

Eric obviously didn't know, and he was one of the oldest vampires around. Of course, I had no idea how old Dr. Ludwig was, or what she was, for that matter. She could have been older than Eric. I wasn't about to ask her either. She was intimidating for such a small person and she would just ignore any question she didn't want to answer anyways.

"Let's just take a look and see what's going on", she said as she began to poke and prod. "How is the pain?"

"It's getting better every day. Only a few of the bigger places really hurt anymore, although the bruising has made me very stiff and sore, sort of all over. I was just dizzy and nauseous, that's all, maybe from riding in the car. We went to Trey's funeral in Shreveport".

"Yes, the witch told me you went to the were's funeral. It's too bad we couldn't save him, but not many have survived Lachlan and Nieve. Have you been eating? You need to be eating well to get your strength back."

"I have been. My brother and Sam have been bringing me food, and Amelia has been cooking some. I just couldn't eat today. I was so upset about the funeral, and my stomach was all upside down. I'll be fine tomorrow."

While I assured her I was being taken care of, she kept up with her exam. I made a point not to watch what she was doing. She had finished looking at the wounds and was holding her hands over my tummy with light pressure. It didn't hurt, but she hadn't done that before and I wondered what was up. She had a funny look of concentration on her face and I could feel a strange buzzing sort of energy coming from her hands.

"Well!" she said in a brisk manner. "I think we have found the reason for your nausea and dizziness." She looked at me with a very pleased expression. "I can feel that the spark has kindled and taken root. You are going to have a baby," she said matter-of-factly.

I couldn't believe that I had heard her correctly.

"What did you say? Oh no, that's impossible!" I shouted and scooted back so fast that I whacked my head on the headboard.

I could feel the memory returning of that dank, dark cabin and the leer on the fairies' faces. NO. I wouldn't think about that. The terror began to close in on me and I tried to block it out. I was not going to think about that. "Oh my god, this couldn't be happening to me," I thought. "What did I do to ever deserve this? Would the nightmare of it never end?"

"No, it can't be true! How can you know? It's not possible!" I said adamantly. "Oh my god! What will Eric do! No, I won't believe it!" I cried out in denial. But I guess I knew that it could be the truth.

"What won't you believe, My Lover?" I heard as I looked up and saw my big blond Viking lover standing in the doorway.

I felt the blood rush to my face, felt hot all over, closed my eyes and then just let the darkness take me as I passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

I drifted back to consciousness slowly, not really sure if I was awake or dreaming. I could hear them talking in the kitchen in low voices. I could feel the shock and wonder coming from Eric through our blood bond. I could feel his anger too, cold and vicious. It was an almost palpable thing. I began to shake uncontrollably. Surely I had just had a bad dream. I needed to calm down. I was awake now and it was over. I listened carefully and heard Eric get up from his chair.

"Why was I not told that this happened? Why was this kept from me? If I had only been there, to protect her from this." I had never heard such sadness in Eric's voice.

"Niall said you opened the bond fully in your direction to ease her suffering. Northman, he knew that you wouldn't be able to fight in that condition. But if you hadn't accepted so much of the pain yourself, she would not have survived it intact. I'm not sure why you couldn't feel this happening. Perhaps she knew that you were helping her through the bond, and she managed to shield you from this humiliation. I assumed that you would know everything that happened. She has hidden depths and power that she has not yet grown into or accepted. She may have been sparing you."

"Sparing me?" he cried. "Sparing me? If what I felt was only a fraction of what she suffered, I am still in awe that she retained her sanity. I cannot believe that she would spare me, when I wasn't there to rescue her from her tormentors. She called for me, and I wasn't able to come to her. I know she will never forgive me for that, and I can never forgive myself."

"You don't give her enough credit. You must talk to her about this. Explain to her how this bond works, if you even know yourself. No one has seen a bond of this strength before. There is no precedent that we know of."

"Sookie is awake, I will go to her," he said, in the low voice that usually warned that someone was about to get hurt.

"What will you do, Northman? Calm yourself and think carefully."

"Surely you do not think that I would hurt my bonded after all she has endured already! She is safe with me always. Those whom I would punish have escaped my vengeance by their death. We'll speak of this again tomorrow night. I must decide what needs to be done to keep her safe and healthy. Burnham will contact you about your fee. I suppose we should come to an arrangement for your services. I must go to Sookie".

"Go to her for now. I will discuss this further with you tomorrow, and you both will have questions."

His attention turned away from the doctor. I could feel him approaching my room, and I found myself sinking down under the covers, trying to make myself smaller. I didn't know what to feel. I wanted him to hold and comfort me, but I felt confused and ashamed and afraid. I closed my eyes tightly and started to shake again. How could Eric want me now, pregnant with a child fathered by a monster like Lachlan? Could I accept this situation? Did I even have a choice? I felt cold all over.

"Sookie. I know that you are awake. How are you feeling?"

I didn't think I could answer him. His voice was so quiet and soothing, all the anger leaving it as he looked down at me. I could feel the waves of comfort and acceptance that he was sending through the bond. I wanted to reach out for him, but I just couldn't, and I scooted away from him to the other side of the bed.

"Why do you pull away from me, My Lover?" he asked, as he carefully arranged himself beside me on the bed.

He put his arm under me and pulled me into him, gently stroking my hair and putting his face to my neck, inhaling my scent. I tensed to resist him, but I so badly needed the comfort he was offering. Would he still want me after this? Would his pride be able to accept what had happened to me, what was still happening? My tension echoed through him, humming through his body, in his blood.

"Sookie, Sookie, Sookie!" he whispered. "Can you ever forgive me? Can I ever make this up to you, my failure to protect you? Sookie, you have to forgive me, I can't take it, you are killing me!" he cried.

The anguish in his voice tore at my heart. The emotion surrounding us overwhelmed me, and I burst into tears.

"My beautiful lover, do not cry! I cannot bear it when you cry. What can I do to atone to you? I am so sorry."

"Just hold me, Eric. Don't ever let me go. I am so lost without you," I told him between sobs.

"No, Lover, I will never let you go. I could not live without you," he answered, and he held me until I had no more tears to cry.

We lay together for a long time. I had stopped shaking and stopped crying. Eric lay perfectly still, in the way only vampires can. I felt his gaze still upon me, and I couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"Eric?" I wanted him to say something, anything. I wanted to know what he was thinking.

He put his finger to my lips and said, "Hush, Lover. We will talk about this tomorrow when we have had time to absorb it all. Let's get you something to eat. Amelia has left you something in the kitchen. I can heat it up for you. I will amaze you with my domesticity!"

I just had to smile at that. I had seen Eric with a broom once, trying to sweep up broken glass. The dustpan had completely befuddled him. He did know how to heat up a True-Blood in the microwave, however, so perhaps he could heat up leftovers. He wasn't going to get a chance though. I could heat up my own supper. I was hungry now.

"Okay, sweetie, let's get up, and I will eat something. You must be hungry too."

Eric helped me ease out of bed, checking to see that I was steady on my feet, then headed to the kitchen while I went to the bathroom to see to my "human needs". When I got to the kitchen after washing up and running a washcloth over my face, I could see that Eric had set out fork, knife and glass, and was puzzling over a plate of food, wondering exactly what to do with it.

"Let me do that, Eric," I told him as I snatched up the plate and popped it in the microwave.

It looked like Amelia had left me some grilled chicken, dirty rice and green beans. There was sweet tea in the fridge. I got out a blood for Eric. He drank his out of the bottle, so he wouldn't need a glass. My dinner was warm in just a few minutes and I put it on the table and popped Eric's blood in to warm up. I was so hungry!

Eric sipped his drink while I wolfed down my dinner. I was so glad that it didn't seem to bother him when I ate human food. Some vamps just can't stand to watch humans eating. I don't know if it's because it reminds them of their own lost humanity or what. Bill had been like that.

I felt a little more stable after I had some food. Eric was watching me closely and at some point he nodded his head and looked a little less worried.

"You are looking better, Lover," he said. "You must remember to eat regularly. It is not good for you to go without your meals. You need your strength to heal."

He took another sip of his True-Blood and gave me a satisfied little smile.

"I like this time we have together, sharing our meal in the kitchen. It is like a real family, is it not?"

"Yes, Eric, I guess it is, at least a little bit, minus the whole blood thing!" I replied with a grin.

He laughed at that and finished his drink.

"I think we should do this more often, maybe every night," he said, "but we can talk about that later. How are you feeling? Would you walk with me, just a little ways, in your yard? I think you would benefit by a little fresh air and I can carry you back if you get tired. I would like to see you in the moonlight, my sweet. You are always so beautiful in the moonlight."

I swear. Eric could sweet talk a girl into just about anything. He was looking at me with those big, beautiful blue eyes, and how could I resist that.

"Okay," I said. "Let me get some shoes."

He jumped up at that, and before I knew it, he was back in the kitchen with some shoes and socks and was lifting my feet to put them on.

He took my arm, and we walked slowly out the back door, down the porch steps and towards the path into the cemetery. It was indeed a beautiful moonlit night, and I decided to put all worries and heartaches away for a little while and enjoy our little walk. Neither of us felt the need to say anything. There was much to discuss and think about, but it would all be there tomorrow.

When we had walked a little ways, Eric stopped and turned to me. He put his hand under my chin, bent down to me and placed the gentlest of kisses on my lips.

"Sookie, you are my life," he told me. "I love you, and I am in love with you and nothing can part us now. No matter what has happened or will happen, my heart, my blood and my life belong to you. But you are tired, my love. Let me put you to bed, and I will stay with you until it is time for my rest."

With that, he picked me up carefully and carried me into the house, tucked me in and lay down beside me. I nestled up close to him and feeling safe and loved, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

I woke to the afternoon sun streaming through my bedroom window. The clock by my bed told me it was after 1:00. I had slept deeply without the dreams or nightmares that had plagued my sleep lately. I got up carefully, a little stiff and sore still, but feeling better today. After putting on my robe, I walked barefoot into the bathroom, completed my morning rituals minus the shower, which I still needed help with, and headed into the kitchen.

Amelia had been up already, I could smell that most wonderful of all smells, morning coffee. One of the nice things about a roomie was having someone else that made the coffee so its aroma greeted you first thing. I noticed a little stack of notes propped up by the pot, and set them on the table as I poured a cup. My stomach felt a little queasy, so I popped a slice of bread in the toaster, thinking maybe having something light to eat might settle it. The light was blinking on the answering machine, but I thought I might just wait to see who had called until after I was a little more alert.

The first note was from Amelia. She was off to work for a few hours, would be stopping by the grocery store on the way home and would fix dinner for us both. I could text her with my shopping list if I needed anything. She had left some fruit and chicken salad in the fridge for my lunch.

"Please eat something today, roomie. We can talk about everything when I get home. I have plans! Your blond hunk is in the guest room. I will stock up on True Blood, too, so don't worry about that. Call me if you need me."

Okay, Amelia had headed back to her job at the insurance office today. She must be feeling better now that the funeral was over, and was getting back to her routine. I felt good about that.

The next note was from Eric. He must have found the pad next to the phone and torn off a sheet. The heading at the top of the page announced "A Note from Amelia". Eric had crossed out Amelia, and penciled in "Your Lover".

"Lover, I have availed myself of your hidey-hole for my rest." (Avail had been a word-of-the-day calendar word last week. Eric had taken to looking at it when he came over, and using the words in our conversations.) "Please eat something this morning, and call Dr. Ludwig if you are not well. Bobby Burnham will be dropping by with some things I might need. I told him to leave them on the front porch and not to disturb you. Call him if you need anything and he will be at your disposal. I will see you in a few short hours." He had signed it simply "E".

I guess I would have to buy my own calendar next year. Arlene had given me one for our Christmas gift exchange at Merlotte's for the last five years. I wondered how Arlene was doing, if she was home with her children or if anyone had bailed her out of jail yet. Who was taking care of Coby and Lisa? Well, I guess I'd just have to wonder. I had enough on my plate and I couldn't take in Arlene's problems too. I had thought she was my friend once, and I felt bad about that whole thing, but she'd made her bed and I guess she would have to lie in it now without my help.

Maybe I would call Sam later though, and ask him what he had heard. I hadn't talked to Sam for a few days. I knew he was short handed at the bar and was probably pretty busy. I was going to have to get back to work soon.

I had the money that the queen had owed me from Rhodes. It was sitting in the bank. It wouldn't last forever though. Amelia was paying a small amount for rent and helping with utilities and groceries. If I was careful, I could be off a little while longer and still keep enough for taxes, insurance and anything that came up with the house, except maybe another fire! What to do in the long run, what with the circumstances I was in, I couldn't really say. But I wasn't going there now. It would just have to play itself out.

After I ate my toast and had a few more sips of coffee, I pressed the play button on the answering machine. There was a message from Bobby Burnham confirming that he had left a bag on the porch for Eric and that I could call him if I needed anything. He was at my disposal. I was sure that annoyed him no end, but then again, that was not my problem.

The next message was from someone named Jessica, informing me that Dr. Ludwig would be by at 9:00 tonight to discuss my case, and that I should call anytime, all financial arrangements had been taken care of, so I was not to worry about that.

Well, I guess Mr. High-Handed had decided to manage my life for a while. Who else would be paying my medical bills? I guess, when I thought about it, I didn't really mind though, at least for now. I supposed we would have to have a talk about that though, before long. There was a lot to talk about, and lots to think about, but I couldn't go there quite yet.

The last message was from Mr. Cataliades. I was surprised to hear from him, and hoped that it wasn't going to be business for Felipe de Castro. Eric had told me that de Castro wanted me, so I was sure that I hadn't heard the last from the king. But I was definitely not ready to face any vamp shit right now. They would just have to call someone else.

The lawyer was sending Diantha by with some paperwork for me to look at. He would like to meet with me at my convenience. Perhaps I might prefer to have my bonded with me at the meeting. He hoped I was feeling better. None of this was urgent if I was not yet well enough for a meeting. Okay, then, it wasn't vamp business. Vamp business was always urgent it seemed.

I had barely finished my coffee when there was a knock on my back door. Looking out onto the porch I could see Diantha in my back yard. She was in her usual outrageous attire: yellow leggings, hot pink tube top and a filmy, almost translucent orange dress over the top. She was barefoot.

"Hello, Diantha," I called as I opened the door. "Won't you come in?"

"Nicetoseeya," she answered, and darted up to hand me a briefcase. "Uncle says to give you this, can't come in, running errands all day."

When Diantha said running, she meant it literally. How she could cover so much territory in bare feet was beyond me. Before I could reply, Diantha was speaking again in her singsong run together way.

"You don't look so good. Uncle says to get well, then call him. Left you a note in the case. They are all dead or gone now. Won't miss 'em. Guess you won't either."

With that last statement, she started to laugh.

"Thank you, Diantha. Tell Mr. Cataliades that I will call him after I look at this stuff."

"Okay, gotta run, places to be. Bye," she said and she was gone, running into the woods.

I brought the briefcase into the house and set it on the table. I remembered that Bobby Burnham had left something on the porch for Eric and went to retrieve what looked to be an overnight bag and an overnight express packet. I put those on the table next to the briefcase and thought about what to do next. I didn't want to look at what Mr. Cataliades had sent with Diantha. Supe business rarely meant good news, and I had had all the news I wanted last night. I still couldn't think about that yet, although I knew I would have to.

If people kept coming to my door today, I suppose I should think about whether I shouldn't get dressed again today. Maybe it was time to stop living in a bathrobe. I just didn't know that I had the energy for that yet. It would be nice to have a shower, but I was still a little nervous about the bandages and whether I could change them by myself if I got them wet. I could ask Amelia to help me with that again when she got home from work. My stomach was feeling a little queasy again, and I felt a little unsteady on my feet. Really, what I wanted to do was just go back to bed, so that is what I did.

I woke up a few hours later and could see that the sun had set already. I had slept most of the day, although I didn't feel rested. Amelia was humming to herself in the kitchen where I suppose she was fixing supper. Eric must have been on his cell phone in the living room. He sounded exasperated and I heard a sharp "Pam!" and a low growl. I guess he was dealing with some problem at Fangtasia.

I wasn't ready to get up, although I needed the bathroom. I knew that tonight we would have to discuss this whole thing, and that Dr. Ludwig would be coming in a few hours. Last night I hadn't believed what she was telling me, but I knew in my heart that it was true. I had been trying to bury what had happened to me but it was out in the open for all to see now.

Breandon and his assassins had despised humans. I was sure that they would never consider taking a human for a lover, or taking the chance that they would impregnate one. I remembered how they had called Crystal and Jason's baby an abomination, and had been glad that they had murdered that poor woman and her innocent unborn child.

I'm sure Lachlan hadn't really wanted my body; it had been an act of anger and aggression. I was also sure that he hadn't really expected me to survive, so he would never consider that there could be a child. He had wanted to humiliate and intimidate me as part of the whole process of torture. He could throw it in Niall's face, that he had had Niall's great granddaughter. They had planned to use me to bargain with Niall to surrender, although on some level I knew that they would have killed me no matter what if Bill and Niall hadn't killed them first.

So this child was a child conceived in an act of hate, not love. But it was an innocent child, nonetheless. I thought of Quinn, and his sister who had been born after his mother had been raped. His mother had let go of her hold on the world, and had left Quinn to raise Franny and deal with a crazed parent. Well, I wasn't going to go that route, and there was no one to look after this child if I didn't.

I had been raped and I had to deal with that, no matter how much I had tried to put it out of my mind. Had I managed to shield that knowledge even from Eric through the bond? From the conversation I had overheard last night, I guess he hadn't known about it. I wished he didn't have to know about it now. With that thought, I could feel my face burning, and I wanted to throw the covers up over my head and bury myself.

Eric was such an old soul in so many ways. I wasn't sure how he would feel about this. He had seemed so calm and caring last night, but he was so possessive of me. And, of course, he would never have considered that a child would be thrown into the package when he bonded with me. What would I do now? I was coming to realize that I didn't want to live without Eric, but would he stick around for damaged goods and crying babies? Well, I was getting good and worked up now, and the tears began to flow down my face. I got up, walked into the bathroom, locked the door and settled down onto the floor for a good cry.

Of course, Eric came knocking as soon as he heard me get up.

"My Lover, are you alright? Let me in, Sookie," he called through the door.

"Go away, Eric," I replied, not sure if I was ready to see him yet.

"Lover, I can hear you crying. Although I will be glad to acquire a replacement, I think you would prefer it if I didn't break your door down. Let me in, Sookie."

There was no anger in his voice, only a gentle concern. Knowing he wouldn't think twice about following through on his threat, I got up and opened up the door. He walked toward me slowly and drew me into his arms.

"Don't cry, dearest," he said softly. "I can't take it when you cry. Everything will be all right now. I am here and will see to your every need. There is no reason for tears."

He nestled his head against mine, kissing first my hair, then my ears, and then my neck, inhaling deeply.

"I am intoxicated by your scent, My Lover," he said, and then pulled his head back and looked at me sternly. "Sookie, why do you lock yourself in here? You look very pale. Are you alright?"

"Oh, Eric," I said. "I think I am going to throw up!"

And that's exactly what I did, barely making it to the toilet in time. Eric hovered behind me, looking a little concerned and very uncertain, as if he thought he should be doing something, but didn't know what to do.

"Shall I call Amelia to come in, Sookie? Or shall I phone Dr. Ludwig?"

He reached for a washcloth next to the sink, dampened it and handed it to me.

"It's okay, Eric, I feel better now. I think this is normal under the circumstances."

I wiped my mouth and looked up at him. I felt that I had to reassure him; it was so rare to see Eric when he didn't wear a look of utter confidence in himself.

"Let me clean up a bit, and I will come out in a minute."

"Do you need assistance? What can I do?" he offered.

"No, I just want to brush my teeth and wash my face and I'll be good as new. Why don't you wait for me in the kitchen? I'll be right out. I had planned to ask Amelia to help me with the shower, but I think I better wait a bit for that, until my stomach settles a bit. Maybe you could see if there is a ginger ale or something in the kitchen for me?"

"I will help you with your shower whenever you are ready, Lover," he said with a leer. "It has been a long time since we have shared a shower together, I have missed that."

"Well, as you know, Eric, I have stitches, so don't get your hopes up for anything like that just yet," I responded.

"As to that, Dr. Ludwig will probably take your stitches out tonight, and of course, I planned on nothing more than getting you clean. I can wait for anything else until you are healed and ready for more. I will ask Amelia if there is a ginger ale for you while you freshen up."

He turned around to head to the kitchen and I took care of my "human needs", brushed my teeth, washed my face and followed him.

As I walked into the kitchen, I realized just how hungry I was. Maybe it was the smell of the food Amelia had been preparing, spaghetti (no garlic), salad and bread. I sat down at the table and Amelia passed me a plate as Eric handed me a glass of ginger ale.

"How are you feeling, Sookie?" asked Amelia. "Eric said your stomach was not too good, but really you should eat something. You didn't eat the lunch I left for you."

"Thanks, Amelia. I'm feeling better now and yes, I am ready to eat something. Everything smells so good! How was your first day back at the office?"

"Oh, not too bad. It felt good to get back to work. It's time to rejoin the world again and quit sulking. Life goes on. I hope you don't mind that I left you alone today. I figured you would probably sleep most of the day, since you were up almost all night."

"Oh no, I don't mind, and I did sleep most of the day. I got up for a while though and had a visitor."

"Who came to see you today, Lover, besides Bobby Burnham? I saw that he left my things. He didn't disturb you, did he?" asked Eric.

"I wouldn't have even know he was here if I hadn't seen your note, Eric. I don't think he even knocked. Diantha came to see me today, with something from Mr. Cataliades."

"Ah," said Eric, knowingly. "That is the briefcase that was on the table."

Eric rarely missed anything new that came into my house.

"Do you know what it is, Eric? I haven't looked at it yet. I was just too tired today to deal with anything. I figured it wasn't urgent since he left me a message to that effect. What is it?"

"I may have an idea what the case contains. Some business matters that we can look at later, nothing urgent as you said. Eat your dinner, Sookie, and then perhaps you will want to clean up before the doctor arrives. She will be here at 9, I believe?"

"Yes, I got a message from her today too. Her assistant I guess, someone named Jessica, said that financial arrangements were already taken care of. Do you want to explain that, Eric?"

"We can discuss that later, Sookie, after the doctor has left. Provisions have been made and it is nothing that will distress you. I promise. Enjoy your dinner. The witch will be disappointed if the meal she has prepared for you grows cold while you fret."

"Okay, mister, but I think there will be some explaining to do."

"No doubt," he responded with an unconcerned grin.

I was hungry so I started to dig in. Amelia was eating too, looking more cheerful than she had since Trey died. I didn't want to spoil anything with more questions. Eric was drinking a True Blood and he was watching me eat with an approving look. I guess Amelia had remembered to stock up on the blood supply. Again I felt thankful that it didn't bother Eric to see me eat human food. It was nice to have him at the table for the second night in a row. It made me almost feel like I had a family.

After I had finished my supper and Eric had finished his drink, I headed into the bedroom to get some clothes to put on after my shower. Amelia said she would clean up the dinner dishes and then was heading to her room to do some studying. She was still trying to work on spells against fairies, although I had told her about the portals being closed. Of course, no one knew how many fairies had remained behind, but there was no reason to believe that those that stayed in this realm were going to be coming after me. It made her feel better to be prepared, I guess. I just couldn't think about it too much right now.

I thought I would follow through with my earlier plan to actually get out of my nightclothes today, so I pulled out a soft old t-shirt and some sweats. Not elegant, but it was a step up from a nightgown. I didn't bother with a bra, but laid out some soft cotton panties. Eric just sat on the bed and watched me, making no comment until I glanced his way to let him know I was ready for the shower.

I still wasn't very steady on my feet for long periods, so Amelia had been keeping an eye on me when I washed up. I had been embarrassed at first about the whole thing, but then I just gave in, because it felt so good to be clean, and I knew if I fell in a heap in the shower, I would probably regret my shyness. I had no worries about Eric seeing me naked, he had seen every inch of me. Some of my best memories of life involved Eric and the shower. I didn't think tonight was going to be memorable of course, but it was nice to think about.

Eric helped me get my nightgown over my head and then helped me to tape the plastic coverings over my bandages the way the nurse had shown me. He reached in and turned on the faucet and then proceeded to take off his own clothes, tossing everything onto the floor. He took my arm and helped me in, then began to gently wash me, taking his time lathering my shoulders, one of the only parts of me that wasn't bruised.

His hands felt so good, stroking softly, being so careful not to hurt me, I almost wished he wouldn't be quite so careful. Better not to start anything that I wasn't ready to finish though, I thought. He reached for the shampoo and had me wet my hair. Then he washed it and while I rinsed out the soap, he shampooed his own. I just loved the way his chest muscles moved when he raised his arms above his head. I guess I must be getting stronger since I could feel my libido waking up at the sight of him.

"Lover, I can see a glint in your pretty eyes. Do you like what you see?" he asked as he winked at me.

"Oh yeah," I responded, "and if I wasn't such a mess, I would just show you how much I liked it!"

He laughed at that and said, "It will not be long before I take you up on that promise, Lover, but not tonight."

"Soon," I promised.

He gave me a big smile of anticipation and I laughed too. Then he reached down to turn off the water, grabbed a towel and began drying me off gently.

"Come, Lover, let's get you dressed in your finery before the doctor arrives. I suppose I should put on some clothes too, although I'm rather enjoying the way you look at me. However, I might not enjoy the looks I will get from Dr. Ludwig."

I laughed again, and let him help me into my clothes. He slipped into a pair of jeans (commando, I noticed) and a "This blood's for you" t-shirt. Setting me on the bed, he took my brush off the dresser and combed out first my hair, then his own. He gave me his arm and we headed into the kitchen, arriving just as the doctor popped in.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Dr. Ludwig always just "showed up". She didn't quite "pop" in the way the fairies did, but you never really noticed her arrival either. I wondered again what exactly she was; she looked sort of like a hobbit. She was obviously not human, but I hadn't met anyone else quite like her. Eric said he thought she was one of "The Others", people from another dimension, like the Britlingens, but he had never met anyone else quite like her either.

All of the supes treated Dr. Ludwig with great respect, and I didn't know if that was because they feared some power she might have over them, or if they just didn't want to piss off someone whom they might need to call on when they were injured or dying. Gran would have rolled over in her grave if I ever treated a doctor with less than respect, so of course I would have been courteous under any circumstances. I asked the doctor if I could offer her something to drink and she declined, gave a curt nod to Eric and then directed me to sit down at the table.

"Now girl, we have much to discuss and I am sure you and the vampire will have questions. I will tell you what I know, and what I can guess and we'll go from there. First, how have you been feeling today? Still having nausea? Have you eaten?"

I answered her questions, and then waited nervously to see what she had to say.

"It is not common for fairies and humans to interbreed, and rarely successful, which is why there are so few humans with fey blood. Your family has a very strong fey for an ancestor, the Prince Niall. Although you have only a small amount of fairy blood, it is enough to attract supernatural creatures to you, which is why your grandfather kept you hidden. Some fey did not care for humans to breed into their line, and often, the offspring would not survive. Whole families would be wiped out, in what would appear to be a natural disaster. Your great grandfather went to war over this issue, so you know about this."

"Niall may have told you that telepathy is not a fey trait, in his line at least. It is a very rare gift among some of the races that we call "The Others", those that have come here from other worlds or dimensions that we know little about. It is sometimes a gift that appears in demons, although even less often than in those of fairy. It is often passed down in a family, although sometimes it passes over, as it did in your line."

"Niall believed that someone in your family was of another kind, and that blood mixed with even the small amount of fairy blood that you have from your father, may be why you have this gift. Certainly something about you has drawn the attention of vampires and weres. That attraction may also be one of your gifts, although you might see it as a curse. Niall thought that as you grew older, other gifts might become apparent, such as superior strength and longevity, possibly special sight such as psychics and seers possess. Those gifts will manifest or they will not, there is no foretelling. Your child, however, will have not only your blood but those of the fairy Lachlan."

I cringed when I heard that name, and Eric moved a little closer to me, moving his hand to my shoulder. He could no doubt feel my tension. I could feel his curiosity and attention.

"If this child will be mostly fairy, won't he or she be in danger from vampires?" I asked, the fear of this idea making my voice quaver.

"I have thought about that and I think this will not be a problem. Only hours after this child's conception, Eric was there giving you his blood, and you had a very strong blood bond with him already. I think this will influence what this child becomes. Also, many in your great grandfather's line can mask their scent from vampires, and the child might also be capable of this. I think if you and your bonded continue to exchange blood regularly while the child is in the womb, that he will be safe from that threat, although he will no doubt be attractive to all supes, as you are."

"But is it safe to continue to exchange blood so often?" asked Eric. "Sookie does not want to be turned, and I would respect that wish."

"Oh, I think Sookie cannot be turned at this point. Niall agreed with me on this point. As often as she has had your blood, do you not wonder that you still cannot influence her to do your bidding? You can persuade her, perhaps, but you cannot compel her when she goes against your wishes. Many races can resist turning, among them are most of the fey world. They are also not subject to your glamour, as Sookie is not. Niall believed that even though Sookie has only a small amount of fey blood, it has been dominant in her. We were never sure why this did not happen with her brother, who has the same lineage, but these things cannot always be predicted. Magic has a way of its own."

"What about Hadley?" I blurted out. The queen herself had turned Hadley, and she was my cousin.

"The essential spark of your gift was missing in Hadley. She was unable to resist vampire glamour," answered the doctor. "I also think it is significant that she had wanted to be a vampire. Most vampires in the past were turned without their consent, as you know. Perhaps if you were to give your consent, of your own free will, the thing could be accomplished. Without that consent I truly believe it would be impossible."

My mind turned to Hunter. He had the "essential spark" too, and he was Hadley's son. But I wasn't going to mention him. No one knew that Hunter was a telepath and he was safer if that knowledge did not get out. Then there was the whole assumption that my bonded would be around to exchange blood. He might have something to say about that. He had ended up with me attached to him, I understood that, but he hadn't bargained for a child, especially some crazy fairy's child.

"You talk about this as if you assume that Eric will be around the whole time I am pregnant, but surely he may choose to leave. It's not his child, after all."

I lowered my head with this statement, first looking at the floor, then squeezing my eyes shut so no tears could fall. The thought that Eric would ever not be a part of my life was painful at some very deep level. My head popped back up when Eric slammed his fist on the table to get my attention.

"Who will say to me that this is not my child? Of course it is my child. Any child of your loins would be my child. You are my bonded, my wife! I could never deny a child of yours as one of my own, Sookie! What nonsense is this? And where else would I be but at your side while you carry this child. I am his or her protector, as I am yours."

Eric looked at me with an angry expression, as if I had insulted him.

"Calm down, vampire! You are frightening the child, for that is what she is next to you. You must explain these things to her. How do you expect her to understand if you don't tell her? Why should she know the ways of the vampire, when the rest of the supernatural world can barely comprehend them?"

Dr. Ludwig took my hand as she continued to speak. "Sookie, child, you must understand that your bonded could not leave you now even if he wanted to, nor you him. Your bond is permanent and can only be broken by death. Even then, it is a question whether the mate would survive the breaking of the bond."

"So Eric is forced to accept this child, whether he wants to or not?"

I thought I could not get any more miserable, but this brought the whole thing down to a new level of misery. Eric was shackled to me, and now to this baby? He didn't really have a choice. Of course, I guess I didn't either. What a nightmare.

"Sookie. Do you think I would willingly have cemented this bond if I were not willing to be with you? I already could not stand to be away from you before the bond was fully developed. As for the child, I know that I will never be able to father a child. At first I was shocked at the idea that a vampire might have a child, but I am growing to like the idea. I believe that the child will be part of our bond, and will truly be my son or daughter. I see this as a great blessing, not something that I am forced into. And I know, although you have not said it, that you wanted children. This has not turned out how you envisioned your life, but it is the hand we have been dealt, and I think we will make the best of it. Our child will be an exceptional child."

He said this with such pride and almost delight in his voice that I actually believed him, even if he only felt that way because of the blood bond.

Of course, no one had ever asked if I had been willing to have the bond, but then I guess it was a little late to be belaboring that issue. I had had enough angst over that. I needed to just accept it for what it was, as I had accepted Eric and grown to love him. I was trying to take this all in, the permanence of the bond, Eric's willingness to raise a child, the possibility that I was even less human than I thought I was. I didn't know how to feel about it all.

While I was mulling all of this over, Eric leaned even closer to me and stroked my hair in a soothing manner.

Dr. Ludwig sat with her usual dour expression, waiting to see if the emotional scene was finished before she said, "Let's take a look at your stitches, I think it is time to take them out. Northman should feed you his blood again tonight to help with the scarring, and he may feed from you if you like. It will not hurt the infant if you eat nutritious meals. I think his blood will help the child grow strong."

The doctor followed me into my room, and Eric helped me to get my clothes off, leering all the while. I didn't bother to be worried about being naked in front of Dr. Ludwig either. She had pretty much seen all of me too when I had been bleeding and unconscious. There were a few too many people who had seen me in that state for my liking. The doctor carefully removed the last remaining bandages, took out a small scissor from her bag and snipped out the stitches on my legs and tummy. Eric held my hand and patted me, murmuring comforting words into my ears, but it didn't really hurt all that much. I had a feeling it would hurt a lot less now that the stitches wouldn't be pulling every time I moved.

"I think we can leave these uncovered for now. Wear loose clothing and keep the sites very clean for a few days and they should be fine. Don't forget to take some of Northman's blood tonight," she reminded me, as if Eric would forget something like that!

"I will leave the two of you to discuss this. I have other patients to see. Sookie, you must eat well and often and call me if you have questions. You may have some nausea and a little dizziness in the first three months. I expect you will be very tired. Niall had arranged for my services before he left this world, so I am on retainer to you. Just think of it as medical insurance. I will have some information dropped off for you on what you should be eating, weight gain and things you might expect. I would expect that this pregnancy will go much like any human pregnancy, although perhaps a little shorter, since fey do not gestate quite as long, usually only seven months."

"Northman, we will have to discuss how to handle this situation after it becomes obvious to the rest of the world. For now, I think we should keep it to ourselves and only tell those that absolutely must know. I suppose you will feel that you must tell your king, but de Castro is not one to be trusted, so I would advise that you hold off until I have talked to those that may have more authority than he. There is no point in getting into a situation where heads will roll if it can be avoided. Sookie, call anytime, you have my number, someone will get back to you right away."

And with that, she was gone. Eric didn't waste any time popping up on the bed next to me.

It felt so good to have Eric lying beside me. He stroked my arm casually and gazed hungrily down the length of my body. I wasn't much to look at these days, still bruised and with so many scars. Most of the worst places had filled in so it wasn't as frightening as it had been a week before, but my skin would never be the same. I hadn't shaved for a while either, not being able to get a razor anywhere near all the damage, even if I had had the energy to do it. I was getting pretty hairy. My face must have shown my sorrow for all I had lost, but Eric was having none of that.

"My Lover, you are so beautiful and you look so much better without those ugly stitches. You are still a little colorful, but those bruises will be gone in no time."

I had to smile at his use of the word colorful. I guess you could call it that. He moved his hand slowly up to my neck, pulling back my hair, and scooted closer. I could see the hunger in his eyes, for my body and my blood. It made me feel better, that he still wanted me as damaged as I was. It was so hard for me to see beyond the scars. I cringed as I remembered the knife that had made those cuts.

"Sookie, don't think of that. Think of this, " he whispered as he laid his lips along my neck, kissing lightly from my neck to lips.

I am sure that Eric must be the greatest kisser on earth. Just the thought of his kisses could make me want him. He kissed me for a while and I could feel his arousal as he snuggled closer and closer. His fangs dropped down, and I ran my tongue over them. I wanted him so badly, but I knew my body was not up for that yet.

"Lover, let me feed you," he crooned. "Let me taste you, I am so hungry for your sweet blood. I will not hurt you. I crave the feel of your mouth sucking me, consuming me. You are so intoxicating."

He moved himself behind me, making sure I was comfortable. Wrapping his arms carefully around me, he just buried his head in my hair for a minute. I could feel his desire pressed against my back and my whole body responded, flushing with pleasure at his proximity.

"Bite me, Sookie," he whispered, as he held his wrist to my mouth. And I did.

I had grown accustomed to the taste of his blood and it was like pure sex pouring down my throat. I could feel my own wetness and the heat of my arousal between my legs. He pressed himself tighter against me and I heard a deep growl escape his throat, and then, he bit. I felt the pressure quickly building up until I cried out with pleasure. Eric pressed tighter and tighter against my back, and I heard his low moan as he had his own release.

He stopped sucking on my shoulder, and lazily licked the bites to close the wounds. I could feel his spirit relaxing through the bond as he leaned back into the pillows, still holding me against him and murmuring into my ear. All the worries in the world went away as I lay against him. He had said it to me once; it seemed like so long ago now, although I knew it hadn't been long at all. This is perfect, this is right.

We lay together for a while, enjoying the moment. He surprised me when out of the blue, he laughed!

"Ah, Sookie," he said joyfully. "Do you think he will call me Father or Papa?"

My eyes flew open and I was shocked speechless. Was this my vampire in bed with me? I couldn't help but laugh with him.

"Well, Dad, what makes you so sure it will be a boy? It could be a girl, you know."

"Boy, girl, does it matter, Sookie? I can't believe this is happening. What a gift you are to me! Who else would give me such a gift as a son or daughter? And he will look just like you, I am sure! He will be beautiful!"

"Don't get set on a boy, Eric, I don't want you to be disappointed," I said.

I thought to myself. Here I was, pregnant from rape by a psychotic fairy assassin, and he called it my gift to him? I would never have expected that reaction. I didn't feel that I had really had time to react at all yet, it still felt unreal to me, but I had to laugh at his excitement. It sure beat crying over what now couldn't be helped. And he was right. A child was a gift, no matter the circumstances. How could it be anything else?

He kissed the top of my head before he scooted out from behind me.

"Come, dearest one, I will clean you, and then we should go and see what Mr. Cataliades has left for you. We shouldn't leave that unattended, since it may be important. After that is taken care of, I have a surprise for you."

"Eric, what have you done now? You know I don't always like surprises," I said hesitantly.

"I am hoping you will like this one, dear heart, especially now following such joyful news about our child."

I was so touched to hear him call the baby "our child" that I burst into tears again.

"Oh no you don't," exclaimed Eric. "We are having no tears!" He reached over and wiped away my tears and popped his finger into his mouth. "Although they are a tasty dessert, no more of that. Come, Lover, let's clean up and deal with business. I am anxious to see how you like my surprise."

He said that with such good cheer and with so much happiness in his voice, that I didn't argue. I let him wash me for the second time that night and help me into a clean, soft nightie. He dried himself off and slipped into his jeans and began to head for the kitchen.

"Eric, if you don't put on a shirt, I don't think I will be able to keep my mind on business," I told him. He smirked at that, wagged his eyebrows and picked up his shirt from where it had landed on the floor earlier.

"Yes, madam, your wish is my command." He slipped the shirt on over his beautiful rippled chest and I followed him into the kitchen.

The case from Mr. Cataliades was sitting on one of the chairs. Eric hoisted it onto the table and opened it up.

"What is in it, Eric?" I asked.

"It looks mostly like spreadsheets and business statements, dear one, but there is an envelope on top here, that I am sure will explain everything."

He handed me the envelope, addressed to Ms. Stackhouse. Inside was a letter, handwritten and also addressed to me. My eyes got bigger and bigger with shock as I read it aloud to Eric.

My Dear Ms. Stackhouse,

I hope this finds you well and healing from your injuries. I was very sorry to hear about the discomfort that the incident caused you. (Incident, I thought? A little more than an incident I would call it!)

I have been engaged by your great grandfather Niall Brigant to oversee the dispersal of his various business holdings after he departs this world. As you may know by now, the portals to the world of fairy have been closed, with no intention of re-opening in the foreseeable future. As many of his business entities are not portable between worlds, and with his sincere desire to provide for your future, Mr. Brigant has asked me to arrange the dispersal of those assets.

I have enclosed summaries of the businesses and assets that will revert to you upon receipt of your signature on the enclosed forms. You may retain your own counsel to review these documents or I would be glad to go through them with you. I suggest that you will need to engage an accountant, at the least, to help you deal with this estate, as it is complicated and you appear to be inexperienced in the world of business. I would also personally suggest that you consult with your bonded, Eric Northman, before you choose representation or counsel. I have handled many business transactions for Mr. Northman and I know that he is an astute and successful businessmen. His advice would be invaluable.

I have also enclosed a separate set of documents that represent the holdings of Claude and Claudine Crane, your cousins. Although their estates are considerably smaller, they are not unsubstantial. There are separate sets of forms for each of these estates that will require your signature.

There are also several items of a more sensitive nature, which I will discuss with you when we can meet personally.

As you will see as you peruse these documents, you have been left a sizeable estate, and will now be a wealthy woman. I hope this allows you to follow pursuits that otherwise may have been denied you.

Mr. Brigant has also funded a trust that will benefit your brother, Jason Stackhouse. He felt that this trust would be better handled by a third-party who would have some control over the dispersal of funds. He has asked me to handle this responsibility personally. The trust represents a substantial sum that should provide an increased level of comfort for your brother for the rest of his life. I understand that Mr. Brigant and Mr. Stackhouse did not enjoy the same relationship that you enjoyed with your great grandfather. I thought that the news of this inheritance would be better received from his sister. I have enclosed a letter that you may give to Jason after you have explained the situation to him. He should then contact me, and I will arrange for a meeting so he may sign the required documents and receive disbursements from the trust.

It has always been my sincere pleasure to be of service to you, Ms. Stackhouse, and I hope to continue our relationship in the future.

My fondest regards,

Cataliades

As I set the letter down on the table, Eric looked at me with a big smile on his face. I was completely stunned! Not only that they had designated me as their heir, but with the realization that I would never see any of them again.

"Oh my god, Eric, they are really gone! Poor Claudine," I sobbed, tears streaking down my face again. I just couldn't seem to stop crying today. Eric got up and wrapped his arms around me and held me while I cried.

When I got to the hiccupping stage, he went back to his chair and sat down. "Are you feeling okay, Lover? Can I get you anything?"

"I think I am just a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, Eric. I feel like the last few days have just been a dream and I will wake up and my life will be back. So much has happened."

"It has been a lot for you to take in, Sookie. I can imagine that it would seem a little unreal. I, however, think that you will welcome all of these changes once you are used to the idea. Shall we just peak a little and see how rich you really are, Lover? Perhaps that might return the smile to your face," he said as he rifled through the paperwork. Even his eyebrows went up and he looked at me with surprise on his face.

"Don't tell me now, Eric. I think it is better if I just wait until tomorrow after I have had time to think about it. Is it very much?" I could see he was dying to tell me.

"If that is what you want, Lover, we will just close this up and you can look at it tomorrow at your leisure. I would be glad to go through it with you when you are ready. I think you would be wise to retain Cataliades' services to help you manage this. He is an honest and honorable man, even though he is part demon. Let me just say this though, Lover. There is now no reason on earth for you not to replace that hideous car you drive!"

That got me to smiling again. Eric had been dying to buy me a car and repeatedly commented on how horrid my old Malibu was. Even I had had to admit, it had seen better days. I am sure that my vampire had enjoyed participating in its final death.

"Well, Eric," I said, "what is your surprise?"

"Ha!" he answered. "I think I will save my surprise for tomorrow night. You have had enough surprises for one day, don't you think?"

I had to agree with him, I was feeling a little tired and more than a little bit hungry. As if reading my mind, Eric opened the refrigerator door, got a True Blood out for himself and asked, "What can I get you to eat, Sookie? You really should eat something. Would you like another ginger ale or some sweet tea?"

Looking at Eric's gorgeous butt, clad in his tight-fitting blue jeans as he leaned down to peer into the fridge, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

I settled on some of the chicken salad that Amelia had left for the lunch I never ate. After I ate, and Eric had finished his drink, we went back to my room.

"Will you stay here tonight, Eric?" I asked.

"Kjære, I think I had better return to Shreveport before my rest and make an appearance at Fangtasia for a while tomorrow evening. I am afraid Pam will have my head if I continue to ignore her. Although she is fully capable of running the place by herself, there is always paperwork that she feels I must look at and approve. If you have no objections, I would like to share our news with her. Pam is, after all, a member of our little family, don't you agree?"

My heart warmed when he called us a family. A family is what I had wanted most of all and this man (vampire) was offering it to me. I couldn't believe that I had ever doubted his love and devotion to me, or believed that all we had together was caused by the blood bond.

"Yes, Pam is a member of our family," I agreed, smiling. "Since she is your child, I guess she will be getting a baby sister or brother."

I thought about Pam talking about how fun it would be to go to a baby shower. I still had problems with that image, but perhaps she would get her chance after all.

"We have many plans to make, but there is time yet, and Pam will no doubt be an instrumental part of whatever we do. Let me tuck you into bed now, so you can rest up. You have had a long day. I will stay with you a while, then return tomorrow after my business is concluded. Your witch will be here. You must rest and eat well tomorrow so you will finish healing. I am afraid your poor body will be overcome by all of this, and you know how I treasure your beautiful body," he said with a leer.

I climbed into bed. Eric kissed me and then held me in his big strong arms until I drifted into the arms of slumber.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

When I woke up I realized it was only 11:00, so I had a lot of time until Eric would return. Amelia would be at work, so I was on my own if I wanted a shower. I was still a little stiff, but I felt much better since I'd had Eric's blood the night before. I was still not sure about continuing with the blood exchanges, but I had to assume that Dr. Ludwig knew more about this than I did, and apparently more than Eric. I didn't think she would recommend something that would endanger the child. I rested my hands against my tummy for a minute, and thought about what this all meant and all the changes that were headed my way.

I wondered what gran would say about it all. I couldn't imagine that she wouldn't be accepting of Eric if he were the man that I loved. She had thought of Bill as an acceptable suitor after all. Of course, she had managed to conceive her children in a very unconventional mode, an affair with a half-fairy. I still found that hard to imagine, although I knew now that it had happened. I think she would be glad to see me with a child, although the circumstances would have grieved her. Also, Gran was from the era when women just didn't have children without marriage first, so I think she would have been a little embarrassed by my single status.

I know that the vampires considered Eric and me to be have been married by the blood exchange with a ceremonial knife. I didn't know if I really considered that a wedding though. The people of Bon Temps would definitely not see it that way. Well, I guess I wouldn't be the first girl to show up with a baby and no husband. Everyone would know that Eric couldn't father a child, so there would be lots of speculation by the local populace. I hated to be the subject of more gossip, but it couldn't be helped, and this too shall pass, as gran would say.

I decided to get up and see if Amelia had left me any coffee. Of course, the minute I stood up, the nausea hit me, and off I went to the bathroom, as quick as could be, barely making it in time. After taking a few minutes on the bathroom floor for my stomach to settle, and giving my teeth a good brushing, I figured I better take my shower before I chanced the coffee. Maybe I should switch to tea in the mornings, but I just didn't know if I could function without my coffee. Just the smell alone was reason to get up most mornings. Okay, shower first, then I would see about coffee and breakfast.

Deciding that reaching up to wash my hair might still be a challenge, I decided to just wash the rest of me. I turned on the shower, climbed carefully into the tub and washed up as well as I could, being extra careful with the spots that were still sore. Even my scars looked a little less noticeable today. I clumsily made my way out of the shower, dried off and slipped on my robe. What should I wear today? Nightgowns and sweats were the most comfortable, but I was ready for real clothes. It was time to give up the invalid status and get on with life. I picked out a pink flowered shirt that was a little bit on the loose side and some sweats. Underclothes might be a problem; I wasn't quite ready for a bra. Okay, cotton panties and cotton camisole. I usually liked a little more support, but I wasn't going to be jogging and wasn't expecting company, so this would be just fine. A light sweater over the top and slip on sandals and I was good to go.

Amelia had left some coffee in the pot for me, and a piece of toast sounded good, so I made my breakfast. I found notes next to the coffee pot, as I had yesterday. Amelia reminded me that she would be home by 5:00 and would make dinner. I was to call her if she was needed, get plenty of rest and don't worry about anything. There was some lunchmeat in the fridge for my lunch, or Campbell's in the cupboard. She could stop by the Grab-it-Quick on the way home if we needed anything, just text her with my list. Leftover spaghetti for dinner, no garlic!

The second note was from Eric, and again, he had scratched out Amelia's name and written in "Your Lover". He prompted me to eat well, get plenty of rest and he would see me as soon as he could get away from Fangtasia. He also suggested that I take a look at the papers that Mr. Cataliades had left for me.

After I had my modest breakfast and washed up my plate and cup, I sat and looked for a while at the briefcase. I would need to look over the whole thing, probably discuss it with Eric, and make some decisions before I called Mr. Cataliades back. Jason would have to come over and look at this too, although maybe I would just not show him my stuff. I doubted I wanted any business advice from Jason. He was pretty good about paying his bills and keeping his money straight, but he had never had all that much of it to manage. I knew he had borrowed some from Gran to pay off his truck, but I thought he had paid her back. Well, he would have to hear about his "trust fund". I would give him the letter, tell him about Mr. Cataliades and let him take it from there. Jason had met our great grandfather only once, and he had been resentful that Niall had shown me favor and scorned a relationship with Jason. Well, that was history now, Niall was gone and he had included Jason in his estate.

A bigger question was what to tell Jason about this baby. He knew that the fairies had attacked me, and he had sure been mad as hell about that, but he didn't know the whole story of course. I hadn't told anyone the whole story. I didn't think I could talk about it if I tried. He was going to be an uncle, so he would have to know about this some time, and he would want to know what happened. Even someone who seemed as stupid as Jason did sometimes would know that vamps couldn't father children. Okay, that was a problem I could put off. Whether he knew the story or not there was not much he could do about it. He would be angry though, and I wasn't ready to handle any of that anger coming my way. Best to tell him when Eric wasn't around too, because Eric could get awful scary. I hated to think what Eric would do if Jason got in my face.

Thinking of Eric made me wish he were here now. He had said he had a surprise for me. Eric had surprised me more than once with things that I wanted and needed. He had had my driveway graveled and gotten me my pretty red cell phone. Of course, that had been after he'd broken my old one. He bought me a nice warm cranberry colored coat after my old blue one had gotten blood all over it shooting Debby Pelt. Maybe it would be an ipod. I had been thinking how nice it would be to get one, but I had thought that I couldn't afford one, although the small ones didn't cost too much. Of course, that was no longer an issue. I had no idea how to use one, either. Amelia would know, she always was good with computers. Eric would know too, he always had the latest toys. I wondered what else he might think of as a surprise. With a vamp, surprises were usually not a good idea. They just didn't get it sometimes and who knows what Eric would consider a surprise. I would just have to wait and see.

While I was mulling that over, there was a knock on my front door. I looked through the peephole and saw a tall blond woman that I didn't recognize. "Can I help you?" I called out through the door. There was no way I was going to open the door to a stranger. The woman had what looked like pamphlets in her hand and was probably just Jehovah's Witness or something doing their missionary work or something like that. I hated to be rude, but I was learning that you just couldn't tell about people.

"I'm from Dr. Ludwig. Are you Sookie Stackhouse? I have some information here for Ms. Stackhouse." I reached out to listen in and I could tell that she was telling me the truth, so I unbolted the door.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I'm Sookie Stackhouse. Won't you come in?"

"Thanks, but I just need to drop this information off for you. Dr. Ludwig is expecting me right back. She says to tell you to call her if you have questions. I put an appointment card there too; you have a check-up for next week. If you can't make it to her office, she will try to come to you. I am supposed to tell you that you better wait until after your appointment to start any exercise program and oh yeah, you should avoid lemons, just to be on the safe side, if that makes sense to you?" she said as she handed me a few brochures and a manila envelope.

"Sure, I can do that. Thanks for dropping this stuff by. What's your name?"

"Oh, sorry, I'm Jessica; I left a message on your machine the other day. I am the doctor's new office assistant."

"Nice to meet ya, Jessica. Tell Dr. Ludwig I will look at these today and thanks again for dropping them off. Bye." Jessica scurried down the steps and off to her car like she was in a hurry. I couldn't pick up any trace of the supernatural from her and I wondered how a regular human would manage working in a practice like Dr. Ludwig's. Well, maybe she just did the paperwork and such and never dealt with the patients?

My stack of paperwork was getting higher and I guessed I better start going through some of it. First things first, the stuff from the doctor's office. While I was opening the envelope I was thinking this was sure first class service to have all this stuff delivered to my door. I had been thinking it would be nice if they could mail it to me or something, since I wasn't supposed to drive, or Amelia could maybe pick it up. Door to door service was pretty unusual these days I thought. But then, I guess house calls were too and Dr. Ludwig seemed to do that a lot. I wondered about the arrangement Niall had made with my medical bills. No use to worry about that now though, if it was taken care of, it wasn't like I could argue with Niall about it since he was gone. That thought made me sad, and made me think of Claudine and Claude.

"Knock it off, Sookie," I told myself and got on with opening the envelope. Inside was a card for my appointment: Sookie Stackhouse & Eric Northman, it said. The next line read "Prenatal exam and conference. Please bring completed medical history forms and a list of questions you may have." The next line just stated the time and date, next Tuesday at 10:00 PM. Underneath that, was the address of the office in Shreveport. That was sure an unusual time to schedule an appointment. Supes don't always keep daytime hours though, so it made sense sort of. Why was Eric supposed to be there? I wondered if he would be willing to come with me. It would be nice to have someone go with me, if Eric didn't want to come, perhaps Amelia would? I just couldn't imagine my ancient Viking vampire wanting to go to a prenatal doctor visit. The rest of the contents were standard medical history forms except for the line where it asked you to state your "species". There was also some print outs with information about the usual schedule for follow up visits during a pregnancy. This one was species specific; it said "Humans" across the top. Well, I was mostly human I guess.

The pamphlets looked like they had information on what was a healthy diet, an exercise program and problems you might encounter when you were expecting: morning sickness, urinary frequency, low back pain and cramps were listed along with enough other stuff to make me want to donate to Planned Parenthood. Yikes. Women had been having babies since Adam and Eve though, so I guess I could figure this out. Maybe I should go to the library next week and get a book on the subject. This was the time you wish you had a mom or a grandma to tell you everything you needed to know. Just looking at those pamphlets was beginning to make this whole thing real all of a sudden. Oh my god, I was going to have a baby.

I got up and walked into the kitchen. I sure wished gran were here. My old house seemed awfully quiet and lonely right now. I wished I could sit down at the table and tell gran all about it and she would say something comforting like "The Lord works in mysterious ways, Sookie." Then she would get up and fix me something to eat or bake me a pie. I would sit and watch her work, listen to her humming and before long I'd get up to help her and we'd turn on the radio to some gospel station or something and we'd be singing along. I can't sing and neither could gran but boy would we enjoy ourselves, ending up laughing nine times out of ten.

Thinking of gran made me want to call Jason, so I tried him on his cell phone. He answered after the first ring and from the highway noises in the background I guessed he was on the job somewhere. "Hey Jason," I said.

"Sookie, everything okay? You need something?"

"Yeah, everything's fine here, I am doing just fine. Amelia went back to work and I am just taking it easy. Can you come over for dinner on Sunday? I got some business I want to talk to you about. I was thinking if I was up to it, I would make an apple pie."

"Sure, I can come to dinner; you want me to bring something? What kind of business?"

"Nothing important that can't wait 'til Sunday, Jason. Four o'clock okay?" That would give me time to go over the business with him before Eric showed up, if he was staying at my house. Better to avoid potential problems.

"Sure, see ya then. Call me if you want me to bring anything. Bye." He hung up; he probably had to get back to work.

Okay, I better take inventory and see what I would need to make dinner for Jason. Maybe Amelia could take me to the store. I thought by Sunday I'd be feeling fine to cook dinner. I could make the pie the night before. We'd need apples for sure and beer. I could make a list.

When I went to get a pencil and paper the briefcase caught my eye again and I figured I better look at that first. I opened it up and saw the letter I had read last night. Eric had put it on top. After I looked at the next page titled summary of assets, I knew I better sit down. Sweet Jesus! Did the national debt have that many zeros? I guess Eric was right when he said I could afford a new car. Maybe I better fortify myself with some food before I got any farther into this stack of papers.

I went over to the fridge, got out the lunchmeat and pickles, found the bread and took a plate out of the cupboard. I filled the coffee pot with water and started it to dripping a fresh pot. I fixed myself a sandwich, watched the coffee drip for a few minutes, then poured myself a cup and took my lunch over to the table. While I ate, I scanned through the documents one by one. It looked like my great grandfather had dabbled in quite a variety of businesses. He had stock in quite a few corporations, most of which I had no idea what they made or did. There was money in banks too, eight different accounts it looked like, some of them in Switzerland. After the name of each business was its location and what I guessed were the names of the on-site managers and the estimated worth. Each of the stock holdings showed how many shares and the market value.

The next things to look at were the forms that I guess I would have to fill out. I had no idea how to even begin or what they were for. There were proxy statements, name change forms, beneficiary assignments and a power of attorney form. A sticky note attached to the power of attorney form reminded me that I would also need to arrange for a medical power of attorney and a will. Following all the forms were additional statements that described various real estate holdings. It looked like most of these were for the buildings that housed some of the businesses, but there were also tracts of land in remote places like Montana.

I didn't know where to begin to even think about all of this. I found another statement of assets that looked like the estate of Claude and Claudine. It seemed that all of their assets were held jointly. The total at the bottom of this page was not quite so shocking, but it sure was a lot more than I thought I would ever own. It looked like I was now going to be the owner of a strip club, Hooligan's. What was I supposed to do with a strip club? At the very bottom of the case was a business sized envelope and a larger manila envelope with Jason's name on them.

I sat back in my chair and took a sip of my coffee. Where was that letter from Mr. Cataliades? I carefully put everything back into the case in the order it had been, opened the letter and reread it. Okay, I would need to call Mr. Cataliades and make an appointment to see him. I guess I better talk about this with Eric and see what he thought I should do. I guess Mr. Cataliades or Eric would know who I could get to help me manage all of this.

I picked up my coffee and walked into the living room, sat down on the couch and put my cup on the coffee table. I looked around the room at my dear old farmhouse where Stackhouses had lived for over 100 years. All of the furniture was worn, but it was clean and had been lovingly cared for by my grandmother. It had been home to me since my parents died. It felt like home now. I had often thought how nice it would be to have enough money to fix the place up, maybe get it painted and have new curtains. The wiring was old and probably needed to be replaced. The tin roof was still good, and the structure was sound. The kitchen had been replaced not long back after a fire. I guess I had the money now to do whatever I wanted with the house, hell; I could buy a new one. No use to rush into anything. I would talk to Eric and ask him to go see Mr. Cataliades with me. They could advise me what to do. In the meantime I was thinking it might be an awful lot of fun to go car shopping! I'd invite Amelia! With that thought, I pulled the ugly old afghan off the back of the couch, covered myself up and took a nap.

I woke up to the sound of the key turning in the lock and figured that Amelia must be home from work. I had slept all afternoon I guess. I sat up and knew right away that I better head to the bathroom, I was sick again. By the time Amelia got into the house, she found me in my usual place on the bathroom floor. "Oh dear, Sookie, sick again?" she asked.

"Yeah. I have heard about morning sickness but this is beginning to look like all day sickness to me. It seems like it hits me every time I get up. I was taking a nap on the couch."

"You okay now, or should I get you something, a ginger ale maybe?" she offered. "I think I am okay. I am just going to brush my teeth and wash my face and I will come into the kitchen."

By the time I freshened up and got to the kitchen, Amelia was starting dinner. "How was work today Amelia?" I asked.

"It was pretty good. The thing about working for an insurance agent that is a witch is that he doesn't get many claims, you know? Of course people are always calling to change their policy or start new ones. They buy a new car or sell an old one and have to change their coverage. There's a lot to do. I haven't really gotten much chance to use my skills though. Greg has a good record with his spells of protection. We are going to try a few new ones that I have come up with though. I think we can maybe cut down on the amount of fender benders. How was your day, Sookie? Did you eat lunch? I hope you didn't do too much, you are supposed to still be resting."

I told Amelia about my day although there wasn't much to tell really. She said she would be glad to help make dinner for Jason on Sunday. When I told her that I had gotten an inheritance from Niall and Claudine she was very happy for me. I didn't tell her how much. I was almost embarrassed by how much money I would soon have. I didn't know how people would react when they found out that I was now a pretty wealthy woman. Some people would be jealous and hateful, no doubt. I didn't think Amelia would be like that, but for now I thought I would not say too much. I did tell her that I thought I might buy myself a new car.

"Eric has been ragging me for quite a while about what a crappy car I have, even though he has only ridden in it twice! I don't exactly know why it bothers him, but he says it is because it isn't safe to drive such an old car. It might break down on the road."

"He has a point you know. It would be awful to have that car of yours quit on the way home from Shreveport late at night. What kind of car are you thinking about getting?"

"I really don't know. I kind of like the idea of getting something that gets good mileage. It would be nice to have a little more room to haul stuff around too, like when I wanted to buy a tree to plant in the back yard. I never got around to that anyways. I know I could always get Jason to pick something up for me in his truck, but I hate to depend on Jason."

"Well, you are going to have to think about hauling baby stuff now! You will need a car seat and you will have to haul strollers and diaper bags. You want something with air bags and better safety standards. I am learning about all that stuff working with insurance. Hey, why don't we look at cars on the Internet after dinner? Then if you want, we could go car shopping on Saturday."

"That sounds like a good idea, Amelia, but I haven't actually gotten my money yet. I have to talk to Eric first, and then we are going to have to go see Mr. Cataliades. There are lots of papers to sign and then everything will have to be transferred to me. I don't know how long it will take. I can ask him about how soon it will be before I can go get a car."

"Is it a big inheritance, Sookie?"

"Put it this way, Amelia, I can buy whatever car I want." Her eyes got big at that, then a big smile broke out on her face and she came over and gave me a hug. That was one of the things I like about Amelia. She is not afraid to show affection and she is always happy when something good happens to someone.

"I am very happy for you, Sookie. You deserve it and maybe it will make up for some of the bad things that have happened to you in the last few years. It will sure help when the baby comes too, you will have to take some time off work."

"That's something I have been thinking about Amelia. I guess Sam is probably hoping I will be coming back to the bar soon. I know he is short handed. I guess when the baby comes, I just don't know if I would want to be working if I didn't have to. It would be great to stay home and take care of the baby. I just don't know if I want to go back to work at all now. I like Sam, he has been a good friend to me and I like having a job to go to everyday. If I am not around people on a regular basis, I get out of practice shielding and then it's like I am being bombarded by thoughts. On the other hand, after all that trouble with Arlene and all the ugliness from people like the FOTS, I guess I want to just get away from a situation where I am out so much in public."

"I can understand what you mean. I like to have a job to go to everyday too, but I would like to do something that would utilize my magic skills more. If I had a kid though, I guess I would want to be home with him, at least while he was small."

"Well, I am not sure what I am going to do right now. So much is happening so fast that I don't really want to make any quick decisions. If the past is an example, the decisions always seem to get made for me anyways."

From there the conversation turned more general. Amelia had a few pieces of gossip and had talked to Octavia. Octavia had moved in with her boyfriend Louis in New Orleans. They were still working on his house, but everything was coming along fine and Octavia was starting up her magic practice again. She was very happy to be back in New Orleans and very excited at the prospect of the city rebuilding itself after Hurricane Katrina. I asked Amelia if she had heard anymore about the repairs on her own house, and she said that her dad had talked to her today. It looked like the repairs would be finished by next week.

"I wanted to talk about that with you, Sookie. You know I really like it here, I love this old house and I have a job and everything. It's not quite the same without Trey around, of course, but it has begun to feel like home. What would you think if I just stayed on for a while longer? I could put my place up for rent, but it is nice to think that I could go back and forth if I wanted and if you wanted to come to New Orleans we would have a place to stay. With a tenant upstairs I don't worry too much about it being empty. Of course I will have to go home soon and ward it again. The storm managed to destroy most of the wards on the place. I think Mother Nature was stronger than any magic I could come up with."

"Amelia, you have been a good friend to me and you are welcome to stay here in this house as long as you like. You know there are a lot of changes going on in my life. I have a feeling Eric is going to be around a lot, but he likes you. Of course, the biggest change will be a baby arriving. I don't know how you will like being woken up by crying babies in the middle of the night or tripping on toys in the dark. I am not even sure how much I will like it."

She laughed at that and I smiled. "So let's just say that we will see how everything goes and for now I will be sticking around. Hey, if you are feeling well enough by then, do you want to drive to New Orleans with me when I go to ward my house? I was thinking I might go weekend after next."

"Let me see what the doctor says. I have an appointment for next Wednesday night. Hey, if Eric can't go with me, would you mind going with me to see Dr. Ludwig? I really don't want to go by myself. I have a feeling I will get so nervous I will forget to ask all the right questions."

"Sure," answered Amelia, " I don't mind. And if she says you are up to it, we will plan a field trip to New Orleans. Hey, maybe you will have your new car by then and we can give it a test drive!"

"Oh that sounds like fun, Amelia. Let's do it."

We continued to chat as Amelia finished preparing dinner and then sat down to the table. Amelia was an excellent cook and I was so hungry, so I enjoyed my dinner. After we ate, we decided to go up to Amelia's room and look at cars on her computer. There were so many to look at, I knew it would take a while to make a choice, so I had Amelia print out information on some of the cars that looked like they might work out for me, then went back downstairs to wait for Eric.

My phone rang and I could see it was a call from Fangtasia. I had barely gotten out a hello when the voice said, "Sookie, this is Pam. "

"Oh hi, Pam, how are you?"

"I would be better if I wasn't surrounded by vermin," she responded icily. "I have a message from my master. Eric said that he is sorry he is not able to come to you tonight. He wants you to know that Bubba is staying at Bill's and might be roaming around, so don't be alarmed if you see him in your woods. He also mentioned that you might not want to give in to your impulse to get a cat while Bubba is there." Pam sniggered a little at that. "Were you thinking of getting a pet, Sookie?"

"Well, Pam, I have thought about it more than once, but I hadn't been planning to do that this week. Is there a reason that Bubba will be skulking in my woods, Pam? Is something going on?"

"Oh, nothing you should worry about I think. He said to tell you an Escalade was a nice vehicle for a family and that he would be accompanying you on your appointment next Wednesday. He didn't say why you needed a family car, but maybe you need room to carry your cat around?" Pam paused, as if she was thinking of something.

"Was there anything else Pam?"

"Yes, he said he was sending our contractor to look at your "hidey-hole". What a quaint term, Sookie. I gather it is not satisfactory?"

"Well, Pam, I guess it is not very big, but Bill built it to be light tight, which is the important part, isn't it? And why does Eric think he can just send people over here to look at my house?"

"You will have to ask him. He just left me a list. Oh, and you should call Mr. Cataliades and he will make financial arrangements for the car as soon as you pick one out. I am glad you are getting a new car, Sookie. That thing you drive is a real piece of junk, and it makes Eric look bad."

"Well why would what I drive make Mr. High and Mighty look bad? I asked in my most indignant voice.

"Think about it," she said, then "Gotta go," and then she hung up before I got a chance to say goodbye.

Hmm. That was strange. How does he know I am looking for cars and just about every other thing I am up to? And why was Bubba staying at Bill's? Bill was still in the supe hospital in Shreveport. And did he think he was going to send people over to work on my house without even asking me about it? I was starting to get a little mad here. What was going on? Mostly, though, I was disappointed that I wasn't going to see Eric tonight, and I wondered about my surprise. I called up the stairs to Amelia and she popped down. "Amelia, Eric isn't coming tonight. Pam called. I am going to read for a while, then go to bed."

"Okay, hon, I will see you tomorrow after work. Sleep well."

"You too, Amelia."

I carried my book into the bedroom with me. I would have to go to the library soon. I got out a clean nightgown, took care of business in the bathroom and climbed into bed. I tried to read for a while, but my eyes had other ideas and they just closed as I drifted off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

When I woke up Friday morning, the sun was shining and the birds must have been holding a convention outside my bedroom window because they were so darned noisy. I sat up and didn't feel nauseous for a change; in fact I felt pretty darned good! Shower first, then coffee, and then I could decide what to do with my day.

I figured it was time to stop dressing like an invalid. My bruises were just about gone so I thought I would try a bra today and maybe some khaki slacks. I got out a scoop necked tee and a light sweater to match. I would look like a soccer mom, but I wasn't planning on going out, so Amelia was the only one I had to impress, and she liked the soccer mom look. I took my shower and even managed to wash my own hair. I decided I should put on a little make up too.

When I came out of the bedroom I was feeling good, until I took my first sip of coffee that is. Okay, so my stomach was going to act up after all. Maybe I would just have some toast and tea this morning.

I looked at the clock and was surprised at how early it was. There weren't any notes by the coffee pot this morning and that made me feel a little lonely. I would make a list for the grocery store; maybe Amelia would take me tomorrow. I would need apples for Jason's pie on Sunday. Jason liked his meals simple and filling, so a meat loaf would be good. I better get some ground beef and sausage and maybe the stuff for a potato salad.

As I was writing this down I heard something on the back porch and it made me jump. Who would be out on my porch? The sun was out, so Bubba would be asleep. I peeked out the window and saw someone twirling around in a world of their own. With that god-awful purple and green swirling skirt, it must be Diantha. I opened the back door.

"Diantha? Won't you come in?" I asked.

"Hey, goodtoseeya. Notimetocomein, Unclesays togivethistoya," she said in her usual run on way and handed me an envelope.

"Bye," she called out and she was off running into my woods. Well, that was different. I closed and locked the door, went back into the kitchen and sat down to see what Mr. Cataliades had to say.

Ms. Stackhouse,

I hope this finds you well, my dear. When you have picked out a vehicle, please call my office and arrangements will be made to have the car delivered to your house as soon as possible. I will handle the billing through your accounts here. There is no reason for you to worry about anything.

Your bonded has suggested that we meet at your house on Monday evening to discuss the material I sent over to you. I hope that gives you enough time to peruse it. If I may, I will present myself at your door at 9 o'clock. Although there is no firm deadline on any of this, it is in your best interests to expedite the transfer of the property to your name as soon as possible.

As always, I am available at any time if you have questions.

Cataliades

One thing I've found about dealing with the supernatural world is that once they have a plan, they just steamroll it right over you. Well, I didn't have to be anywhere on Monday night and it looked like Eric planned to be here so I guessed that was all right. Did I have to confirm any of this? No, probably not, they would just show up.

Now, if Amelia and I saw a car I liked I could just buy it. The thought was actually a bit scary. I had never owned a brand new car. Actually, I didn't know if gran ever had either, but Jason had bought his truck new and it was his pride and joy.

I considered why Pam thought that my old Malibu made Eric look bad. I guess now that we were "married" according to the vampires, he was supposed to make sure his wife had a nice car? As proud and arrogant as the vamps were I guess that made sense, but as far as I was concerned it wasn't Eric's responsibility to deal with my car.

What else had Pam said on the phone? She had talked about the car and said Bubba was roaming about my woods. I wondered what that was about. Maybe Bill was going to be coming home and Bubba would be there in case he needed anything? That sounded like a good reason. She asked if I was getting a family car to haul my cat around. I guess Eric hadn't told Pam the news yet. That surprised me. He said he was going to tell her. She was his child and she usually found out most of what went on around Eric whether he told her or not. He would tell her when he was ready.

I had been thinking about getting a cat a while back, but had decided against it. Bubba was just one of the reasons why I shouldn't bring a pet into the house. But if it wasn't safe for a pet, what was I going to do about a baby? Okay, don't worry about that yet. What else? Eric was going to be at the doctor's appointment on Wednesday. That was good. I would tell Amelia she didn't need to be there.

While I was pondering all of this, someone knocked on my front door. This place was like Grand Central station today. I walked to the front door and looked out the peephole. A man I didn't know was standing there holding a clipboard.

"Can I help you?" I called out.

"Ms. Stackhouse? I'm Dave Morgan. Mr. Northman asked me to come out today to take some measurements."

Now I remembered that Pam had talked about Eric's construction guy coming to look at my hidey-hole, so it would be safe to let him in. He was a clear broadcaster and I could hear him wondering why Northman was interested in this house, and how it could sure use some work. Maybe it was an investment property? He wondered who would want to invest out here in this backwater.

I opened the door and put on my best crazy Sookie smile. "Mr. Morgan, won't you come in? I'm Sookie Stackhouse."

Dave Morgan had that rugged handsome cowboy look, like he'd just stepped out of a Marlboro commercial. He walked in and offered his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Stackhouse. I just need to take some measurements if I won't be too much in your way. My dad should be here any time; he'll want to look over your property and the foundation."

I didn't really know what this was all about and I thought about telling him to just head back to his truck, but Eric would probably be all bent out of shape if I did that and he'd just probably show up another day anyways. I might as well let him in to do what he came for. Eric was going to owe me an explanation.

"Do you need to measure inside, Mr. Morgan?" I asked politely.

"Yes, ma'am, if I could. You have a storage place under one of the bedrooms, is that correct? I'll need to take a look at that and measure the downstairs rooms. After that, I'll head back outside to measure the whole building. Here's my dad now. He'll be looking at the place too."

I could hear the truck on the gravel coming down my drive. We stood in the doorway and waited for Dave's dad.

The man who got out of the big pick-up looked about 50 years old. He had a belly that seemed to have a life of its own and hung over his jeans. He was dressed in typical construction guy garb, a t-shirt, tool belt and big heavy boots and looked like he was scowling. He walked up on the porch and said "Hello, I'm John Morgan. You must be Miss Stackhouse."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Morgan," I said as I offered my hand.

His face lightened up into a smile as we shook and I could see the resemblance to his handsome son.

"Well aren't you a pretty thing," he said kindly and I liked John Morgan already. "I guess my son already told you what we need to do here today? We were both coming from different job sites, so we figured we'd meet here. Is this an ok time to get this done?"

"Truthfully, Mr. Morgan, I'm not exactly sure what you are planning on doing besides measuring."

"I'm the head contractor for Mr. Northman's construction company, Miss. He asked us to look the place over to see what we can provide in the way of daytime sleeping places if you know what I mean. I gather the place you have now is a little small and not quite secure."

Hmm, that gave me a better idea of what they were up to. You'd think Eric would have discussed this with me before he just dropped these men into my lap.

"Will there be a problem if we do this now, Miss?" he asked.

"No, come on in and you just do what needs doing. Can I get you boys a coke or some tea?"

I might as well go with the program for now.

"Thanks, but we're just fine. We won't keep you any longer than we have to. If you could show me the access to the sleeping compartment? Dave will just be walking around getting a plan of the place and measuring the rooms."

The elder Mr. Morgan followed me to the guest bedroom where I had the hidey-hole that Bill had built. I showed him the closet and how the door was hidden with the carpet when it was closed and that it could be locked from inside.

"Okay, Miss, I'll just take a look at how this is built if you don't mind."

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything, Mr. Morgan," I said, and got out of his way.

I looked around the room before I headed back to the kitchen. This had been my room from the time I was eight until my gran had died and I had moved over to her room across the hall. Then I got to thinking, I guess that will have to be where I put the nursery when the baby came. I didn't want the baby upstairs with Amelia, with me sleeping downstairs. I didn't know how I would feel about vampires sleeping in the closet of the nursery though. I was going to have to have a long talk with Eric about all of this.

Back in the kitchen, I took a ginger ale out of the fridge and poured myself a glass. My stomach felt a little queasy now and it was probably a good idea to eat something. I wondered if I should be offering the two men something for lunch and whether there was enough bread to fix sandwiches for all of us. I looked at the clock and it was after one, so I figured they'd probably already had their lunch. Construction guys always started early in the day. I called down the hall.

"Mr. Morgan, can I offer you and your son some lunch?"

"That's very kind of you, Miss Stackhouse. Thanks, but we already had our lunch. We start early in the day, so we get our lunch by noon."

Okay, that settled that question. I would just make myself something and hopefully my stomach would settle.

It took about an hour for the two guys to get all of their measurements and draw out their plans, then they headed to the yard. I could see them out back with their tape measure and they even took pictures of the yard and house. By that time I had eaten my lunch, washed up my dishes and was just sitting at the table thinking about everything. When I heard a knock at the back door, I opened it to see what they had to say.

"I guess we got everything we need for now, Miss Stackhouse. I'll just leave my card with you and we'll be talking to you when we have a set of plans drawn up. Tell Mr. Northman I'll be giving him a call in the next few days. It was nice to meet you. Bye."

"Goodbye," I said back and closed the door. Well! I put their card on the table along with the other business cards from Mr. Cataliades and Dr. Ludwig. I was getting quite a collection.

As I heard their trucks head down the driveway, I could hear another pull up to the back of the house. Usually anybody that knew me well pulled in back there. I saw Sam parking his truck next to my old Malibu and I went to open the door.

"Sam," I called out happily. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey Sookie. You sure are looking a lot better."

He gave me a big smile as he walked up on the porch. I stepped out and gave him a big hug. He sure smelled good!

"Sit here on the porch swing and let me go in and get you a coke. I'm sure glad to see you."

"Oh, I don't want anything, Sook; I can't stay but a minute. Terry's waiting for me to take over at the bar. I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing and if you needed anything, but you look great! Who were those guys driving out of here?"

"Well, Sam, I'll tell you. I'm not really sure."

Sam got a worried look on his face and said, "What do you mean, Sookie? What were they doing here?"

"Oh, Eric sent them over here to measure my house. Did you know Eric owned a construction company, Sam?"

"No, I sure didn't. What do you mean they were measuring your house? Has Eric been staying around here? What is he planning?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Sam, but I think he wants to make my hidey-hole bigger. You know, Bill built the one I have, and Bill isn't very tall next to Eric. I guess it's a little cramped."

"So, Eric's been staying here? Are you okay with that, Sookie?"

"Yes, Sam, Eric stays here sometimes, and I guess I am glad to have him. He's my husband after all, or so he tells me." Sam just snorted at that. "I am not sure exactly what he has planned since he didn't really consult me first. He just said somebody was coming over to look at things, and these guys showed up to measure the place and take pictures. I'm going to ask Eric what's going on when I talk to him tonight."

"I sure wish we could get you out from under all this vampire shit, Sookie. I don't like the way Eric thinks he can just come around here and take control of stuff. It just makes me want to go out and cut some stakes!"

Just the thought of that made me cold all over.

"Well, I guess he wouldn't be coming so often if he wasn't welcome, Sam. Don't you worry about Eric. I can handle him."

"Yeah, well, it isn't just Eric I worry about, Sook, its all them other vampires too, and the rest of the supes. I don't know why they can't just leave you alone."

"Well, I guess that's not gonna happen, Sam," I told him and changed the subject. "How's everything going at the bar?"

"That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about, Sookie. When do you think you're going to be well enough to come back to work?"

"I just don't know, Sam. I'm feeling much better. My bruises are just about gone and Dr. Ludwig came and took out all of my stitches. But I just don't know if I'm ready to go out yet."

"Have you been out of the house at all, Sookie?" Sam asked, concern in his voice.

"Well, Amelia and I went to Trey's service, but I just didn't feel up to going to the cemetery, so we came straight home from the church. I guess I'm still a little bit scared about leaving the house. I know it's safe here. Amelia has it warded. I suppose I will get over it, but maybe it's just going to take some time before I feel safe anywhere else."

"Cher, you take all the time you need. I won't press you. But we could sure use you whenever you're ready to come back to the bar. It isn't the same without you."

I thought about talking to Sam about everything that was going on. I wondered if I should tell him about my inheritance and that I was thinking maybe I wouldn't be coming back to work after all. But I figured I really hadn't made up my mind about that yet anyway. I didn't think I was ready to tell him about being pregnant. He only knew a little about what had happened to me. He would just get all angry and emotional and I wasn't up for that. Sam must have seen I was thinking about things, and he looked a little anxious and worried.

"I better get going, Sookie. Terry will be waiting for me. You look tired, Cher. Maybe you should go in and take a nap or something. I shouldn't have bothered you so soon. You need to get well."

He stood up, ready to go and looked down at me.

"That's okay, Sam. I'm glad you stopped by. I've missed seeing you. I'll call you in the next couple of days and let you know what the plan is."

"Okay, you call if you need anything."

He bent down to give me a kiss on the top of my head, inhaling as he did so.

"You sure do smell good," he said as he turned and walked back to the truck.

I got up and headed back into the house, closing and locking the door. I hoped that was all the company I was going to get today. It wasn't like I had anything else that I had to get done today, but what I wanted to do was just lay down on the couch with my book and take a nap. So that's just what I did.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

I leaped up when I felt someone poking me in the shoulder. "Yikes," I said, as I looked up to see Amelia. "You scared me, Amelia."

"I figured I better check that you were okay, Sookie, you hardly looked like you were breathing. Sorry to wake you up from your nap. Dinner is ready."

"Jeez, Amelia, how long have you been home?" "Only about an hour, I've been in the kitchen. I tried to be a little quiet so I wouldn't wake you, but then I started to get a little concerned. Come on in and eat and you can tell me about your day."

The minute I got up I had to head straight for the bathroom. Boy, was this going to get old. When I felt settled, I brushed my teeth and washed my face and ran a brush through my hair. I was a little wrinkled from my nap, but not terribly so. It was just Amelia and me. I wondered if Eric was going to come by tonight, or if he would call. He still owed me a surprise and some explanations!

Amelia had heated up the leftover spaghetti and made a nice salad. She had a pitcher of tea on the table and had set out the plates, napkins and silverware, so all I had to do was sit down. Amelia dished out the plates, sat down and asked me about my day. I told her about all my visitors: Diantha, Mr. Morgan and his son Dave, and of course, Sam. She looked as surprised as I did about the contractor's visit.

"I didn't know Eric had a construction business."

"Neither did I," I responded. "I guess it wouldn't be in competition to your dad's business, since your dad is in New Orleans."

"So what exactly are they planning on doing to the house, Sookie?" asked Amelia.

"Your guess is as good as mine," I replied with maybe a hint of exasperation in my voice. I guess maybe Eric isn't comfortable here. Bill built the hidey-hole and Eric is a lot bigger, maybe he just wants to enlarge it, although you'd think it wouldn't matter much since he is dead during the day anyway."

"Perhaps it is just that he likes to settle down into something a little nicer before he blanks out for the night," said Amelia sympathetically.

"Yeah, maybe that's it. I was thinking though. If he wants to change anything around here, maybe we need to start thinking a little more long term."

That statement got Amelia excited and her eyes got big!

"Ok, tell me Sookie. Has he asked you yet?"

"Asked me what?" I responded curtly, although I could guess what she was thinking.

"Well, since you said long term, I was just thinking…" She stopped there, looking a little abashed now, as if she might have been insensitive.

"I can guess what you were thinking, Amelia, even if I didn't have my little disability."

"Oh," she gasped. "Sookie, I wish you wouldn't do that."

"I didn't read your mind, Amelia, it was as plain as can be right on your face. But that's not what I was talking about. I was thinking that if we were going to have a baby in the house, wouldn't that room be the best place for a nursery? Don't you think it might be a little creepy to have a vampire sleeping right underneath a baby, even if it was Eric?"

"Yeah, that is a pretty creepy idea. Jeez, we are going to have to really think about this. What if you could get Eric to build something outside? Then he could stay right close, but he wouldn't be right there with the baby."

"I was thinking pretty much the same thing, but then I got to thinking. If he could climb out of his sleeping place right into the house, it would be a lot safer, wouldn't it, with the wards and all. Of course, if he slept outside and it was well hidden, nobody could burn the house down on top of him to get to him. Actually the more I think about this, the more creeped out I get. Do you think I am safe anywhere in the world, Amelia?" I asked pitifully.

"I don't know, Sookie. I guess none of us can ever be completely safe. I bet that Eric will put your safety first no matter what though. And I think that the safest place you can be is where Eric can protect you. He is really gone on you Sookie, and he isn't going to let anything happen to you if he can help it."

"I believe that, Amelia, I really do. It's just all such a muddle. It doesn't seem right to throw a baby into the middle of this though, but what alternative is there? I am sure my gran would have had some saying about this, like she always did, but I just can't think what it would be."

"I have an idea," said Amelia, jumping up from her chair. "Let's look at the room and see what you want to do to make it into a nursery. When Eric comes, you can see what his plans are and work something out, but you are going to have to have nursery stuff in any case. Won't that be fun, shopping for a baby?" Amelia sure did love to shop!

Amelia and I went into the bedroom and looked at what was in there. It was mostly the same furniture as I had when I was a kid. I bet I could just put that stuff up into the attic (I would hate to get rid of it) and get some new stuff. Amelia was bubbling over with ideas about colors, crib styles, rocking chairs, changing tables and curtains. I was thinking it would be a good idea to wait until we knew whether it was a boy or girl, and that would be a while yet. You didn't want to plan pink paint and then have a boy on your hands. Amelia said there were lots of colors that would work for both girls and boys and anyway, we wouldn't be painting right away. We could sure look at what was out there though. It was fun planning what would go in the room.

I realized I had never decorated a room myself. I had lived in my folks' house, then my kid furniture had moved over here to gran's house with me. The house was just a collection of stuff from all the Stackhouses that had lived here. I guess I had picked out stuff for the kitchen though, after it had burned down, so I had done a little decorating, but the rest of the house was really gran's. I was still pondering this when I heard a knock at the back door. More company!

It was Eric standing on my porch. I stepped out and glared at him. "My Lover, you look radiant tonight, full of life. You must be feeling better," he said happily and he bent down and planted a kiss on top of my head. "How was your day?" he continued.

"Well, I guess you would know more about that than me, Mr. High and Mighty," I answered and I almost stomped my foot like a three year old. I gave him my haughtiest look and said, "I guess you would know all about the construction guys that just came in and measured my house."

Eric gave me a very disapproving look and put his finger to my lips. "Perhaps we could discuss that later, My Lover. We have company." That was when I noticed the big vampire standing in my yard.

"Oh!" I exclaimed and scurried backwards into the kitchen.

"Sookie, it is okay. There is nothing to be frightened of," he said as he motioned for the other vampire to come up on the porch. I took a few steps back. "Sookie, where are your manners? Aren't you going to invite us in?" Of course Eric could just walk in any old time, but a new vampire would have to be invited in over the threshold. I was standing there gaping at the stranger, my mouth open like a fish. Eric reached over, put his hand under my chin and pushed up until my mouth closed. "You were gaping, Lover," he said, and both of the vampires laughed. Okay, now I was really getting irritated. I glared at him for a moment and then turned my face to the new vampire.

"Won't you please come in, Sir," I finally said in my best southern belle manner. I kept backing up as Eric and his companion walked into the kitchen.

Amelia walked up behind me and I could hear her gasp. "My, my!" she said.

"Good evening, Amelia," Eric said politely. "Ladies, this is my little brother, Jordun." Well, wasn't that a showstopper!

"Miss Amelia," the vampire said as he nodded his head, then he turned to me and bowed from the waist. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Ms. Stackhouse."

I hastily mumbled out something like "nicetomeetyoutoo," then sat down hard on a chair. I was beginning to sound like Diantha. Eric burst out laughing. Get a grip, Sookie, I thought. Eric had a brother? I couldn't help but stare. Little, he wasn't!! He was just about as tall as Eric and very similarly built, maybe a tad wider in the hip. His skin was alabaster white against his shiny long black hair, and his eyes were as black as coal. He looked younger than Eric, maybe 20 when he was changed, but he radiated power in the same way that Eric did. He was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, no pun intended! I though I'd better stop gaping, Eric was harrumphing already.

"Excuse me," I stammered and popped back out of my chair. "Can I get you two a True Blood?"

Eric nodded and Jordun said, "Thank you, sister." What was with the sister thing? I went to the fridge and got out two bloods and nuked them. Amelia was still standing there openmouthed.

"Amelia," I prompted, can I get you anything?" Amelia snapped to it and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs.

"Sure Sookie, I'll have whatever you are having. I put the bloods on the table in front of the vampires, got out two glasses and poured a coke for Amelia and me.

"So, Jordun, are you just visiting Louisiana, or are you planning on staying a while?" I wanted to ask what the heck was going on, but I figured Eric would tell me what he wanted to know in his own sweet time. Eric wouldn't have brought over a strange vampire unless something was going on.

"I have just been here a few days, in Shreveport. I am not sure yet if I will be staying long. You have lived here all your life, I believe?" he asked. Well, a vampire that could make small talk, this was getting better and better.

"Yes, I was born here in Bon Temps, and have rarely left the area."

"Jordun will be helping out at Fangtasia a bit while he is visiting," interjected Eric. "He will be staying between my house and Bill's house. I wanted you to meet him right away so you would not be frightened if you saw him in your woods."

He was staying at Eric's house? Now I was well and truly shocked! As far as I knew Pam was the only person who had ever been to Eric's house, even I hadn't been there yet. And why was he staying at Bill's part of the time.

"Since we have lost Clancy," Eric continued, "it will be good to have someone that can help Pam run the bar. She will begin to whine if I don't give her any time off." Pam, whining? That will be the day!

"What's happening with Bill, Eric? Is he coming home soon? Have you talked to him?" I was very concerned about Bill being at the hospital so long. Vampires usually healed just about anything right away.

"Bill should be back at his house in a few days. He is much better, although he may be weak still for a while. It is part of the reason that Jordun will be staying there. He can keep an eye on things. I haven't talked to Bill, but I spoke to Dr. Ludwig today."

I was about to mention that I had gotten a message from the doctor today, but Eric was looking at me, and I figured I better not say anything in front of anyone else unless he knew it first. I did ask him about Bubba though.

"Yes, Bubba will be around on and off, so you will probably see him in the woods. He shouldn't bother you."

Eric turned toward Jordun and rattled off something in another language that I didn't recognize, probably something that hadn't been spoken in hundreds of years. Jordun answered him, and then turned to me.

"Sister, thank you for your hospitality. The stories I have heard of your beauty do not do you justice. I hope to see you again soon." He turned then to my roomie and said, "Ms. Amelia, the pleasure has been mine." He nodded to Eric and went out the door before I could manage to eke out a goodbye. Eric was grinning at me and Amelia exhaled and said, "Wow!"

I looked at Eric and I knew that he knew that I was waiting for an explanation. He got up and extended a hand to me. "If you would care to join me for short walk under the stars, Lover?" he prompted.

"Okay," I said and let him help me up from my chair.

"I was thinking I'd drive over to Merlotte's and hang out with the locals for a while, Sookie. You kids have fun," said Amelia.

"Okay, bye Amelia, drive safely," I said and walked out the back door with Eric.

As soon as we were in my yard, Eric turned and wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling my neck and inhaling my scent. "Lover, you are so beautiful tonight. How are you feeling? Were you sick at all? Did you talk to Dr. Ludwig?" I answered that I was feeling much better today, had hardly been sick at all, had taken a nice long nap and then told Eric about all the visitors I had had today.

"I am glad you are thinking of a new car, Lover. If not, I would be forced to buy you one. I can't risk your safety ever again, and that car you drive is not safe. Cataliades will handle all of that for you, so you don't have to worry about anything. That is good. Pam told you I would go with you to your appointment to see the doctor?"

"Yes, and she warned me about the construction guys coming, but what were they doing here Eric? Did you forget to mention it to me? It is my house, you know."

"Of course it is your house, Sookie. Who else's would it be? I thought it was time we took a look at possibilities to make the arrangements more secure. You didn't seem agreeable to the idea of coming to live at my house, so for now at least, you are here. I know that you will have to make some modifications to accommodate our child, so it seemed a good time to make plans that would suit both of our needs and those of the baby."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but you could have asked me first," I said sullenly. "I am sorry, Lover, I will try to be more considerate of your wishes in the future." Like that was going to happen!

"So what were you thinking we should do about the house, Eric?" He looked around the yard, and then began walking again, taking my hand.

"I thought we could move your hidey-hole as you call it to another spot, perhaps a garage for your new car? That would mean that the second bedroom could be used for the child. Wouldn't that be better? We could make the sleeping place a little larger and more secure and perhaps include a passage that would allow entry into the house without being visible to anyone watching from outside. That could allow you a safe passage away from the main house to your car. We could kill the proverbial two birds with one hidey hole," he said and laughed at his own wit. Sheesh!

"Is there a reason I should be needing an escape hatch, Eric?" I asked.

"It is always good to have a backup plan, Sookie. You never know what will happen. However, I can tell you that right now there is no reason for you to be concerned."

"So, Eric, you want to tell me about your, uh, brother?" He looked down at me and smiled warmly.

"He is very handsome, is he not, Sookie? I was thinking I might have to remove his head if you didn't stop gaping at him!" I would have been worried about that statement if Eric hadn't been chuckling when he said it. It was rare to see Eric in such good humor, he was almost giddy, for a vampire that is.

"So what is his story, Eric? He called you brother and me sister." I looked up at Eric and I could see he was thinking how to explain this.

"I will tell you a little about Jordun, Sookie, but you must realize that not all of his history is mine to tell. You must also know that some of the information that I tell you could be dangerous to all of us, so you must not reveal it to anyone, even Amelia. I know that I can trust you with this and I know how loyal you are to your family. Jordun is my family, Sookie, as Pam is."

"Is he your child?" I asked.

"No, he is my brother but not in the human sense. Jordun and I are the only surviving children of my maker. We were nest mates together for hundreds of years."

I was speechless for a minute. I just couldn't conceive of the time frame that vampires dealt in. Eric continued, "I was with my maker for about a century when he decided that he would have a new child. I think I was a little too….what you would call feisty!" I laughed when he said that. Eric was feisty all right! "He found Jordun in a little village in what is now I think Slovakia. We watched him for days. I think my master was quite smitten. Jordun was then about 19 years old, although I don't think he actually knew how old he was. He was poor and dirty, but he was not a child. Nineteen was a grown man in those days. He was big, like me, I think my maker liked big men and he wanted him, so he took him."

"Wow," I sighed, "kind of like how you took Pam."

"Yes, I suppose it was in some ways the same. In any case, Jordun joined us. He was frightened at first of course, but he soon became accustomed to the ways of the vampire. He was a welcome companion for me, as my maker and I rarely had conversation and Jordun was by nature a cheerful fellow, much more so than most vampires who have very little sense of humor. He was also a great fighter, not skilled at first, but strong and eager to learn. So, he is my brother and since you are bonded to me, he is your brother too. He will protect you as I would."

"If he is my brother, then he is what, Pam's uncle?"

Eric laughed heartily at that. "Oh, that is rich, I don't know if you want Pam to hear you say that. I think Pam would not want to think of herself as Jordun's niece!" Eric was still smiling as he turned me around and headed back to the house. "Are you tired, Sookie?"

"No Eric, I am fine. It is nice to be outside, I have been in the house for weeks."

"Okay, tell me if you get tired, Lover, and we will go back inside.

"So what brought Jordun here," I asked, "or is he just on vacation?" Did vampires take vacation?

"He is here at my request. With Clancy gone, we could use someone to help Pam run the bar. I do not know if I trust de Castro and his people, and it seems a good idea to have a few of my own people around. I trust Jordun, Sookie, and he has a gift that is very rare among my kind. It is this of which you must never speak to anyone."

"What gift, Eric?" I asked.

"Sookie, you know that vampires have different gifts. I can fly; Bill has an enhanced sense of smell and hearing enhanced even by vampire standards. Sophie Ann had the ability to hold her children to her and to speak with them telepathically. Jordun's gift is the rarest of the rare. He is a day walker." I gasped at the significance of that. I had never heard of a vampire that could walk in daylight. I had roused Eric once, when the hotel we were in was collapsing around us. He had been able to wake enough to help me save Pam and to fly us to safety as we careened down the side of the hotel on a coffin. I had thought that was because he was so old, but I wondered if that was something he got from his maker, if his brother could walk in the daytime.

"Could your maker wake in the daytime, Eric? I was able to wake you in Rhodes, at least for a few minutes. Remember?"

Eric squeezed my hand and answered, "Of course I remember when you saved my life, Sookie, and Pam's, but many vampires can be roused from their daytime slumber for a short time. Remember you roused Bill when you saved him from Lorena."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," I replied. "So, how is Jordun different then?"

"Jordun is a true day walker. He can be awake for all but the very strongest hours of daylight. He is not at his best of course, but he can fight and he is coherent. He can pass as human even, since no one would expect a vampire to be up and to tolerate the sun. His is a very special gift, one that I envy. He can be in daylight, although I think he does not enjoy the sensation, and he prefers to rest when the sun is up. Do you see what an advantage this is, Sookie? That is why I thought it would be good to have him near you. You could go to him during the day, when I was resting, and he could help you."

"So, he is here as a guard, Eric?" I asked.

"Yes, in part, although that is not all he will do. He truly will be a help to Pam. He wanted a change and had been considering coming to the states for quite a while. When I told him about you, he wanted to meet you. I think he wants to see what it is like to have a family again. He likes Pam and they work well together, although she has not spent a lot of time with him. He had been planning to come anyway and now he is very happy that he did. I told him our good news and he wants to be part of our family, Sookie. I think he will be an asset to us, and if we are threatened by someone like de Castro, he is a formidable enemy. He and I together could very well be an unstoppable force." He laughed with delight at the thought. Eric liked nothing better than a good fight!

I still hadn't said anything, so Eric continued, looking a little worried now that I hadn't responded. "So, Lover, you see why it is good that Jordun has joined our little team. Can you see why we might need different sleeping arrangements? We can keep him close, and he can help to keep you safe."

Eric looked smug when I nodded my head and assured him that was right as always, and that this was probably a good idea. He looked taken aback when I added. "It doesn't hurt that he is drop-dead gorgeous, either!" I think I may have gotten the last word in a conversation with a vampire for the first time.

We headed up to the house then, and Eric steered me to a chair in the kitchen. He had a mischievous look on his face, but I could feel that he was also a little bit nervous, or maybe even afraid? I wondered what was up now.

"Are you ready for your surprise, Sookie?" he asked, and he got down on one knee in front of me. He reached into his pocket and took out a little blue velvet box. Oh my God! I started to shake all over. Was this what I thought it was?

He held the box out to me and opened it, so I could see what it contained. Very solemnly and carefully he said, "My Lover, will you do me the honor of consenting to be my wife?" I was well and truly dumbstruck! I had not been prepared for this at all! I looked down at the box and my eyes got wide. Inside was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The center of the ring held a blood red ruby. It was huge. There was a large diamond on each side. The band must have been platinum because of course a vampire would never deal with silver. I was frozen in shock.

"Sookie?" Eric said, his voice now sounding close to panic. "Did I do this wrong? Pam assured me that I was to do it just this way, and I know that you don't really consider us married. I thought that you would be thinking about having a baby and not being really married and how that would make your gran feel and so I thought we could get married in a human ceremony. I thought you would be pleased. My Lover, will you speak to me? Tell me if I was wrong." He sounded a little desperate now.

My mind was racing. I thought about what Eric had said, and how sometimes he seemed to know me so well, to even know what I was thinking. I looked down at his face, so fearful and yet so hopeful and I answered him. "No Eric, you didn't do it wrong. You were just perfect, and yes, I will be honored to marry you."

I never thought I would see so much joy on one face as I did on Eric's. He looked at me with such love and then he just flung his arms around me, almost knocking me off the chair. I laughed out loud at his happiness. "Oh, My Lover, we will be such a family!" he cried and then he picked me up and swung me around.

"Eric!" I squealed and he put me down, still grinning. "The ring is beautiful, Eric," I said.

"Oh," he said and took my hand in his and placed the ring on my finger. "I am pleased that you like it. The sparkle of the jewels is only enhanced by your beauty," he said, and my heart completely melted. "And in case you think I am only marrying you for your money, I must tell you that I had the ring made weeks ago, when you were still my poor Sookie."

I had forgotten all about the money with everything else going on. "Will you help me with that, Eric, the money I mean?" I asked him. "I just about fell over when I looked at the papers from Mr. Cataliades. I don't know what to do. I don't know anything about managing business and that kind of thing. I mean, gran and I managed okay and paid all of our bills, but this is so much money, I can't even imagine. I guess it is not even real to me yet. When I think about why all of this came to me, it just makes me sad."

"Do not be sad, Sookie. There is nothing you or I can do about why you have the money, but it is yours now. If you would like, I can help you. Cataliades handles many of my assets through his office and I have an accountant and several financial advisors on retainer. Would you like me to have them look at all of it for you? Then we can discuss it with Cataliades and you can decide what you want to do." Eric offered.

"Yes, that would be great, Eric, and you will go to the meeting with Mr. Cataliades with me?"

"Of course, Lover, I will accompany you. Cataliades is a well-respected lawyer, and I think he likes you a little, so he will give good advice. There will be decisions to be made, but none of them will be immediate, I should think. In the meantime, you will know that you do not have to worry about money and you can get rid of that horrid car. Did you tell your brother about his trust fund?"

"No, not yet, I invited him to dinner on Sunday and I will give him everything then. He can call Mr. Cataliades and arrange anything that needs arranging. I don't know how much he got, but he won't like it that his is in a trust fund, and that I can decide what to do with mine, so I am just not going to tell him what I got." Jason had been so nasty about gran's house coming to me, even though he had gotten our parent's house. I wasn't about to add fuel to the fire and let him know I may have gotten more from great grandfather.

"I think that is wise, My Lover but enough of business for now. Tell me, Sookie, how are you feeling?" Eric asked, his voice low and thick with anticipation. That vampire could charm a snake!

"Besides being overwhelmed," I said, "I guess I am feeling pretty darned good."

"Well then Lover, come to bed," he said, and I followed him into the bedroom.

As I walked into the room, Eric turned to me and wrapped me in his arms. He buried his face in my hair and inhaled deeply. "Just the smell of you excites me." He stood there silent and unmoving and closed his eyes, just breathing in and out, almost as if he were human.

"Eric," I whispered, " a penny for your thoughts?" He opened his eyes then, and looked into mine, his blue eyes glowing.

"I was thinking of this." He kissed the side of my neck. "And this." He kissed the hollow of my shoulder blade. "And these." He nuzzled between my breasts. "And this." He raised my hand and licked the inner side of my wrist. I never knew that my wrist was an erogenous zone! He moved his hands to my waist, unbuttoned my slacks and slid them down slowly, picking up each foot and sliding the leg off, spreading my legs slightly. He looked up at me and began to kiss up the inside of my leg, past my panties and then laid the side of his face against my belly. "You smell so good, lover." Hooking his fingers on the sides of my panties, he slid them down, then kissed up the inside of my other leg. By the time he reached my center, I could barely stand up; I was trembling all over.

He stood up and carefully pulled my shirt over my head, then unhooked my bra and threw it to the floor. Scooping me up, he laid me gently on the bed, then took his time removing his clothes as I watched him hungrily. My body was aching with need. He spread my legs, crawled between them and lowered his head, inhaling again. My breath caught in anticipation, and he ran his tongue slowly over my wetness. "Delicious," he said in a voice that was pure sex. He licked me slowly at first, rhythmically, and then slid his tongue inside me. His fingers gently stroked my nub, making little circular motions and I reached down for his head, holding him tightly against me as I rocked against his mouth. When I arched my back, my body quivering on the edge, he bit. I cried out, trembling as he drew my blood into his mouth and I felt the bond open completely. Sensations flooded over me; love, completion and sheer joy. I began to convulse in an orgasm so overwhelming I screamed. Eric gasped and his body jerked as he came, then he collapsed against me. His tongue lapped lazily at the wound, his head resting on my thigh. He was making little noises, almost purring with contentment, and lying like that, at total peace with the world and for once, with myself, I fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

"My lover, are you sleeping?"

"Eric, where are you?"

"Sookie, reach out, I am with you, I can feel you breathing."

"I can't see you, Eric."

"Open your eyes, My Lover."

I rolled over to reach for Eric and opened my eyes and saw…daylight! I blinked for a minute, was it morning? I had been sure that Eric was still in bed beside me, talking to me. I looked at the clock; it was almost noon, time to get up. I made my bed and headed into the bathroom to get ready for my day. I didn't even feel sick this morning, which was a pleasant change. Amelia's brain was humming upstairs, still asleep; she must have had a late night at Merlotte's.

I started the coffee and sat down at the table with the two notes I had found by the coffee pot. Amelia reminded me that we were looking at cars this afternoon and maybe we could get our dinner in Shreveport. That sounded okay to me. I hadn't been out in quite a while, if you didn't count the funeral, so maybe it would be good for me to do something away from the house.

Eric's note was short and businesslike today. He conveyed that he would be at Fangtasia tonight and that Alcide would come by to do some surveying on the property, but I didn't need to be there for that. It was signed "E". I didn't really want to see Alcide, so I hoped he would come after we left, but of course, as soon as I thought that, a truck pulled up in my driveway. I looked out the window and sure enough, Alcide was getting out of his truck and headed to the door. "Come on in, Alcide," I said as I opened the door. "You had your lunch yet?"

"Hey Sookie, how are you? You sure are looking better! I could use some lunch if you got something." Alcide followed me into the kitchen and sat down and I went to the fridge to get out fixings for sandwiches. I put a glass of coke on the table in front of him.

"So what's up Alcide?" I asked. Alcide took a drink from his glass and looked me over, head to toe.

"Well, Sookie, I hear you are putting in a garage and a vamp safe house. I am going to do the surveying and see where it's best to place everything. What's going on, Eric moving in with you?" he asked disapprovingly. Alcide always seemed to act as if he had some say about my private life. There had been some mutual attraction there at first, but he had still been with Debbie Pelt then, although he kept saying he wasn't. After he realized I had shot her, he thought that gave him some right to expect help from me during his father's campaign for pack master. Well, that sure hadn't gone well and it had left me just a little leery about dealing with Alcide. He was pack master now for the Shreveport were wolves and he had his own surveying company.

"No, Eric isn't living here, but he comes around some. I am getting a new car, so I figured I'd like a garage for it, and I might as well have a different hidey-hole for when a vamp stays here. I don't always want them in the house." I wasn't going to tell him this was Eric's idea, neither was I going to go into why it was safer to have a new hidey-hole. It wasn't his damned business.

"So, how come Eric's paying for this?" I gave him a look and he realized he had maybe stepped over a line asking me about my business, but I answered anyway.

"I am paying for this, and before you get on your high horse about how I got this kind of money, I got an inheritance." Of course, Eric probably thought he was paying for this, too, since he had arranged it all already apparently. I guess he and I would have to talk about that soon.

"Oh, who died?" asked Alcide. I didn't want to talk about my business too much, or my great grandfather, not many people really knew about that relationship. He was gone now, so maybe I didn't need to keep it a secret, but he wasn't dead, so who knew if he would ever show back up.

"Claudine," I answered, since the weres knew about her, and that she had been my fairy godmother.

"Oh yeah, sorry for your loss, Sookie. I heard Claudine got killed too. It's nice for you to get something, though." I could feel myself tearing up, just thinking about poor Claudine and her baby, so I got busy getting lunch on the table. I set out ham sandwiches and put two kinds of chips on the table, then I reached for Alcide's glass to refill it. He grabbed my hand. "Alcide?" I gasped and pulled my hand back, a little surprised.

"What's with the ring, Sookie?" he asked and glared at it.

I had no idea what Eric wanted me to tell people, since we hadn't talked about that, and we hadn't made any plans either. I knew how vamps guarded their privacy and how everything was politics with them, so I wasn't sure how to answer. "It's from Eric," was all I said.

"So, I guess it's true," he said with resignation in his voice. "You really are married to that vamp." He said that like Eric was gum on his shoe.

"Well, according to vamp custom, we are married, I guess." Alcide looked disgusted at the thought and got quiet for a bit while he worked on his lunch.

"What I am going to do today," he said finally, "is to go over the plans that the contractor drew up, and figure out the best placement for everything. We are going to try to do this without taking out any trees and so it will leave you some parking area outside of the garage if you want it. When I am done, I will mark it all out on the ground, so you can see where everything will be." He was all business now, which suited me fine, since I didn't want to discuss Eric with him. "You want to come outside and look at what we could do?"

"Sure, Alcide, let me get a sweater and I'll join you outside after I wash up these dishes."

As I walked back to the bedroom to get a sweater, I could hear Amelia awake upstairs. She had a hangover. "Amelia, you okay?" I called up. I heard a groan for an answer. "I'm going to be outside. Alcide is here," I told her, so she wouldn't come down unprepared for company.

"Okay," she called back.

After I had cleaned up the kitchen, leaving a sandwich out for Amelia on the table (although who knows if she would want to eat anything) I went out back to join Alcide. He had his equipment out and was making measurements and leaving little markers, which he tapped into the ground. "So you getting a new car, Sookie?"

"Yep, I was thinking I would get a Prius." I liked the idea that it was a car that was good for the environment. Of course, people in my neck of the woods often thought that taking care of the environment meant going out and shooting alligators, but I figured we all ought to do our part.

"Well, I guess they get good mileage," was all he could find to say about my choice of cars. That line of conversation seemed to be closed, since it wasn't like we were talking about a new truck or something. Alcide began to explain what he was doing and where the new garage would be. I told him I had been thinking I might want to put a room over it, maybe for storage or something, but also a place to put up company, with a bathroom but not necessarily a kitchen. He thought that was a good idea. "When are you going to meet with your contractor?" he said. " I could go with you."

"I don't know yet, Alcide, Eric sort of set this up."

"Well, you let me know if you need any help or advice. I can get a crew out here."

"Thanks, Alcide, I will keep that in mind."

By the time Alcide left with all his facts and figures, Amelia was clomping around the kitchen, looking a little bit the worse for wear. She had stayed a little too long at Merlotte's and was regretting it, so was drinking some concoction, which she said was an herbal cure for hangover that Octavia had written out for her. I told her it was okay if she didn't want to go to Shreveport today, but she was determined that we would test drive cars today. "I guess I know what I want already, Amelia, I was looking at all that stuff we got online." She thought a Prius was a good idea, so we printed out a map to the car dealership on her computer, and got ready to go.

"You sure you are up to a day out, Sookie?" asked Amelia as we got into her car.

"I think I am in better shape than you are today," I answered with a giggle. "I wasn't sick at all this morning, and I feel really good."

"So what was the surprise from your Viking and what is with the hunk he brought over?" Amelia asked as she started the engine. I held my hand in front of her face wiggling my fingers, and she turned the car back off and shrieked.

"Oh my god! Let me see. Good lord, it's huge!" I laughed at the pleasure in her voice. "So spill, Sookie. I want to hear everything." Amelia knew pretty much everything that had gone on so far, so I told her all about Eric proposing. I didn't tell her the whole story about Jordun, that was a secret, but I told her he was an old ally of Eric's and he was going to be here for a while to look out for me and for Bill while he was recuperating. "The ring is beautiful, Sookie, he must have spent a fortune on it. When is the wedding?"

"We never actually got that far in the discussion," I said, blushing, and she laughed.

"I guess you had other things to do," she teased. "We are going to have so much planning to do, with a wedding and a baby! How will we get it all done, Sookie? I am so excited."

"I guess we should start by heading down the driveway," I suggested. Amelia laughed again and we headed off for Shreveport. We talked a mile a minute all the way to the car dealership.

Never having bought a new car before, I was a little intimidated by the process. Amelia just jumped right in, dragging me to several different lots to see what I might be missing before we got to the Toyota dealer. A tall balding man in gray slacks, white shirt and tie came out to greet us, and showed us the cars. I listened carefully to what he was saying, then looked at each of the cars on the lot. When he asked if we wanted to test-drive anything, I said yes. I got into the driver's seat, Amelia was in the back, and George sat up front to point out where everything was and all the features I would be getting. It was fun driving such a nice car and boy did I like that new car smell. I knew this was what I wanted. We went back into George's office and of course he was ready to wheel and deal. They would have to order the color I wanted, a dark metallic blue with black leather seats, although he thought he could get one from New Orleans by next week. That was okay, since I hadn't planned on driving anything home today.

When he started talking price, I just told him that my lawyer would be calling him and making all the arrangements, but that I could give him a deposit today so he could order my car. I had the money from Rhodes that the queen had owed me, so I got out my checkbook and wrote a check. I got on the phone right there and called Mr. Cataliades' office and gave someone there the details, and they said they would take it from there. I would get a call when I could pick up my car. That was easy and I was sure excited. I wondered what to do with the old Malibu, but I could worry about that later.

When we left the dealership, Amelia suggested we go up to the mall and look around. I was feeling a little tired, and more than a little queasy, but the mall would have a place to get a soda and sit down for a bit if I needed, so I said sure. Amelia was a good broadcaster and I could hear that she was happy that something good had come to me, and she was enjoying that we were out and away from the house, doing something fun. She had been worried because I had been screaming in my sleep at night and had been wondering if I would ever be the same again. I hadn't realized that she had heard me at night, and I felt a little bad about that. She had had her grief too, and I was touched that she was so concerned for me. I hoped something good would come Amelia's way too.

At the mall, Amelia must have tried on clothes in every store they had. I thought maybe I should try on some pants. I usually wear dresses when I go out, but I wasn't sure how I would feel now with all the scars on my legs. Eric's blood had helped the healing along rapidly, but it looked like I was going to have quite a few scars anyway. When I found some slacks I liked, Amelia insisted I get blouses to go with them, so I tried those on too. I found a pretty cranberry red silk tee that I thought Eric would like, two knit tops and two pairs of slacks. Amelia had tried on half the clothes in the mall, but didn't manage to buy one thing.

We left the mall and headed over to the Olive Garden to have our dinner. I really needed to sit down by now, and I was so hungry my stomach was growling. While we were waiting for our entrée, Amelia's phone rang. "Hi Pam," she said, then rolled her eyes. "It's for you," and she handed me her phone.

"Hi Pam," I started to say and Pam said, "You weren't answering your phone."

"I guess I left it at home," I responded.

"Where are you? Bubba said you and the witch weren't at your house," she snapped, like it was her business where I was.

"We are having dinner at the Olive Garden in Shreveport," I told her. I was about to tell her that I had bought a new car when the line went dead.

"Well," I said to Amelia, "Pam obviously doesn't read Ms. Manners." Amelia laughed, she knew Pam's habits pretty well.

"What did she want?"

"I have no idea," I replied. "We weren't home and I didn't answer my phone. I guess she is just checking up on me. I guess if something was going on she would have had some cryptic advice like don't leave the building or don't shoot until I see the whites of their eyes!" We both laughed at that and then we enjoyed the rest of our meal.

As we left the restaurant to walk to our car a block down the street, a group of three guys followed us out. They may have had a few too many beers or they may have just been stupid, but for some reason they thought crude remarks would gain them some brownie points with us. We just ignored them, of course, until one of them moved up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. I swung around and was about to knock him on the head with my purse when I heard a whoosh and a big old vampire jumped in, picked him up and tossed him into the side of a building. Next thing you know, he had another guy hanging by the back of his shirt and a big old sword at the throat of the third. Amelia shrieked. I was so surprised; I knocked myself over backwards and landed on my butt!

"You are annoying the ladies," Jordun said in a menacing voice, then swung around to me. In the blink of an eye he had sheathed his sword in some kind of holster on his back and had his hand extended to help me up. "Sister, are you injured?" he asked solicitously as he pulled me to a standing position.

"Sookie, are you okay?" asked Amelia. Jordun just ignored the three guys, who had helped up their friend and were scuttling off down the street, looking over their shoulder in shock.

"Thanks for dropping in, Jordun," I said in exasperation, as I wiped off the back of my pants. More outfits got ruined this way! "How's my butt look, Amelia?" I asked, more concerned about my clothes than anything else at this point.

"I can't tell, Sookie, it's too dark to see. Are you hurt?"

"I was doing just fine before I got startled to death, let's go home." I picked up my purse and headed to the car. Damn vampires! I guess I was a little cranky.

Jordun strolled along with us until we got to Amelia's car. "So what are you doing out here, Jordun?" I asked him, figuring Eric had sent him to keep an eye on me.

"I thought I might beg a ride to Bon Temps if you were headed home," he answered.

"Hop in," I said and climbed in the back so his long legs could ride up front with Amelia. We all got settled in and Amelia made Jordun put on his seat belt, which surprised him. Vampires don't like restraints and they figure they will survive a crash anyway, but Amelia didn't want to get a ticket. I was exhausted so I put my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. By the time we got to the highway, I was asleep.

When we got back to the house, Amelia invited Jordun in for a True Blood. I had a feeling they had been enjoying their conversation in the car. I was too tired to be very good company, so I excused myself and went up to bed. I may have heard a deep male voice coming from Amelia's room a while later, but I decided to ignore it.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

"If I bite here, it will be a matched set with the other leg. Symmetry is important, don't you think, human?" She laughed and I could see the glint of her silver teeth as she lowered her mouth to my thigh.

"No, please, no more," I begged. "Eric, help me!" I cried and screamed out as the sharp points punctured my skin.

"Sookie, Sookie, Lover, it's okay, you are dreaming. They are dead, My Lover, I am here. Can you hear me? Sookie, wake up!" Eric was yelling at me, his voice was desperate and pleading, I couldn't ignore it.

"Eric," I whimpered, "have you come to save me?"

"My Lover, I am with you, wake up, open your eyes, it is all a dream. You are safe. Open your eyes. Open your eyes, Lover." His voice was compelling and I knew if I would just open my eyes I would see Eric and he would save me. I opened my eyes and blinked at the sun streaming in my windows. It was daylight and Eric was dead for the day.

I felt confused for a moment, then I realized I was in my own bed in my own house and it was morning. I looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was ten o'clock. I felt sticky with sweat and my blankets were all twisted up around me. I sat up and that was a mistake because I had to run to make it to the bathroom in time to throw up. I felt absolutely wretched and dizzy and sat on the bathroom floor for a while until I felt ready for a shower.

The hot water seemed to revive me a little. I was missing Eric and remembering our first shower together. Never having him during the day was beginning to skew how I viewed things. My home had been where Gran was and it had been a place of safety. The house looked a little old and shabby now under the harsh judgment of the day and I didn't know how safe it was anymore. My job at the bar had given me a place where I had some sort of acceptance, now it was the place where I was "crazy Sookie". I no longer knew where I belonged, but I knew that I found safety and acceptance in the arms of my vampire. I was anxious for the day to be done and the sun to set, but it was Saturday and Jason was coming for dinner. I needed to get clean and get moving.

I picked out some clothes: jeans, a blue long sleeved tee and a white sweater. I brushed my hair and put it in a ponytail and put on a little makeup. I needed some coffee first, and then I would head off to the market and get groceries for dinner. I checked my cell for messages and there was one from Eric.

"Lover, there will be two guards at your house to take you wherever you need to go today. Please do not go out alone. It is not acceptable for you to be assaulted on the street."

I suppose Jordun must have informed Eric what happened on the street last night. I started to dial Eric's number to tell Mr. High & Mighty what he could do with his guards but snapped my phone closed when I remembered he would be asleep anyway at this time of day. Although it might give me some satisfaction to tell him off in a message, it wouldn't do a thing to get rid of any guards he had hired and anyways, I remembered my car was pretty smashed up, so someone would need to get me to the store and Amelia was still sleeping. I headed to the kitchen, poured myself a cup of coffee, popped some bread in the toaster and looked out into my yard to see who I would be riding with.

Two big men, both armed to the teeth and dressed all in black, were walking around outside. I stepped out onto the porch and the men approached. I could tell they were both weres. "Hi, I'm Sookie Stackhouse," I said.

"Ma'am," the first one said as he nodded his head. He was about six feet tall and solidly built with dark hair cut in a crew style and a very confident demeanor. He introduced himself as Travis, and said his partner's name was Mark. Mark just nodded at me. He was slightly taller and a little lankier but he appeared to be solid muscle. His skin was coffee colored and he had beautiful big, brown eyes. He was thinking how bad I looked, and wondered if all the stories about me were true, that I had been at the were war and was fucking the big, blond vampire. He wondered if that was who had beaten me up and thought he would sure like to stake the sucker if that was the case.

"Mr. Northman asked us to keep an eye on you during the day. We will be alternating with two other guys," Travis informed me.

"Can I offer you a cup of coffee or some breakfast?" I asked them politely.

Travis answered; I guess he was the spokesman. "Thank you for the offer, Ma'am, but we've had our breakfast."

"You can call me Sookie," I responded, trying to sound friendly. Until I talked with Eric I would have to put up with guards, I already knew they probably wouldn't leave if I told them to go away. We might as well all be civil.

"Yes, Ma'am, if you can let us know your schedule and any visitors you might be expecting, we will try to keep our presence from interfering as much as possible. We can give you a ride if you have anywhere you want to go today," Travis said.

"I was going to head out to the grocery store and pick up a few things," I said. "I would appreciate a ride for that, and my brother will be coming over for dinner later on. My roommate is still sleeping, but I can leave her a note so she won't be surprised to see you. Her name is Amelia."

"Just let us know when you are ready to go, Ma'am," replied Travis. Mark still hadn't said a word; he just stood there staring at me.

"Well, if y'all excuse me, I will go back in and have my breakfast. I guess we can head out to the store after that," I said and went back into the kitchen.

While I drank my coffee and ate my toast, I wrote a note for Amelia to tell her where I was and about the guards that would be around the house. I washed up my dishes, grabbed my purse and my cell phone and headed outside, making sure to lock up.

Travis and Mark were driving a big black Escalade, spanking clean and shiny. They got me settled into the back seat and we drove off to town. I asked a few questions and found out they were from Arkansas, but took jobs in different states just for a change of pace. They were both ex military and always worked together, mostly guarding vamps, but sometimes transporting goods, like gems or vehicles. They had worked for Eric for a few years off and on. The relief guards would probably be from the Shreveport pack and of course at night I would be watched by vampires. Their assignment was that I was not to be out of their sight if I was not inside my home during daylight hours. They would screen all visitors and packages that came to the house.

Walking into the grocery store surrounded by two burly men got me a few strange looks, but I didn't see anyone I knew very well, so I just ignored the looks, grabbed a cart and started gathering up everything I needed for Jason's dinner and a few extras to deal with all the company we seemed to be having these days. I made sure to get some extra bottles of synthetic blood, since I had a feeling that Jordun was bunking in below the spare room since he had been at the house so late, and of course Eric might be coming by. The guys loaded everything into the back of the Escalade and we headed home. I had the groceries put away, the pie crust rolled out, and I was peeling the apples by the time Amelia strolled into the kitchen, yawning.

"Morning, Amelia," I greeted her.

"Hi Sookie, I hope you saved me some coffee," she said as she headed over to the table. I poured her a cup from the fresh pot I had made when I'd heard her get out of bed. "Have you been out already?" she asked. I explained about the guards Eric had hired and that they had taken me to the store, reminding her that Jason was coming for dinner tonight.

"Oh yeah," she said, "I guess you have things started for that already." She didn't seem surprised about the guards, so maybe she had been with Jordun when he had talked to Eric last night.

"You have a good time last night?" I asked her, hoping to hear all about it.

"Well, I guess I did," she replied, looking a little sheepish. "I was hanging with Jordun after you went to bed, and opened a bottle of wine and well…" She laughed a little to herself, and then got up to get some cereal out of the cupboard.

"So?" I prompted.

She looked hesitant before she said, " I know it's so soon after Trey and all, but you know, he just seemed so relaxed and comfortable to be around, not all vampy like some of them are, or arrogant or anything. He's pretty good to look at too, and I was just so miserable, and I decided I needed to get on with my life. We were talking in the kitchen, and I had a lot of wine, and he was showing me that big sword he carries around and I guess I just thought what the hell. I didn't realize how much I would miss Trey. I wanted that to just go away for a while."

"Hey," I told her, smiling. "You don't need to justify anything, you are a grown up, and you look happier today, ready to move on."

"Yeah, I guess I am," she said thoughtfully and then she started asking about what we were having for dinner and what she could do to help.

I put the assembled pie into the oven to bake and we got everything else ready that could be prepared ahead. I was feeling so tired by that time, I could barely keep my eyes open. "Amelia," I said, "could you take the pie out when the timer buzzes? I just need to lay down for a bit. Wake me up in half an hour or so, okay?"

"Sure, sweetie, take a quick nap, I can finish up here. You okay?" She looked so concerned.

"Yeah, I am fine, just tired. Thank you roomie, for looking out for me. I don't know what I would have done without you. You have been a good friend to me, I will never forget it."

"Ah, don't mention it, Sook; you took me in when I needed a place. Go and rest, everything will be fine." I walked over and gave her a big hug, then went off to my bedroom to lie down. My head barely hit the pillow and I was asleep.

The sound of Jason coming in the door woke me up. I must have slept for hours! I popped out of bed so fast, I was dizzy. Slowing down a bit, I went into the bathroom to deal with necessities and freshen up and then headed out to the kitchen. Amelia and Jason were chatting away. "Hey Sook," cried Jason, as he jumped up and gave me a hug. "You are looking a lot better. How are you feeling and what's with the men in black out there?"

I had to smile to see Jason looking more like his old self. Not that his old self was always that great, but it was my brother and he had seemed so different after losing his wife and unborn child, so bitter and angry. "I am feeling a little better, Jason, I even went to the market today."

"Well, good that you are getting out. You'll be back to the bar in no time then, I guess. Sam's been missing you and everybody is asking after you."

"I am not sure whether I am up for that yet, bro. How are things going with you?" I asked as I looked around the kitchen. Amelia must have been busy while I was sleeping, since it looked like everything was ready for dinner.

"Let's all sit down and eat something and you and Jason can catch up. You didn't eat lunch, Sookie, you must be hungry," Amelia said.

"I am starving," I answered. "Thanks for finishing things up here, I didn't mean to sleep so long."

"No problem roomie, sit down," she said as she handed me a pitcher of tea.

Jason and I sat down and Amelia brought everything over to the table. There was a meat loaf, potato salad and green beans and some biscuits. I poured the tea and Jason started to load his plate with food. Jason was always hungry it seemed. "This looks good, ladies," he said with his special Jason style of charm. "This is just like Gran used to serve and did you bake that pie, sis?" Hearing him mention Gran made me a little sad, but he was right, this was the kind of dinner Gran always fixed when Jason came over to eat. I still missed her so much.

"You want a beer, Jason?" I asked, already getting up to get it for him. Of course, he would want a beer. Jason wasn't a big drinker, but once work was done for the day a few beers were the norm for most men around Bon Temps. "Tell me all the news," I continued as I set his beer next to his plate.

"Well, Hoyt was over to the house today, he was helping me work on some stuff. I was sure glad to have Hoyt around, he's been seeing that Holly and doesn't come around much anymore." Jason said this with a sadness in his voice that I rarely heard from him. Jason was usually a survivor, no matter what happened, he just bounced back. He wasn't bouncing back so well this time, and he had never been a loner. He and Hoyt had been like fish and chips, they got along so well together. Jason had lost a lot and not having his best buddy around had been hard for him.

"We were going to put in some of that insulation in the attic up at the house, maybe keep it cooler all summer," he continued.

"I would like to do that here," I said, "if I ever get the attic cleaned out. Gran had a lot of stuff up there and I haven't gone through it. I guess I should get to that sometime."

"You just let me know, and I'll come and help you," he offered surprisingly. Of course, offering was not the same as showing up and doing. Jason meant well when he offered help, but he always managed to be busy when the time came to get it done. He was good about keeping up his own place though.

"Thanks, Jason, I'll call you when I get around to that," I said graciously, and offered him another beer.

Amelia had been sitting pretty quietly while we had been eating, but as the conversation lulled, she started asking Jason what had been going on around town, and he was off and running with the local gossip. Jason could be like an old woman when there was gossip to spread. We heard all about who was dating who and who got a new hunting dog. He seemed a little bit more like his old self when he got talking about the locals in Bon Temps. Amelia offered him second helpings and he handed over his plate, teasing that he might not have any room left over for pie if he kept eating. Of course, Jason had never turned down a piece of pie in his life.

When Jason had his pie in front of him (Amelia and I thought we would have some later.) Amelia headed out of the kitchen. "I'll just leave you two to talk. I have some email and stuff to look at upstairs," she said. "Just leave those dishes, Sook, and I will get them later."

"I got it," I told her, thanking her for such a nice dinner. Jason mumbled something like "Thanks Amelia" from a mouth filled with pie. Gran would have popped him on the head for talking with his mouth full, but at least he'd thanked Amelia.

I turned to address my brother, speaking softly. "I am sorry I wasn't there for you at Crystal's funeral, Jason." I had been in pretty bad shape when the police had released the body to Jason. The were panthers had had a ceremony and burial at a little cemetery not far from Hotshot.

"That's okay, sis, I know you would have come if you could have," he said. "It was real nice, all the people of Hotshot were there, and Calvin got up and said some real nice things about her. You know she and I weren't good together, at least not after a while, but I never wanted anything bad to happen to her, and I am sure sad about the baby."

I patted Jason on his arm, and got up to get him another slice of pie and put on some coffee. I didn't usually drink coffee so late in the day, but I thought Jason might want some, especially since he had had several beers and was driving home. Maybe it would help me to stay up too, since I thought Eric might come over later and I wouldn't get to bed until pretty late. Jason just sat quietly, leaning back in his chair while I got the cups and some milk and sugar set out.

"So, Sookie, what kind of business did you want to talk about?" Jason asked. "And what's with the guards out there, anyways?" he inquired. He gave me a look as if to say he wanted some answers and he meant business. Sometimes I think Jason felt like he should act like the head of the family, although he really knew I would just do what I wanted no matter what he had to say about it. He hadn't ever pulled that on Gran of course; she would have put him in his place in no time.

I went over to the counter where I had put Jason's letter from Mr. Cataliades and brought it to the table. "What's this?" he asked, as he picked it up, looking reluctant to open it. Jason had had enough dealings with lawyers lately, and this looked official.

"Well, you know about our fairy great grand-father," I began, seeing Jason's back stiffen when I mentioned Niall. "And you know, he told us about how the fairies were leaving this place and closing off the portals they use to go between the worlds." He nodded, opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, then shut his mouth and nodded again, waiting for me to continue.

"I guess before he left, he arranged with this lawyer, Mr. Cataliades, to leave something to you, since he couldn't take all his assets with him, or they wouldn't be worth anything in his other world, I guess." Jason thought about that for a second, then turned the envelope over and opened it up.

"He left something for me?" he asked, obviously a little surprised. Niall hadn't wanted to recognize Jason as kin, and had ignored him. That had hurt Jason, I thought. "Did you get something too?" he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Yes I did, Jason," I answered cautiously. I wasn't about to tell Jason what all I had coming to me since I had a feeling Jason got quite a bit less. Now that we were getting along again, I didn't want to stir up any jealousy, I knew how easily Jason could feel slighted. There was more stuff to discuss with Jason tonight, too, and that was going to be touchy, so I just thought I'd divert him. Jason isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, so it was usually pretty easy to distract him.

"Why don't you just read that letter from the lawyer, and see what he has to say first." I told him, and he looked down and began to read. He passed me the letter, then looked at the other papers that had been in the envelope. His eyes got big and he held his breath for a minute, then he looked at it again. A big grin spread across his face, and he looked almost smug.

"I don't believe this, Sookie," he said, "I just don't believe this. He acted like he didn't care about me at all, and then he does this?" The expressions on his face were going by too fast to take in, astonishment, pleasure, satisfaction and maybe just a little bit of puzzlement. "I guess maybe he thought I wasn't so bad after all, after he met me." He looked at me with pride on his face as if of course anyone who met him was going to like him, which I guess was generally true, at least until they got to know him.

"Read the letter, Sookie, I'm supposed to go see some guy in Shreveport and sign something." I began to read.

Dear Mr. Stackhouse,

As representative of the estate of Niall Brigant, I am pleased to inform you that a trust fund has been established in your name. I have enclosed statements that detail the specifics of the fund and the schedule for disbursement.

As trustee of this account, I will need to meet with you to go over everything and to obtain your signature on the enclosed documents. Please review the provided information and feel free to call with any questions and to make an appointment to meet with me in my office.

Cataliades

When I looked up from reading the brief note, Jason grinned at me and said, "So did you get the same thing, Sook? I guess I might buy me a new truck!"

"I think that's a great idea, Jason." I thought about how not to answer Jason's question. "I am buying a new car, since my old one got smashed up. I should be getting it in a week or so." Then I led him off how much I had gotten by telling him about the Prius I ordered, what color and the great mileage. He seemed pretty happy about that, and said he didn't know what he might get if he got a new truck, but he would call that lawyer first thing on Monday morning and see about going over to sign the papers.

"So, " Jason said, after he had finished on that topic, "is that where you got that ring you are wearing, from Niall, or is there something else going on. I guess if you're wearing it on that finger you got something to tell me."

That took me aback for a second. I had planned to tell him about me and Eric, and I guess this was as good a time as any. "I am getting married, Jason," I told him matter-of-factly, "to Eric."

Jason's eyebrows shot up and he looked truly shocked and then angry. "To one of then bloodsuckers? What are you thinking, girl, that Eric is a real badass I hear. What would you want to do that for? You can't be serious."

"Yes, brother, I am serious. I love Eric and he asked me to marry him, and that is just what I am going to do."

"What about Sam?" he demanded. Of course, I hadn't anticipated that response at all.

"What do you mean, what about Sam?" I shot back, my voice rising a bit. "What has this got to do with Sam?"

"Everybody knows he's been carrying a hard-on for you for years, Sookie. What does he say about all of this?" Jason was still looking astonished.

"I don't need Sam's permission to get married, Jason. He never got in line! I guess what he has to say doesn't have any influence on me at all!" I was pretty much shouting at him at this point, and stomping around the kitchen like a three year old. Actually Sam did have a lot of influence on me, but this time, I hadn't asked him what he thought. I already knew what he would think.

"Well, I just don't get it, Sook, why you hang out with those dead guys, a pretty girl like you. I know a lot of guys get a little freaked out by your little disability, but you got that inheritance now, you don't need that bloodsucker, and what would Gran say?"

I was getting really steamed now, and I was just about ready to slap Jason. "Do you think I would marry Eric for his money? Is that what you think of me? And the human guys, they get freaked out at me? You try listening to what they think day in and day out, and see how freaked out you would be. You have no idea, Jason. The human guys don't want me, and so what if Eric is dead, he loves me and accepts what I am, and I love him, Jason, and I am going to marry him no matter what anybody thinks. If Gran could hear you talk to me like that, she would just roll over in her grave, Jason Stackhouse!" I plopped back down in my chair and glared at my brother.

I could see Jason sitting there with his mouth open, waiting to chew me out some more, but when I mentioned Gran, he just shut his mouth. He knew I was right about that; Gran would never let him sit there and basically call me a whore, marrying Eric for his money. He looked a little abashed now, and said apologetically, "Now, sis, don't get on your high horse. I guess that wasn't polite, and I guess I know you wouldn't be doing something like that. I just don't like to think about you with one of them, somehow it doesn't seem right."

My anger was slipping away now, and exhaustion was settling in. "I know it's not what you expected Jason. I know you probably figured someday I would marry somebody like Sam, or some human guy that went to work every day at a normal job, and I would set up house like Gran did, but that just isn't going to happen. Sometimes life takes a turn that we don't expect, and I sure never expected this, Jason. But this is just how it turned out. I have to follow my heart on this. I guess I have been in love with Eric since that time he stayed at my house, when the witches cursed him. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but now I can't deny it any longer. He asked me to marry him and I said yes, and that's what is going to happen."

"Well, sis, I can't say I am happy about it, cause I'm not, but if that is what's going to happen, well, I will just have to accept it. It's just hard to believe it though." He looked resigned now, and his whole body just slumped. I think it was all just a little more than Jason could handle. So much had happened and he had lost so much, it was just a lot for him to take in. I couldn't really be angry with him anymore.

"So, is that why you got them bodyguards out there?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered, "Eric sent them over. I guess he's worried about me."

"Worried about the other vamps, or about that half and half fairy?" he asked nervously.

"You mean Dermott, Jason? Have you seen him?" I demanded, and I could hear the fear in my own voice.

Jason looked at me across the table and pronounced, "He's been hanging around in my woods." That was a showstopper!

"My god, Jason, what is he doing out there? Has he approached you? You better stay here; this place is warded against fairies. He's dangerous," I gasped. My heart was beating a mile a minute. I needed to calm down.

"I don't know what he is doing out there, maybe he is living in the woods. He comes around the yard and watches me, and he keeps trying to talk to me, but I don't want anything to do with those fairies. He calls out to me and says you and me are the only family he's got now, that they left him behind. He acts kind of crazy, Sookie, but I don't think he means to hurt me. He could've killed me and Mel that day he came to the house, and he didn't, even though he knew Mel had hurt Crystal."

Jason's voice got a little quiet as he said that. I didn't know how he felt about what happened to Mel and I wasn't about to ask about that! "He says I am his family, too?" I asked Jason.

"Yeah, he says there are only a few fairies left here, and that that's what we are too, and that he was wrong to think we weren't. I guess he hid from all the rest of them when they were leaving, and now he is stuck here and I guess he doesn't have anybody at all. I don't know where he lives or what he does most of the time. I don't want him in the house, but I sort of feel bad about him out there."

I was surprised to hear empathy in Jason's voice when he was talking about Dermott. He didn't sound afraid of him and he sure had been the last time we talked about the half blood fairy. He had said he would kill him if he saw him again. Maybe my brother had really changed, or maybe he was just desperately lonely.

"Well, I wouldn't trust him, Jason. He was on the side of that Breandon that tried to have me killed! You stay away from him. He isn't full powered maybe, but he is still dangerous, Jason. You remember how he knocked Mel right out!"

"I guess I don't know if I can make him go away, Sook. I don't think I want to kill him, I've seen enough of that lately. Like I said, I don't think he means to hurt me."

"You just be careful, Jason. There is no telling what his motives are."

"I'll be careful, sis, and you watch out for him too. You got your guards out there and all, and you got your house all warded, so I guess you'll be okay." He got up from his chair. "I better get going, Sook, I told some of the guys I'd meet them over to Merlotte's. We were going to drive over to Shreveport and maybe listen to some music tonight. Thanks for dinner, I'm glad you're looking better."

As I got up from the table to walk Jason to the door, Jordun walked into the kitchen from the hall. The sun had set while we were talking. Jason stopped dead in his tracks and looked Jordun up and down. He must have figured out that Jordun was a vampire, because he didn't try to shake hands. I guess the white skin and the big sword hanging on his back were dead giveaways.

"I'm Jason Stackhouse, Sookie's sister," Jason said rudely, "and you would be?"

Before I could get a word out to introduce them, Jordun answered with a slight nod of his head. "I am Jordun, I am to help guard your sister."

I guess the fact that the vamp was there as a guard must have mollified Jason, since he didn't act angry. "Well, you take good care of her then," Jason admonished Jordun and then he turned around and gave me a peck on the cheek. "It's like night of the living dead around here, Sook," he said, shaking his head. "You be careful," he added and walked out the door.

"Bye, Jason," I called to his back, and turned around to look at my guard.

"I hope you rested well. Can I get you a True Blood, Jordun, I just have O positive," I asked him and headed to the fridge.

"Yes, thank you, Sister, I am rested and O positive will be just fine. I will just step out for a moment and let the day guard know that I have risen."

I hadn't even thought about the guys being out there all this time. I wondered what they did about their meals. They must bring something with them when they worked a long shift like this. "Ask them to come up to the porch, please?" I said to the vampire and followed him out the back door.

Travis and Mark walked up to the porch when they saw the door opened. "Good evening, Ma'am," Travis said. Mark just nodded his head.

"Can I get you guys something to eat?" I asked them. "You've had a long day out there, and please just call me Sookie."

"We are just fine, Ma'am," he answered with a smile. I guess he had his protocol and wasn't going to drop the Ma'am thing. "We brought our lunch with us, and we are just heading out now for dinner. We'll be back tomorrow morning."

"Well, let me send you home with some apple pie, I baked it this morning after we went shopping," I offered, and Travis said that would be much appreciated. I popped back into the kitchen and wrapped up two slices of pie on a paper plate with some aluminum foil and took it out to them.

"Thank you very much, Ma'am, we will enjoy this. Goodnight." He took the plate and I was rewarded with a smile.

I wished them both a good night and headed back inside to put the blood in the microwave. Jordun followed me in and sat at the table. When the blood was warm I shook up the bottle, removed the cap and handed it to the vampire. "There are more in the fridge," I told him, "if you get hungry, please feel free to help yourself."

"Thank you, Sister," he responded and then sat quietly with his drink. I figured I would get started on the dishes, so I started to clear the table. Amelia, with her sixth sense for anything involving cleaning, came into the kitchen and began to help.

"Good evening, Amelia," Jordun greeted her, smiling.

"Hey, Jordun, you sleep okay?" Amelia responded, then backtracked as she thought about the fact that she was asking a vampire. "Well, of course you did, I mean, it was daytime," then looked embarrassed and started wiping down the stove. Jordun just looked amused.

I guess Jordun was staying at my house. It would have been nice if someone had told me! I wondered why he wasn't sleeping at Bill's. Was Bill back from the vamp hospital in Shreveport? Maybe Eric figured the whole day walking thing would be a safeguard for me, but only if I could get to him quick. Where was Eric going to sleep though, if he stayed in Bon Temps? I guess that was why we needed to build more vamp shelters. I was just knee deep in vampires these days.

I know Eric didn't think much of the accommodations my place had to offer, but the house had been built with humans in mind. Bill had built the hidey-hole in the closet downstairs, but he was a lot smaller man than Eric or his brother. I better get a "No Vacancy" sign to light up outside my house before any more vamps showed up looking for a place to stay. Okay, I was just getting cranky now, I needed to go sit down and consider things a bit. I had a lot to think about.

I didn't want to be rude, but I just needed to be by myself for a bit. I excused myself to Amelia and Jordun, stopped off in the living room to get the old comforting afghan from the couch and went to my room. I flopped down on my bed, propping myself on my pillows, covered myself with the afghan and sighed. I should be making a list of all the stuff going on around here, but I wouldn't know where to begin! I had a crazy half-fairy stalking my brother and maybe me, although I hadn't seen him. I was engaged to a vampire sheriff that I hardly ever saw and I probably should be making some plans for a wedding. I might have to be worried about a vampire king that "wanted me" according to Eric. Apparently I was now a pretty wealthy woman and would have to figure out what to do with a bunch of companies and properties that I knew nothing about. My house and yard were getting remodeled into the local vamp motel and that would entail workmen and machinery and who knows what descending on my little domain. There were guards all over the place that insisted on calling me Ma'am and accompanying me wherever I went, leaving me very little opportunity for privacy of any kind. I needed to talk to Sam because it looked like I probably should quit my job. Of course, the real elephant in the room that should probably be first on the list was the fact that I was pregnant.

This wasn't the way it was supposed to work, of course. I was supposed to get married first to a man with a normal job that came home every night to the dinner I fixed him. Then after a while, when we had a home set up, my husband and I would decide it was time to have a child. We would be waiting anxiously each month to see if there might be a chance, and then we would go out and get one of those kits. We'd be hovering over the little plastic stick, waiting to see if it changed to a plus sign and when it did, we would hug and kiss and smile and plan. But I had known for a long time that it wasn't going to happen like that. If I was truthful with myself, I had been resigned for a while that I would never have a child of my own. I had half convinced myself that with the life I led, surrounded by the supernatural, it would be better to not bring a child into this. I guess I had sort of come to believe that I would never get married anyway, and I was never one of those women that is brave enough to have a child on her own. And of course, I never planned to get raped by a psychotic fairy assassin.

But what I had now was this: A vampire that did have a job, but when he did come home for dinner (which wasn't every night) I was the meal. We were sort of married, if you counted an enforced blood bond with a ceremonial knife as a wedding. We did have a house; in fact, we both had one, so maybe that was a positive thing. We didn't make a decision to have a child, since vampires can't sire children. We weren't bothering with the little test stick because a hobbit that called herself my doctor had waved her hands over my belly and declared me pregnant and somehow I had believed her. Then there was the question about whether my future husband was going to want to eat the baby, since fairies are just like crack to vampires. Yeah, they don't call me crazy Sookie for nothing.

Getting worked up about it was not going to change anything, though. Some women might not want to carry a child conceived under such horrible circumstances, but in my eyes, a child was a blessing no matter what and wasn't to blame for the acts of the parents. This was maybe my only shot at this, and I was going to make the best of it, one way or another. Eric's response had touched and surprised me and knowing I wouldn't have to do this alone was comforting. I was having a hard time imagining the vampire sheriff of Area 5 changing a diaper, but the picture of that made me smile. Sookie, I told myself, you have to look at this from a different perspective. You need to make a list of solutions, not problems.

I would talk to Eric about Dermott and see what he thought we should do about that. Amelia and I could sit down in the next few days and make a plan for a wedding. Under the circumstances, I thought less is more, maybe just something at the courthouse, although they weren't open at night. Vampire marriages were legal now in most states, so I was sure there was a method to deal with the daylight problem. I would ask Pam, I bet she would know. I would need a dress, but Tara would be able to help with that. It would be nice to have a cake and a little reception maybe, but that could be done at home, nothing too fancy.

Dealing with Felipe de Castro might or might not be a problem, although seeing that he was a vampire with lots of power, I was betting on a problem being the case. Eric was going to have to deal with that too.

Mr. Cataliades was coming tomorrow night to deal with the paperwork for Niall's legacy. He would have recommendations for how to approach all of that, I was sure, as would Eric. I would listen to their advice before I made any decisions on that front. I guess the contractor would be coming by before long with plans for what was to be done on my house. Once we had gone over the plans, I would just leave it to the experts and stay out of the way. I thought I wouldn't argue with Eric over having the guards around for a while, since they might actually turn out useful with crazed half fairies running loose. I was learning that it might be good to listen to someone else about this kind of thing. As reluctant as I was to let down Sam, I was going to call him tomorrow and tell him to look for someone to replace me. That made me a little sad to think about, but I had a feeling my life was going to get awfully busy very soon, and since now it was financially possible for me to quit, I better just get on with it. Okay, now it all looked a little bit more manageable.

I was wondering when Eric was going to get there, when my cell phone rang. I looked at the number and could see it was Pam. "Hello Pam," I said as I picked up.

"Eric tells me that I might soon get to plan a baby shower," she said with no preliminaries.

"Well yes, Pam, I guess so, although it is a little soon to be planning that yet." Pam loved to plan things."

"Congratulations are in order in any case," she continued. "My master said to inform you that he is delayed and will not be in Bon Temps tonight but will be there in time for your appointment tomorrow." I sighed with exasperation as she continued. Couldn't the man (vampire) make his own personal calls?

"Workmen will arrive first thing tomorrow morning to begin construction. He asks that you stay in the house as much as possible and if the king or one of his representatives calls, you should be too ill to come to the phone, then call Eric immediately." She paused, so I guessed she was waiting for a response for a change.

"What's going on, Pam?" I asked her.

"Nothing to worry your pretty little head about, and you are to eat nourishing meals."

"Yes, mom," I responded sarcastically, "anything else?"

"No, I think that about covers it. Jordun is there, is he not?"

"Yes, he is downstairs talking to Amelia. Did you want to speak to him?"

"I will try his cell. Nite, Sookie," and she hung up.

I wondered what that was about and why I shouldn't answer the phone if Felipe de Castro called. I thought I better let Amelia know, so I got up from my bed and headed downstairs. I was ready to have a piece of pie now anyway. I got off the bed, straightened up the covers and pillows and headed to the kitchen.

Amelia was sitting quietly at the table with her head propped up on her elbows. "Amelia, you okay?" I asked.

"Oh hey Sook, I'm fine, just considering whether I want a piece of pie or not. What the hell, let's both have some. You want ice cream on top?" And of course I did.

We got our dessert and sat companionably for a few minutes to just enjoy it. I remembered what Pam had said on the phone and told Amelia about it, in case she answered any calls from the king.

"Do you think that's why there are strange vampires out in our yard, Sookie?" she asked.

That took me by surprise. "What vampires, Amelia. Do you mean Jordun?"

"No, I looked out a little while ago and there were three other vampires out there talking to Jordun. I don't recognize any of them from Fangtasia. I wonder what's going on. It seemed like Jordun wasn't having a problem with them or anything."

I considered that for a moment. "I forgot to tell Pam about Dermott being around, so it wouldn't be because of that. Eric said he thought he was probably dead."

Amelia raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Dermott is still around, the one that was calling himself Drake? How do you know Sookie? Did he come here?"

"No," I reassured her. "I haven't seen him around here, but Jason said he was out in the woods by his house." I told Amelia everything that Jason had told me. "So, maybe it's just some vampire thing. I don't want to get in the middle of any more vampire shit," I sighed.

"When Eric showed Victor Madden the ritual knife Eric used for our so-called marriage, that was supposed to keep the other vamps away from me. He said everything was all settled with him being sheriff, so I don't know what this could be about. Eric isn't coming tonight, so I can't ask him, not that he'd tell me anyway."

"You know Sookie, I think he knows what he is doing. He hasn't stayed alive this long without outmaneuvering a lot of other vamps. Just follow his advice, stay in for a few days and see what happens. Dermott can't get in here, even Niall said the wards would keep out any fairies, but outside of the house, I don't know how to ward you against them. I am working on that though."

"You're right. He knows what he is doing. I can't stay in the house forever though, like a prisoner. I'll go stir crazy!" I was just getting aggravated again.

"So let's think of things to do. How about looking at wedding stuff online? We can look at the dresses and flowers and everything. Do you two know when you are going to do this?" Amelia asked excitedly. She was just like Pam. She loved to plan things.

"I have no idea. I haven't seen him for long enough to talk to him about it. If it's up to me, I guess we should do it soon. I think just something small though, at the courthouse. Marrying a vampire is not going to go over very well with most people, so better to not make too big of a deal out of it I think."

"Well, big or small, you have to have a dress! What's the point of a wedding without the dress? Come on, let's go look." She was so enthusiastic, so I just said sure and we went up to her room and got online.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 final

CHAPTER 10

There is nothing like the sound of heavy equipment to get you up and moving in the morning. I buried my head under the covers, but that didn't help much. "Beep, beep, beep." Something was backing up, over and over, and it was making me crazy. What was it Gran used to say? "No rest for the wicked, and the righteous don't need any," or something like that. I decided to just get out of bed.

Aside from the tinge of nausea, I actually felt pretty good. Looking in the mirror, I could see that my bruising was almost completely gone. There were scars, but they were much fainter now and most of them would be covered with clothing. I think I must have lost a little weight, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, although I wouldn't recommend torture as a weight loss regimen. I decided I would try shaving today. I'd have to be very careful, but it would make me feel more "back to normal". Maybe I would do my nails after breakfast.

After I finished my primping (and I must say I looked quite a bit better) I found a cute pink tee, some jeans and some sandals. Spring was coming on, and I thought it might get warm later today, but for the morning, I found a light pink sweater to match. My hair went up in a ponytail (I could actually reach that far today) and with some dangly earrings I was good to go.

I thought it was time for me to take over some of the chores Amelia had been handling, so I stripped the bed and carried the sheets with me to throw into the washer. What was going to happen to my clothesline with those guys tearing things up out there? I 'd have to use the dryer I guessed. I loved the smell of the sun on fresh clean sheets, but I could live without it for a while.

Who knew how long it would be before things were settled. It had taken months to get my kitchen put back together after the fire, and building a garage was probably a lengthier project than that. I was actually surprised that work had started so soon. Didn't it take weeks to get permits and plans and all of that? Maybe Eric had pulled strings, but where did he find crews to come over with such short notice? There were lots of guys out of work these days, of course.

Well, if he had his own construction company, I suppose he could prioritize however he wished. I needed to discuss this with him. I wasn't too happy about all of these changes happening so fast. I hadn't really given it much thought yet, figuring I would have more time. I'd better talk to the contractor too and see exactly what the schedule was and how this was all going to work out. It was my house after all!

That was another thing to think about. If Eric and I were really married, was it now "our" house? I hadn't even been to his house, although he had asked me to stay there. Maybe if I had gone when he asked me, things would have worked out differently, and not so many would have died. I still had that on my conscience I guess. Gran would say, "Don't cry over spilled milk," but I guess Trey's death was a little more than spilled milk. I guess she really meant that you had to move on from things that had already happened and you couldn't change. Well, I would take one step at a time and try to move forward. I'd start with coffee and then breakfast.

Sitting there with my oatmeal, it occurred to me that I was being awfully accepting of everything going on around me, almost as if it was someone else's life and I was just an observer. That wasn't like me. I wondered if it was just that all the bad experiences had made me less confident or if it was just hindsight. I realized that not all my decisions had been good ones. I could see some things I might have done differently, although at the time it had all seemed reasonable. Of course reasonable was a relative term when you were dealing with the supernatural.

I didn't think I was just giving up or giving in, but I was looking at ways to let someone else help me with what was turning out to be a pretty screwed up life. Maybe that is what it would mean for Eric and I to be a couple, to share some of the decisions and responsibilities. I wondered if it could be an equal partnership though, since he was so ancient and experienced and I guess I had led a pretty sheltered life. Not that I hadn't had as much heartbreak and challenge as most people, maybe more, but living in a small town in Louisiana with my grandmother hadn't really prepared me for a bigger and certainly scarier world. Even if I didn't go out into that world, apparently it was coming to me.

Before I started my nails (pink polish to go with my shirt) I decided to go out and see what exactly was happening to my yard. I looked out the window and could see my two bodyguards standing outside, so I would be fine to step out the door, fairy or no fairy.

There must have been six guys out there besides my were guards, so I doubted Dermott would be around. The vampires of course would all be sleeping. Thinking of sleeping vampires made me wonder what it might be like to wake up to my vampire. I guess he was just sort of cold and dead all day, but it might be nice to be there when he woke up. The whole day and night sleeping schedule was going to make it tricky, although working at a bar had gotten me used to being up half the night anyway. And speaking of bars, I should really call Sam today. I tossed that around in my head for a minute. I wasn't up to dealing with Sam yet, that could wait.

As soon as I opened the back door, Travis and Mark headed in my direction. "Good morning, Ma'am," Travis said. Mark just sort of nodded his head, still not talking.

"Morning," I replied. "I thought I would come out and see how everything is going and I wanted to talk to the head honcho. You two want some coffee or anything?" They both turned down the coffee, saying they were fine. They followed me as I walked over to what appeared to be a big hole being dug about fifty feet from the porch. Mr. Morgan must have seen me walking over, because he came walking right up to me and took off his hard hat.

"Miss Stackhouse," he greeted me.

"Good morning, Mr. Morgan. You can call me Sookie. How is everything going out here? I am surprised y'all were able to start on this so soon."

"Mr. Northman asked us to get this going immediately, so we have rescheduled a few other things. We will be working as fast as we can to get this done and be out of your way."

"I haven't actually seen plans of what all you are doing," I said, a little embarrassed that I didn't know what was going on. "Could you maybe explain a little about what's being done?"

"I would be glad to show you the plans," he said. "Let me just get them out of my truck, and maybe we could lay them out on the porch?"

"Just bring them on into the kitchen and we can look at them on the table," I offered. "And maybe you'd like some coffee?"

He said that sounded like a good idea and went to get the plans. The guards must have thought he was okay, since they didn't insist on following him in. When we had the plans spread out on the kitchen table, and the contractor had a cup of coffee in front of him, he explained the whole process.

"We will be excavating first, under where the garage will be," he began.

He proceeded to describe something like a concrete bunker that would sit below the garage. It would be big enough to house a small bedroom and bath, all light tight and with electronically secure entrances from the garage and from a door underground. The whole space would be fire proof and would have a ventilation system, power and water. An encased tunnel would eventually extend to the house and would be accessed through a closet, much like my hidey-hole was set up now. Over the vamp compartment would be a regular garage space that would fit two cars and have space for storage or workspace. They expected to take three months to complete the whole project, including painting, roofing and finish work, weather permitting.

I was impressed! "Wow, that's really quick," I said. "Will you have to be in the house much?" I could see my privacy going right down the drain.

"Not at first, but at some point we will have to be in and out. We'll try to get that part done as quickly as we can and stay out of your way, but there will probably be some inconvenience."

I sighed. Inconvenience was putting it mildly. I could see where access to the sleeping quarters from the house was a good idea though. You could keep vamps out of the house by refusing them an invite, but as I knew from experience, if they surrounded you, you couldn't get out. And there was always the threat of being burned out. An escape hatch to a fireproof place was maybe a good thing. It sounded sort of like a bomb shelter. I hoped Eric wasn't planning for war, but if he was, why did it have to happen at my house? Well, that was a question for him, not the builder.

"Thank you for showing me the plans, Mr. Morgan."

"My pleasure, Miss Sookie, anytime you have questions, you just ask away." He shook my hand and went back out to the yard just as the phone began to ring.

Just as I was about to grab it, I remembered that I wasn't supposed to talk to anyone from de Castro's headquarters. I just let the answering machine pick it up. When the light started blinking, I pressed the button to play the message, never expecting who it turned out to be.

"Miss Stackhouse, this is Agent Lattesta. If you could call me at my office, I would like to set up an appointment to meet with you. My number is…."

He gave his number and say goodbye, but I was already heading over to the table to sit down. With everything that had been happening, I had totally forgotten the FBI. What was I going to do about that?

The FBI had traced me from Rhodes and had sent two agents to see if I was really a "psychic". They were also trying to identify Barry the Bellboy. They had a picture of Barry and me together outside the bombing site. The killing of my sister-in-law had distracted them and then Agent Weiss had been shot by a member of the FOTS, but apparently Lattesta was still interested in me.

Eric had told me to call Bobby Burnham or Mr. Cataliades if they showed up during the day. The best course was probably just to not call them back until I talked to Mr. Cataliades tonight. He and Eric would maybe have some ideas how to deal with them. I wondered if Agent Weiss was okay. I hadn't heard anything else about the whole situation. Amelia had said Arlene's lawyer had gotten her out on bail, but there was no telling when the whole thing would go to court. I suppose I would be expected to testify. Add that to the list of problems I was going to have to deal with. There was no way I was going to work for the FBI no matter what.

I decided the best thing to do was to resume my earlier plan and do my nails! I wanted to feel normal again and look nice for Eric when he came tonight. I better plan to have something to serve for Mr. Cataliades too. What did half-demons eat I wondered. He was coming too late for supper, so just a snack maybe. I would call Amelia and maybe she could stop off at the store on her way home.

We had served her dad warm Brie and crackers and he had enjoyed that. Maybe we could put out some fruit too. I didn't know if he drank alcohol, but I had beer and coke and tea in the house. Amelia and I didn't stock much of a liquor cabinet, since neither of us were big drinkers. Was I even supposed to drink when I was pregnant? Probably not. It seemed funny that I could drink vampire blood but was worrying about having a gin and tonic. Life just didn't make much sense.

I called Amelia and told her I would make dinner tonight, we had everything here for crab cakes with dirty rice and salad. She would pick up everything else we needed for company, so that was taken care of.

I got my nails done, giving them plenty of time to dry, then puttered around the house, remaking my bed with clean sheets and dusting and straightening. By then, I was feeling absolutely exhausted so I snuggled up in my old afghan on the couch and closed my eyes. As nice as it was to be lying down, I couldn't quite get comfortable.

"My lover, have you come to join me? I have missed you. What is wrong, Sookie?"

"Eric? I miss you too. I am so tired and I'm kind of lonely today. I think my life is out of control and I just feel sort of scared all the time."

"Hush lover, you are not alone. I am here with you. Sleep and dream with me."

A wave of comfort washed over me. My whole body relaxed and I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up I was surprised to not have Eric there with me. I could have sworn he had been holding me in his arms.

It was quiet in the yard; the workers were done for the day. I had been asleep for hours. Amelia would be home soon, so I started to get dinner going. By the time she walked in the door carrying the grocery bags everything was ready to eat.

Amelia was in a chatty mood and kept me entertained with all the local gossip she had heard at work. She offered to prepare the appetizers while I cleaned up from dinner, then I went off to my room to change before Eric got here. I chose one of the new pairs of black slacks I had purchased, a pink silk shell and some black pumps. Since this was sort of a business meeting tonight, I dressed it up with a gold chain and gold earrings. I brushed my hair, leaving it down and put on some pink lipstick.

When I heard Eric's corvette coming down the driveway I headed out to the front door. I could feel his eagerness to see me through our bond and I almost ran down the front steps. He snatched me up in his arms and twirled me around until I was laughing and then he kissed me. That vampire surely knew how to kiss!

"My lover, you are radiant tonight. Are you glad to see me?" He picked me up and carried me up the front steps.

"Yes, sweetie, I am glad to see you. I missed you. I was dreaming about you today," I told him.

"Ah," he said looking at me quizzically, "did you have a good nap? I was dreaming about you too. It is strange, don't you think? We will have to talk about this."

That puzzled me so I asked, maybe blushing a little, "Why is it strange that I dreamed about you, Eric?"

"Not that you dreamed about me, but that I dreamed about you, lover. Vampires don't dream," he responded.

Before I could get my next question formulated and out of my mouth he hushed me saying, "We will talk of this later, Cataliades is here. It might be prudent to not mention the child at this point, although generally Cataliades is to be trusted in terms of confidentiality. I am sorry that we weren't able to discuss this before this meeting, lover, but do not feel compelled to make any decisions tonight."

Eric then went out front to inform his vampires that the lawyer was okay to enter, coming back shortly with Mr. Cataliades and his niece Diantha.

"Mr. Cataliades, Diantha, it is so nice to see you. Won't you come in?" I greeted them.

"My dear Ms. Stackhouse," said Cataliades with a little bow, "it is a pleasure to see you again."

"Nicetoseeyou," said Diantha in her usual breathless voice.

"Won't you sit down? Can I get you anything to drink?" I asked as I showed them into the living room. Amelia had laid out the snacks on the coffee table and then gone up to her room to give us some privacy.

"A glass of iced tea for both of us would be very much appreciated my dear," he said as he sat down on one of the chairs.

Diantha plopped down on the floor. She was dressed in her usual colorful wardrobe, wearing an orange tank, green leggings and a diaphanous blue skirt. She was barefoot and had a big shoulder bag in her hands. Mr. Cataliades looked very proper in his grey business suit, carrying a briefcase. I went to the kitchen and brought back three iced teas and a True Blood for Eric on a tray.

"Thank you," Mr. Cataliades said as I settled down next to Eric on the couch. Mr. Cataliades got right down to business.

"You are looking quite well. I am glad to see you that you are recovering from your ordeal my dear. I was very sorry to hear about that. There is much to discuss tonight and I am glad that you have asked Northman to be with us. Some of this will be of interest to him I think. The first order of business will be to go over the forms that need to be signed. These mostly will transfer the assets into your name. I have taken the liberty of establishing a checking account and several credit cards that you may use to access the funds in the main account immediately."

"The businesses, except for your cousins' club Hooligan's, all have managers in place and will continue to operate as usual. Although Niall owned them, he did not necessarily manage them directly. I am recommending that you leave present management in place until you can decide if you will keep them. Most of the undeveloped property was purchased as long term investment and can be sold at anytime you wish. Tonight it is important to discuss who you would like to represent you and to establish contingency plans. I understand from Northman that you are planning to be legally married shortly? May I offer you my congratulations?"

I hadn't realized that Eric had told anyone about our engagement so I was a little surprised. "Yes, thank you, we are planning to be married, although we haven't set a date yet," I answered.

"May I see the ring?" he asked politely.

I put my hand out and he got up and walked over to peer at it. He nodded approvingly and said, "Very nice," glancing at Eric.

"It is official then," he said, as if it wouldn't be if the ring weren't nice enough. "We can take that into consideration when we make decisions," he said. "Let's start with these forms that just transfer everything and set up your banking and credit."

Cataliades then took out forms and handed them to me to sign, explaining each one and answering my questions. I was surprised at how many there were. I glanced up at Eric and he nodded approval so I just signed where I was told. He handed me a checkbook and two credit cards already set up in my name. Two of the forms required some further discussion.

"My dear, as painful as the subject can be, you must make decisions on what to do with these assets if something unfortunate were to happen to you. One of them is a will and the other is a medical proxy statement in case someone else needs to make decisions for you. It is usual to assign that to your husband of course, but it is totally your choice to make specific recommendations for your own treatment. It is always wise to have two persons listed in case the primary person listed is unavailable."

Of course, Eric would be unavailable whenever the sun was up. I had already thought about these forms, so I was able to tell Cataliades my wishes right away.

"If I were to die, I would like to leave most of my assets to Eric. I know that Jason is provided for already by Niall. But I would like to establish some kind of trust for someone I know, a child. I want him to be able to go to college and have something to start out with in life. Is that possible, can you do that for me?" Both Eric and Cataliades raised their eyebrows at that.

"Of course my dear, that can be arranged. I will need to have information about the child, his name, address and social security number, and you would have to decide the amount of money that would be used to fund the trust. There is also the question of when the money would be disbursed, at what age. Perhaps you can think about it and we can set up another meeting to establish the details."

That sounded okay to me, so I nodded. "I think for the medical proxy, I would like Eric to be on that, and Sam Merlotte as the alternate." Eric stiffened at that and Mr. Cataliades actually looked surprised.

"Not your brother, my dear?" he asked.

"I don't think my brother would be a good choice. Although I know he loves me, I also know that he doesn't usually make good decisions. I trust Sam to always put my best interests first," I said, looking up at Eric to see if he would dispute that. He didn't look happy about it, but he nodded in agreement.

"Well, that is settled then. There are other provisions that must be filled in on the form that you will perhaps be more comfortable taking your time with. Your signature will of course have to be witnessed by two people not listed on the proxy. Shall I just leave this with you and you can then send it on to me? The estate document will have to be prepared and you can review and sign that when you come to the office to prepare the trust."

"Yes, that will be fine," I told him.

"There is the question about what to do with Hooligan's. You might want to just sell it, or perhaps Northman would like to see to its management for now?"

I asked Eric what he thought and he said that a strip club was probably a good business to be run by vampires, since it operated mostly at night, but he thought it might be best to sell it.

"I may be able to find someone that would be interested in buying it and I could look after it for the time being. My staff can oversee it, I think, and Pam might enjoy it for a while as a diversion." He said that with a grin on his face. I told Mr. Cataliades that we would follow Eric's recommendations. He nodded approvingly.

"Well, most of the preliminary work can be gotten under way. Am I to assume that you would like me to continue to represent you in these matters, Ms. Stackhouse? There is also the question of the accounting firms to use. Your great grandfather used several firms that I have confidence in and that are trustworthy. They are the same firms that handle many of Northman's accounts. Would that meet with your approval?"

"That would be fine, Mr. Cataliades. If Eric is comfortable with them, then I will be too, I am sure. And of course, I would like you to continue helping me."

"Fine," he said, looking pleased. "I will be sending you summaries of my fees and regular statements will be issued by the accounting firms of course. I will of course be glad to represent you in any legal situations that may come up. I primarily deal with the supernatural, but if a human issue arises, that can be managed or delegated to one of the attorneys I associate with. Now, there are just a few other matters." He turned to Diantha and she dug into her backpack and brought out a beautifully carved wooden box.

"There are a few trinkets in this box which Niall asked me to deliver to you personally. I have taken the liberty of having then insured. He hoped you would wear them in good health. I am sure they will accentuate your natural beauty," he said graciously and smiled as he handed the box to me.

The box itself was lovely, but my breath caught as I opened it. Inside was a huge diamond solitaire on a gold chain, a bracelet of gold, diamonds and sapphires, and a pair of earrings that looked like emeralds.

"Oh my, they are beautiful!" I exclaimed, not believing my eyes. "I wish I could thank him," I said and burst into tears.

Eric wrapped his arms around me and said, "Don't cry, lover," sounding worried. Mr. Cataliades handed me a snowy white handkerchief.

"Sorry," I said, wiping my eyes and blowing my nose. "It's just so sad that they are gone."

Neither of the men had anything to say about that, but sat quietly until I had composed myself. I closed up the box of jewels and set them on the table.

"Now, there is something of import I wish to impart to you. Northman, this will be of great interest to you. You may know, my dear, that one of the companies that was owned by your great grandfather, and is now owned by you, is involved in medical research?"

"Yes, he told me that once. He said they made gloves for the fairies so that they could be around the iron in this world. He showed them to me, they were almost undetectable." Eric looked surprised at that; he had not known anything about the gloves.

"Yes, that is one of the things that they make. What he may not have told you is that he also owned a controlling interest in the company that owns the patent for synthetic blood." Eric's eyes were almost glowing at this news and he sat very still, even for a vampire.

"The companies that manufacture synthetic blood must renegotiate with you periodically to continue to produce their product. You know of course that the availability of synthetic blood is what makes it possible for vampires to mainstream and be recognized as part of society. This puts you in an interesting bargaining position with the vampires. I am not sure if it will be useful to you or if it could endanger you, but I would recommend that you hold on to that controlling interest and also that you keep that fact concealed for the time being. Northman would probably concur with me on that," he commented as he looked at Eric."

"Yes, I think that is something that we would not to share with too many people. It might definitely be used to our advantage, My Lover, at some future date." Eric was looking very thoughtful.

I wasn't sure what to say about that, so I got up and offered everyone something to eat and asked if they would like some more tea. Mr. Cataliades and Diantha helped themselves to some of the refreshments and I went to the kitchen to get Eric another blood. He looked at it very thoughtfully as I handed it to him. Eric and Mr. Cataliades were discussing some of the rebuilding projects on vampire properties in New Orleans when Amelia popped downstairs. She greeted Mr. Cataliades and Diantha whom she knew from New Orleans, and then she turned to me.

"I'm sorry to walk in on your meeting, Sookie, but I wanted to make sure you heard the message on the answering machine from the FBI." I had forgotten all about it!

This prompted quite a few questions from Eric and Cataliades, and I went over all my interactions with the two agents and told them about the picture of Barry and me. Eric had heard most of this already, but Cataliades looked very concerned. He asked quite a few questions, including what I had gathered from the agents' thoughts and what I had told Andy to make him come meet me at Arlene's.

"Ms. Stackhouse, I am glad that this situation has been brought up while I am here. You must call my office immediately if any one from that agency comes to see you. I will send someone out as soon as possible. I am often in New Orleans so may not always be personally available. I suggest that if they call again that you give them my number and state firmly that you will not meet with them without your lawyer present. Legal entities in this country have their protocols and generally will cooperate if they are presented with the right incentives. I will explore that arena." I guess he was finding a polite way to say bribes or maybe he meant political pressure of some kind.

"Lately, there have been several agencies that have overstepped their bounds in how they interpret the freedom of the individual and this can present problems. In those cases, it is best to be proactive. I am sure that we can convince them that you are of no interest to them, especially if Mr. Northman is present during the interview. As your spouse, he may also have some standing to insist, although your present marital state is not recognized by the great state of Louisiana. It would be in your best interests to expedite a legal marriage."

Both Eric and Mr. Cataliades then asked several more questions about the FOTS guys and asked if I knew whether Agent Weiss had survived (I didn't) and what had happened to Arlene. I could see looks flying back and forth between the two men.

"I don't want anything bad to happen to Arlene, she has two children," I managed to gasp, although by this time I was so upset I was ready to have a panic attack. I knew what happened to people that messed with vampires or their "possessions". Eric just sort of harrumphed and Mr. Cataliades sort of snorted.

"I am sure there is no reason for you to upset yourself, my dear. Of course there is no reason to worry that anything would happen," he said.

I noticed he said there was no reason to worry, not that nothing would happen. I didn't want to be responsible for any more people getting killed, especially Arlene, since once I had considered her my friend. I knew that wasn't the case anymore though, and that saddened me.

Eric was now sitting very still and under the waves of comfort he was trying to send to me, I could feel a slow burn of anger. He was not giving me any reassurances about Arlene. I figured I better just let that drop for now, since a scene in front of the lawyer would probably not be productive.

During all this conversation, Diantha had continued to sit on the floor, very quietly and very still. Out of the blue she said, "Didyougetadress?"

It took me a moment to realize she was looking at me and expecting an answer and another moment to decipher what she had asked. "A dress?" I asked.

"Weddindress. I like weddings," she clarified.

"Oh, no Diantha, I haven't picked anything out yet. Amelia and I have been looking online and saw a few we liked though." She beamed at that and looked interested.

"Perhaps you and Miss Amelia would be so kind as to show Diantha what you have been considering?" asked Mr. Cataliades very politely. "She does love anything frilly." Of course that was the understatement of the century. "Mr. Northman and I have a few things yet to discuss." Okay, they wanted some privacy. I was a little taken aback, but Amelia, always the clotheshorse, jumped right in.

"Let's go up to the computer and I will show you what we were looking at, Diantha." I didn't have a choice but to agree and head off upstairs with the two of them to see what kind of advice a demon would offer about my wedding dress.

Amelia switched on the computer and we crowded around. We had looked at several sites the night before, most of them much too fancy for me, with big name designers, but the dresses were lovely. Amelia pointed out the virtues of each dress to Diantha, who stared and stared, only "oohing" or "awing" when the dress was particularly ornate. I mentioned that since it would be such a small wedding, I had thought something a little less formal might be in order, but I was dismissed out of hand by the two women.

Since the dresses were so beautiful, and women do love wedding dresses, we managed to enjoy ourselves for the next twenty minutes, then out of the blue Diantha's eyes perked up and she said, "Uncle's leaving, timetogo." She sort of skipped down the stairs and we followed. I wondered if she had some sort of wordless communication with Mr. Cataliades, and figured that must be the case.

As we got downstairs, I could see Mr. Cataliades waiting by the door. "Ah, there you are niece. It has been a great pleasure to see you, Ms. Stackhouse, Ms. Amelia, Northman." And he turned to leave. Eric and I walked out front to escort them to the car. Diantha waited until her uncle was ensconced in the back seat, then turned to me and said cryptically, "Seeyougotanangel."

I must have looked puzzled and murmured something like, "Pardon me?" because she looked at me squarely and carefully enunciated, "An An gel!"

"Diantha? Is it Claudine? Where? I can't see her!"

"You'll see," she said, then winked and climbed into the driver's seat of the car. Diantha and Mr. Cataliades drove away.

"Eric!" I exclaimed, turning to him. "Do you think she meant that Claudine has become an angel now? Do you think I will see her?" I was so excited at the prospect of having Claudine in my life again.

"Truly, lover, I have no idea. But it is an interesting possibility," he answered, looking pleased at my excitement.

"Oh Eric, so much to think about, I am overwhelmed!" I said.

He waggled his eyebrows, cocked a grin and said, "You are clearly not overwhelmed enough, My Lover, since you are still on your feet." And he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

Eric placed me carefully on the edge of the bed, then knelt down and began to kiss me. His fangs were down and when I ran my tongue over them, he shuddered. "Lover, I am so hungry," he whispered. He kissed along my neck, stopping to lick my ear lightly, and I sighed. I was so happy when I was with him. "Let me undress you, lover," he said and I nodded. He pulled my shirt over my head, and then rested his head between my breasts as his hands reached behind my back to unhook my bra. He pulled the straps down slowly and slipped it off, throwing it to the floor. He nuzzled each breast, stopping to lick my nipples, grazing them just a bit with his fangs. His hands ran down my sides, and then began to unbutton my slacks. He laid me gently back on the bed and slipped off my slacks. He brushed his fingers between my legs, stroking me ever so lightly over my panties, leaving me quivering.

Eric stood up, kicked off his shoes and began to unbutton his shirt. He tossed it to the floor and slid out of his pants. He stood in front of me for a moment, smiling down, giving me a chance to admire his beautiful body. I could see that he was ready for me, very very ready.

"Do you like what you see, lover?" he whispered in his husky voice, laden with his now obvious desire.

"Yes," I answered quietly, barely able to speak.

"Do you want me, lover?" he asked, as he began to slide my panties down.

"Yes, Eric." I whispered.

He tossed my panties aside and began to kiss his way up to my center, spreading my legs. He stopped to inhale and sighed. "Delicious," he said. His tongue stroked lightly against my folds and I shivered as it found its way to my nub. He licked and tasted while his hands reached up to caress and squeeze my breasts. I pushed up against him, and he pressed his face harder to me, so I could rub against it. My body felt flushed and every pinch of his fingers on my breast felt exquisite.

He began to kiss up my tummy, stopping to lick at my belly button and then between my breasts and I could feel how hard he was as he lay on top of me, pressing slightly against my entrance. "Do you want me, lover?" he asked again as he licked my nipple.

"Yes, Eric." I answered, my voice husky with need.

He began to enter me, slowly pushing in, and then pulling back a little, each push a little deeper. His teeth grazed my nipple and it made me shiver with anticipation. He plunged himself deeper inside me, and I wrapped my legs around him to pull him in as far as he could go. He began to move faster, making little noises and I pushed my hips up to meet him stroke for stroke. My arms wrapped tightly around him and he slammed himself into me. I gasped and cried out as I began to feel the first waves of pleasure engulf me. He thrust again as he sunk his fangs into my neck and I was gone, my muscles clamping around him as he released inside me.

We stayed together like that for a moment, resting while I caught my breath. Eric lazily licked the wound on my neck, and then rested his head against it. "Beautiful," he said and I smiled. When he was satisfied that the wound would heal, he slid out of me and lay at my side, his hand on my tummy, stroking. I could see the glow of his skin in the darkness of the room. "Mine," he whispered and I felt complete.

I must have dozed off for a bit, and when I woke, Eric was lying on his side, his head propped up on his elbow staring at me. I felt disoriented and nauseous.

"Are you feeling okay, dear one?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"I think I am going to be sick, Eric," I said as I got up and stumbled into the bathroom to throw up. Again I found myself sitting on the bathroom floor, my head in my hands.

Eric handed me a damp washcloth. "Is this illness because of the child?" he asked. He looked like he was trying to remember, maybe when he had children of his own a millennium ago. "This is normal and not something to be alarmed about?" he queried.

"I think it is, Eric, but it sucks just the same," I answered. He chuckled at that.

"Let me help you up, lover, and then I will bathe you. That will make you feel better."

He picked me up, made sure I was steady on my feet, and then started the bath while I rinsed out my mouth and brushed my teeth. When I was ready, he scooped me up and sat me down in the warm water. It felt great. He slid in behind me and wrapped his arms around my middle.

"You must tell me if there is anything I can do to make you feel better, lover. I am ignorant about these things. You will have to instruct me."

"I don't know much about it either, Eric, although I suppose I better find out quick."

"There are many changes for you in so short a time, Sookie, but I am sure you will be strong and beautiful in your pregnancy as you are in all things."

I blushed a bit at that. I didn't feel strong or beautiful when I was sitting on the bathroom floor. But he was right, in a way, the thought of bearing a child did make me feel different and special and I could be strong for my child.

He kissed the back of my neck, grabbed the bar of soap and began to wash me. "There is much to talk about, lover, but first I must ask you something." I knew I wasn't going to like this. I usually didn't when his voice got all business like. "Tell me, Sookie, and tell me true, can you hear my thoughts?"

I don't know what I had expected, but it wasn't that. I began to say of course not, but I stopped to think. He must have felt my hesitation, and maybe how fearful I was because he stroked my arm and said, reassuringly. "I will not be mad at you, Sookie, and you must know that I would never hurt you. This is important and it could be of great value if your gift extended to hearing vampires."

Of value to whom, I wondered, probably not me! I couldn't really lie to him, though, even if I wanted to.

"Eric, I have heard your thoughts maybe three times, and I have heard brief thoughts from a few other vampires. Each time it was soon after I had vampire blood. Most of the time, I don't hear anything at all when I am around vamps," I confessed.

"Ah, I thought this might be the case. This is a very good thing, Sookie. Now I will tell you something." He stroked my neck almost unconsciously as he seemed to think about what he wanted to say.

"Several times in the last few days, while I was in my daytime sleep, I heard you calling to me. Of course I answered you, and it seemed as if you were in distress and I tried to comfort you. Once it seemed as if I was trying to wake you from a nightmare, and once I felt as if you were lying beside me sleeping. Vampires don't dream, Sookie. I am very puzzled about this."

I thought about that for a minute. "I had a very bad dream a few days ago, and in the dream, I did call for you, Eric, and you came to me to help me. You told me to wake up. You yelled at me until I woke up! And then, yesterday, I was napping on the couch, and you spoke to me and I thought you were lying with me, but when I woke up, it was daytime and of course you weren't there."

Eric turned me around to face him and gave me a very big smile. "This is a wonderful thing, Sookie. It seems as though we can communicate with each other while we are sleeping, but in dreams. This must be some gift of our bond. I wonder if you tried to reach out to me in the daytime, if I would hear you, while you are awake I mean. Would you be willing to try tomorrow?"

"Yes, I could try that. I have called to people before. I called to Barry when I was being held by the FOTS in Dallas, remember?"

"Perhaps Sookie, you might try to see if you can read other vampires, Jordun for example. It might be that it does not come as easily as reading humans, but you might be able to if you put effort into it."

"Eric, I don't want to read vampires' minds. That is going to just get me killed. You vampires all value your privacy too much."

"Yes, we do value that. Secrecy was so necessary to us for survival for so long, that it is second nature. You must try this, Sookie, but do not tell anyone. Only you and I must know how it turns out. You are right that it might be dangerous, but it could be of great aid to us in times of danger. If you and I could communicate without words ---you remember that Sophie Anne had that ability with her children. It was of great usefulness to her."

"Okay, Eric. I will try. Now, I have a question for you. Amelia said there were strange vampires hanging around my yard, but that they were talking to Jordun, so she thought they were yours. What's going on, Eric, are you going to war with Felipe or something?"

Eric took a minute to consider before he answered. "Felipe wants you. I have been gathering vampires to my side that have a reason to be loyal to me or who owe a debt to me. I am not planning to war against anyone at this time, but I will defend what is mine. I am satisfied with my little piece of Louisiana and have no greater ambitions, but Felipe cannot have you. He knows this, and he would be a fool to try to take you. No court would excuse him for going against our traditions of bonding in that way. However, if I was no longer in the picture, you would just be a human and one of his assets."

"Do you think you are in a lot of danger because of me, Eric?" I could feel the guilt building up already. I had gotten enough people killed. I couldn't stand the thought that something would happen to Eric.

Eric put his hands to the sides of my face and looked me straight in the eye. "Any danger that I may be in is not your fault, Sookie. It can only be my fault if Felipe manages to kill me, but I don't think he will succeed if that is what he is planning. I have been on this earth longer than Felipe de Castro and I intend to outlive him. Do not worry. I am being cautious, in case he should be foolish enough to try, but he cannot have you and he will not take me." He said this with so much confidence that I almost believed him.

I guess I still looked worried, so he gathered me up against him. "My Lover, you will get cold if you sit in this bath too long. Let's get you out and dry before you shrivel up." He grinned at that thought, then pulled the plug, lifted me out of the tub and started to dry me off with a towel. After he dried himself off, he put his clothes back on while I found some pajamas to wear.

"It is time for a little snack, Sookie. The doctor said you are to eat, and I don't want her to be mad at me tomorrow if you haven't been eating. She will think it my responsibility to make you eat, since you are my bonded. Her tongue can be very biting, don't you think?"

I laughed, not just because I agreed with him, but because I loved the archaic way he phrased things sometimes. "I don't want her yelling at me, either, Eric. I am a little hungry anyway."

I warmed up a bottle of blood for Eric, and then looked to see what I would like for a snack. There was fruit and still some cheese, so I decided to have that and a glass of milk. I was actually pretty hungry. It was nice to have someone to sit with while I ate, too.

"Maybe I will go to the library tomorrow and get some books on pregnancy," I mentioned to Eric.

"I think that is a good idea," he said. "You must have your guards with you at all times, you understand that, Sookie? It is for your safety. Nothing more must happen to you, and I know how you attract trouble."

"I think I feel better with them around anyway, Eric, with Dermott still around."

Eric looked at me quizzically and I realized I had not told him about what Jason had said. He did not look pleased. "He has not tried to assault your brother?"

"Not since that first time, when he threw Mel across the room. And the funny thing is, Jason doesn't really seem afraid of him, it's more like he feels sorry for him, I think. Jason thinks he might be lonely since all of the fairies are gone."

"I think probably there are quite a few fairies that didn't return to the fae world," commented Eric. "I just hope they don't all decide to hang around in your woods. As tasty as fairies are, they are mostly a nuisance."

"Oh," I teased him, "am I a nuisance too?"

"You, my little fairy, are a lot of trouble! But, you are my trouble, so that is okay." He gave me an indulgent smile and reached out to stroke my shoulder. "If you see the fairy, you must tell me or your guards immediately. I will alert them that he may be around. Do not approach him, Sookie, and do not go out alone."

"Okay, Eric, I will be careful."

"So lover, what will you do now that you are a woman of wealth and leisure? Have you thought about it at all?"

"Not really, Eric, since I haven't been wealthy for long. As far as leisure goes, I thought I would call Sam and tell him that I won't be coming back to work." Eric voiced his approval of that. "The problem is, I don't know what to do with my time if I don't have a job. I have these businesses now, but there are people already managing all of that, and I wouldn't know where to start anyway. I guess when the baby is here, I will be busy with that, but until then, I think I will go a little crazy if I don't have something to do."

"That is understandable, dear one, it is good to have something to put your mind to. We can both think about this. Of course, when the child arrives, he will want his mother and I think you will be very busy. I will have to compete to get any attention." He looked at me with puppy dog eyes.

"As if you could ever not get attention when you look like that, Eric," I laughed. He responded with a big smile. Sometimes he was worse than a kid. I loved it when we had this companionable time together.

"Now, tell me, Eric, what you had in mind for our wedding. We haven't talked about it at all, and I don't know if you want to do it soon or what you had in mind."

"I think that will be up to you, my dearest one. It is the bride's privilege, or so Pam informs me. I think Mr. Cataliades is right that it is best to do this soon if we are to deal with any human agencies. It might bolster our position with them. I am not without some status, and as my wife, you will acquire that status too. Although de Castro may not like it, since this is a human ceremony, I have no obligation to inform him or involve him. I think it might be best to minimize the involvement of the Nevada vampires in anything that concerns us."

"I would much rather not have a big wedding, Eric, if you wouldn't mind. I thought we might have something small, with just those closest to us invited. It would be nice to have it here, but with all the construction, I guess that wouldn't work out too well. Perhaps Jason would be willing to have it at his house. That was my parent's house you know."

"That would be a very nice idea, Sookie, if that is what you want to do and Jason would agree."

"I know Jason is not real excited that I am marrying a vampire, but he will get over it. He gets over everything once he stews about it for a while."

Eric looked a little hesitant, then he went ahead and asked, "Do you think you could include Pam in any planning for the ceremony? You know how she reads Dear Abby and she just loves any kind of party or celebration. I wonder if she regrets never having had a wedding, although she loves being a vampire."

"Sure, she can help. I don't think there will be that much to do, but she probably knows more about it than I do. I could use the help!"

"Good," he said, sounding relieved, and I had the feeling that Pam had already voiced her interest in helping. He always seemed strangely reluctant to disappoint Pam.

"I find myself actually looking forward to this wedding, lover, although you are already my wife. I like the idea that you will be Mrs. Northman." He said this so assuredly and with such pride that I didn't even want to mention that many wives didn't take their husband's name anymore. I hadn't really thought about that yet, having only been engaged for two days.

"I like the idea, too, Eric," I said, and I was rewarded with a kiss.

I washed up the dishes from my snack and stifled a yawn. "My lover, it is very late," Eric said as he rose from the table. "Let me tuck you into bed, you must be tired."

That sounded good to me. We went into the bedroom and I climbed under the covers. Eric took off his shirt and shoes and climbed in next to me, spooning against my back. "Sleep, lover, and remember to dream of me," he whispered in my ear. He wrapped me tightly in his arms and I drifted off to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

You know that time when you first wake up and you are sort of dreaming and sort of thinking and it's hard to tell what is real and what is not? If you don't open your eyes, sometimes you can drift back to sleep. If you get up, it all kind of poofs away and sometimes all day you are trying to remember what you were thinking. While I took care of my "human needs" I tried to put my finger on what it was I had woken up to, something about tigers. It had seemed significant for some reason, though not that life threatening kind of important I was all too familiar with. This was as bad as getting a song stuck in your head. I found myself staring at my toothbrush and that wasn't helping one bit. Time for a shower.

I washed up, and picked out my clothes for the day: jeans and a blue knit top and white sandals. I put my hair up in a ponytail and put on a little make-up, made up my bed and I was ready for the day. It was early afternoon and I would have plenty of time to run my errands and get back before Eric rose for the night.

While the coffee was dripping, I popped some bread into the toaster and got out the butter and jam. There was a note from Amelia propped up next to the toaster and the message light was blinking. Okay, there was no way I was listening to any messages, I was feeling great today and I didn't want to hear from any vampire kings or secret agents. Amelia always called on my cell, so it wouldn't be her. Everyone else could just wait; I was going to not be home today. I read Amelia's note while I ate my toast.

Roomie,

Can I get a ride to Shreveport with you tonight? Pam wants me to come over to Fangtasia. I'll get take out for dinner on the way home and we can eat before we go. Txt me.

I wondered what Pam wanted with Amelia, but then again, maybe I didn't want to know. The two of them together looked like a soccer mom convention, but looks can be deceiving. I wondered where Jordun would fit into that picture and decided I definitely didn't want to go there. Okay, I better call Amelia today.

I went out back to find my "men in black" as Jason called them, and couldn't believe what a mess my yard was. It looked like a war zone. There was a big hole, stacks of lumber, piles of dirt and what looked like a cement mixer. They sure weren't kidding when they said they were going to do this as quickly as possible. It was moving right along.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am," I heard and I yelped and jumped backwards, almost knocking myself over on the step. Travis put out a hand to steady me and apologized. "Sorry, Ma'am, I guess I came up a little bit quietly. Didn't mean to startle you."

"Just like the freaking vampires," I mumbled then straightened up and put on my company smile. "Good morning, Travis, Mark. How are things going?" I guess it wasn't morning, but I had just gotten up.

"Everything is fine, Ma'am. Is there something we can do for you today?" Travis said. Mark just gave me his usual nod. He was thinking I looked nice today even if I did have kind of a crazy smile. Sheesh!

"I was wanting to go over to Clarice to the bookstore and maybe to my friend Tara's shop after that. I thought it might be nice to get some lunch in Clarice if that would work for you guys."

"Yes, Ma'am, that would be fine. I'll just pull the car up to the front and we can drive you over." I thanked them and walked back into the house, gathered up my cell phone, keys and purse, locked up the doors and met them at the front porch. We got into the escalade and headed off for Clarice.

"I had planned to go to the library today, but thought I would treat myself and actually buy a few books instead," I volunteered, wondering if these guys ever had real conversation. Surprisingly, Mark answered. "I read quite a bit," he said, "mostly sci-fi." I think that was the first time I had heard him speak. His voice was deep and rumbly and made me think of bears or ogres or something. If you heard that voice in a dark alley, you would start running, but in the right circumstances you could picture someone with that voice with a child on their lap, telling a story.

"I mostly read romances," I confessed. "It's a girl thing. But I like mysteries too and I love the old Victorian science fiction, like Jules Verne."

"He's a classic," Travis said, as he joined in. "If you like the old fashioned style books, you should try Patrick O'Brian. He wrote a great series about an English navy captain and his friend who sail the seas during the Napoleonic Wars. It has a bit of romance in it too, you might like it."

"I'll put that on my list," I replied, inordinately (word of the day word) pleased to be having a regular human conversation. Okay, these guys weren't strictly human, but we hadn't mentioned blood or beheading or any other body parts, even once. I'm sure I was sitting in the backseat smiling like a lunatic.

When we got to the bookstore, I was flanked front and back by my guards through the parking lot. I felt pretty ridiculous, actually, and hoped they weren't going to surround me like that inside the store, but once we were inside, they gave me a little space. I perused the health section first, and found a whole section on having babies. I saw a title "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and that sounded just about what I needed, so I pulled it off the shelf and looked through it. It seemed to cover just about everything, so that one would do. I wondered if I should get something about babies, but figured that could wait a bit. One thing at a time.

I wandered around and looked at what was new in the romance aisle, then decided to take Travis's advice and pick up the book about the navy captain. When I headed up towards the cash registers, I noticed the display of magazines, and stopped there to pick up a few about brides to look at with Pam. I greeted the clerk and she glanced down at my hand after she saw the bridal magazines. "Nice ring," she said. "Thanks!" I answered, beaming. Then she got to the pregnancy book, raised her eyebrows and tucked the book into the bag quickly. I blushed all over. I gave her my brand new credit card to pay for my purchases. "Good luck, honey," she offered as I thanked her and took my bag.

Okay that was embarrassing, I guess, but not as much as the look I was getting from my guards. "What?" I demanded and they both resumed their mercenary look and moved in close as we left the store. I wanted a real meal with some protein, so I suggested we walk up the street to a coffee shop that had good burgers. I needed to get some sun anyway, I had been inside so much the last few weeks I was looking as pale as a vampire. The coffee shop was only about two blocks away so it was a pleasant walk, even though the boys were back to the silent treatment.

When we got inside and found a table, the smell of the food made me just ravenous! I insisted that we all sit, as I wasn't about to eat my lunch with two hulking guys standing next to my table, anyway, they would block my view. Now, Clarice is not much of a town by world standards, but next to Bon Temps, there was a lot going on and I wanted to watch the people going by the window. We all got settled and I ordered a burger and fries and a sweet tea. The men had the same, since they hadn't had their lunch yet, and we sat companionably and enjoyed our food. I got to use my credit card again when I paid, and I wasn't sure why that seemed so exciting to me. I felt like the country mouse let loose in the city, and this wasn't even Shreveport! I had to get a life.

We had walked past a flower shop on the way to lunch, so I stopped there on the way back to the car and got a bouquet of flowers for Amelia. She had been such a good friend to me and I sure hoped she'd stay on at my house. I would have to remember to tell Eric about going with Amelia to New Orleans to see about her house. He'd probably insist I take some guards, and where were we supposed to put them up? I'd ask him about that tonight.

The ride back to Bon Temps made me a little sleepy, so I lay my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. I was supposed to try to contact Eric in his daytime sleep today, so I reached out for him.

"Eric," I called silently. "Can you hear me, sweetie?" I tried to sort of push towards him, like I had when I had called Barry in Dallas. I could feel the bond between us, so I focused on that. "Eric?" I called again.

"Lover, come and lay with me, you are too far away."

"Eric, can you understand me? I am thinking about you, you are sleeping."

"Sookie, lay next to me, it's so cold and I'm so lonely."

I had never heard Eric notice the cold before. I concentrated as hard as I could and reached for him, and he was in my arms.

"Sookie, I think I am dead," he said, sounding confused.

"You are, Eric, but it's okay, I am here with you now," and we fell asleep.

"Ms. Stackhouse? Are you okay, Ms. Stackhouse?" Someone was holding my hand and it wasn't a vampire. I should open my eyes.

"Ms. Stackhouse, is everything okay? You fell asleep so we brought you home, but you wouldn't wake up. Shall I call a doctor?"

My eyes were open now and looking into the concerned face of my guard Travis. "Oh, sorry, I must have fallen asleep," I said groggily. "I'm fine. We're home already?"

"Yes, Ma'am, can I help you get out of the car. Maybe you should go inside. Are you quite sure you are okay? I can call someone."

Travis helped me inside, since I sort of stumbled on the porch, and settled me on the couch. "I'm okay now, just a little tired. I am going to my doctor tonight, in a few hours. Really, it's fine now." I wanted to just lie down and sleep.

"I'll be right inside the door here, if you need me," Travis said reassuringly.

"Thanks," I mumbled and snuggled up on the couch and fell back asleep. I didn't wake up until Amelia came home at six o'clock, carrying something that smelled really good.

"Hey, roomie, you napping again? I brought us a pizza, extra cheese. You have a good day?" and she was off to the kitchen, where I could hear her setting out plates and silverware. I shook myself awake, headed off to the bathroom for necessities and then walked into the kitchen. The flowers were sitting in the middle of the table in a vase, and my bag of books was beside it.

"Hey Amelia, how was work? I went out today, to the bookstore, and I got you some flowers." Her eyes lit up and she came over to hug me. Amelia was always good at hugging.

"That's so nice, they're beautiful! Thanks. What did you get from the bookstore?"

I told her about the stuff I had purchased, and while we ate our pizza and drank our cokes, we chatted away about babies and weddings. There is always something to say about those two topics. She asked me about going to Shreveport tonight (I had forgotten to txt her) and I said sure, we could drop her off to see Pam, and then swing back by after the doctor's appointment. Eric had said Jordun was coming with us, so I figured we wouldn't be in his two-seater camaro. "Eric is going to go with me," I said, "can you believe it? I guess he is going to be all responsible about it. I am not sure how to feel about that though."

"Honey, I think it's wonderful that you have someone to look after you, even if he's dead. You can't have everything, right?" We both laughed at that, because it was soooo true!

I was sitting at the table, finishing my coke while Amelia washed up when I had the funniest feeling, like someone was calling me. "Eric's up," I said and headed to the spare bedroom. Eric was standing in the middle of the room, in just his jeans, with the strangest look on his face, like fear and confusion.

"Sookie?" he asked, and before I could even answer, he scooped me up and headed to my room across the hall. He kicked the door closed with his foot, and stood me next to the bed and began to undress me. It sounded like he was breathing, or panting or something, and I was becoming a little worried. "Eric?"

"Shh," he hushed me and took his pants off. He put me on the bed and climbed on top of me, still with that funny look on his face. He pulled my legs apart and positioned himself over me. "Sookie, don't ever leave me," he demanded as he began to enter me. "Say it, Sookie, say you'll never leave me." He sounded a little frantic and he pushed against me harder. He lowered his face to my breast and rubbed against me. "Say it, Sookie, promise me," he hissed and he pushed farther in.

"Eric, I will never leave you," I whispered and he began to fuck me in earnest as he sucked and bit at my breasts. As my body responded, he slid in as far as he could go, pushing forcefully, pounding and calling out "Mine" with each thrust. He pushed against me harder and faster until I thought I might split in two. "Mine," he cried, and I arched against him, moaning and trembling. Heat washed over me like a fire raging and I could barely stand it. He was thrusting desperately and when he bit, my muscles spasmed around him and I came unglued, barely able to breathe. He collapsed on top of me, his body still shaking from his orgasm and he started to cry.

I think I was crying too as I reached to stroke his hair and comfort him. "Eric, baby, shh," I crooned. "I'll never leave you, hush, baby," and when I said it, I knew that it was true. I continued to stroke him as he calmed and relaxed against me.

"What happened, Sookie?" he asked me, so quietly I almost didn't hear him. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, baby, you didn't hurt me, shhh, it's okay." I didn't know what had just happened, but I had a feeling like some bridge had been crossed or some path in the road had been chosen. Eric must have seen that I was still bleeding, I could feel the blood trickling sluggishly down my side from my breast, because he rolled off of me and he began to lick the wound. I could see the tracks of bloody tears on his face. I wiped them away with my fingers. We stayed beside each other for a little while, not speaking, just looking at each other as if we had never seen each other before, then Eric seemed to come back to this world and he sat up.

"Lover, the doctor will be expecting us, perhaps we should get ready to go to Shreveport. I will start the shower", he said and he walked into the bathroom. I felt a little stunned, but I knew he was right and I should get up. I was a little sore, but in a good way. I followed him into the shower.

Eric was standing in the shower with water streaming over his hair and face. When I stepped in, he opened his eyes and looked me over, focusing for a moment on the dried blood on my breast. "Let me wash you, lover," he said and picked up the soap. When he had lathered every inch of me, he began on himself, as I rinsed off. While I washed my hair, he just stood there, very still the way vampires do, watching me. I turned off the water and he stepped out, handed me a towel and began to dry himself off as I stood and watched him.

"Come lover, it is time to get dressed, I will pick out your clothes," he said and gave me his usual grin as he headed to the bedroom. I dried off my hair a bit and went to get dressed.

Eric was already in his jeans and flipping through my clothes in the closet. He pulled out an ice blue silk shirt and managed to find a pair of my new slacks. He rifled through my underwear drawer and found the tiniest thong I had and a white lacy bra. I sat on the edge of the bed, wrapped in my towel and watched him with amusement. "I like you in blue," he said, and laid everything out next to me. I started dressing and by the time I was ready, Eric had headed off to the kitchen. I looked at the clock and decided I had time to change the bed and put the sheets into the washer to soak. There was blood all over them.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

Amelia rolled her eyes at me when I came out carrying a bundle of sheets for the washer. Jordun sat at the table, drinking a True Blood, and he just grinned. "Your Viking is outside on the phone, you are supposed to drink something," Amelia informed me as she handed me a glass of milk. I was actually pretty thirsty. Eric came in and nodded approvingly, and when I had finished the milk he said, "Ready, ladies?" and led us out the front door. I grabbed my purse, a sweater and the magazines on the way out.

There was a shiny black BMW sedan sitting in front of my house, and Eric helped me into the front seat. Amelia and Jordun got into the back and Eric waited until Amelia and I had our seat belts on before he tore out of the driveway. We were followed by a dark colored van, apparently "our" people, since they had been very visibly parked in front of my house. Eric drove just as fast in this car as he did in his corvette, and when I threatened to throw up in his car if he didn't slow down, he told me, "It's Pam's car," but he did slow down a bit.

When we got to Fangtasia, Pam opened the employee door and gave Amelia a big kiss right on her mouth. She looked Jordun up and down and sighed, then smiled and threw her arms around me. "You smell particularly delicious, Sookie," she said and her fangs ran out. "Pam!" growled Eric ominously, and she laughed and moved slightly back.

"Well, Sookie, I hear we have some planning to do," Pam said.

"I bought some magazines today, Pam, so we can get some ideas," I told her and handed her the bridal magazines.

"Oh goody," she exclaimed and beamed at the covers as she headed into the office.

"Sookie and I have an appointment with Dr. Ludwig," Eric told Pam. "We will leave Amelia to amuse you and will be back in about an hour."

"You kids enjoy yourself," she called back, and Amelia followed her into the office. Eric walked into the bar for a moment, scanning the room, then signaled for Thalia. Thalia was one of the smallest and most sullen vampires I had ever met. She took her turn "enthralling the vermin" but she obviously despised humans. The nastier she was to them, the more they seemed to love her though. I had a feeling that Thalia was as dangerous and maybe almost as old as Eric. She walked up to me and Eric, bowed her head slightly and mumbled, "Master, mistress."

"I would like you to accompany us tonight, Thalia," Eric told her and she followed us out to the car.

Dr. Ludwig's office was on the outskirts of Shreveport only about five minutes from Fangtasia. It looked like a deserted factory on the outside, but almost like a typical doctor's office after you walked in the door. There was a were sitting behind a desk and he took my name, asked me for the medical history forms (they were in my purse) and told me to take a seat. I had barely sat down before a woman in scrubs came through a door and signaled me to follow her. My vampires flanked me, and we were led into an examining room. The nurse handed me a gown and asked me to get undressed, the Dr. would be right in.

This was just like a regular check-up, I thought, except for the three vampires in the room. "Eric?" I looked at my vampire and pleaded with my eyes. He seemed to understand my discomfort with the situation and he told Jordun to go out and monitor the door. "I asked Thalia to accompany us, Sookie, because I thought you might be more comfortable with another woman," Eric explained, as if anyone could be comfortable around Thalia. "She will turn her back while you change," he said, and that was supposed to make it all right. I decided not to make a scene over this, since I wouldn't win anyway.

Dr. Ludwig came just as I had gotten into the gown and settled on the examining table. She nodded to Eric, ignored Thalia and addressed me. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess, my cuts are all healed."

"That will be the vampire blood," she said. "Still feeling nauseous?"

"Yes, mostly when I first wake up. Does that usually happen so early like this?"

"Not quite so early in humans, but fairies don't carry their children quite as long, so it is not too surprising in this case." She turned to Eric. "You are feeding from her?" she asked him, and he nodded. "And you are making sure she is eating well?"

"Yes," he replied and she seemed satisfied with his answer. Eric gave me a smug look as if to say I told you so.

Well, little girl, let's see how everything is going," she said and she proceeded to do a standard physical. Eric and Thalia seemed fascinated by the whole procedure, especially the blood pressure cuff. Thalia thankfully turned her back again during the pelvic exam, although Eric watched just as curiously. I was of course bright red with embarrassment, but he had seen it all before. When that was over, she took out a needle and syringe and told me she needed to take some blood. She began to put on the usual tourniquet, but before I even knew what was happening, Thalia had pulled a sword out of nowhere and was holding it against the Dr.'s throat. "Master?" she said, and looked at Eric.

"Thalia, put that away!" I shrieked. "Eric? What's going on here?" My voice was bordering on hysteria. Dr. Ludwig did not look concerned.

"Is this absolutely necessary?" Eric asked the doctor.

"It is normal medical procedure, Northman, for humans. Analysis of blood components can give warning if there is a problem that will influence her health or the child's," she answered patiently. I sure wouldn't be that calm if Thalia had a big knife at my throat!

"You have my consent," Eric said, and Thalia stepped back and shielded her weapon.

"Okay," I said, wishing I was standing up so I could stomp my foot. "Is someone going to tell me what the hell just happened?"

Dr. Ludwig calmly tightened the tourniquet, tapped my vein a few times, stuck the needle in and began to draw a vial of blood. Thalia's fangs ran down and Eric growled at her. She inhaled deeply, but then took three steps back.

"Since you are fully bonded with the vampire, your blood belongs to him. He must grant permission before anyone takes or sheds it, or their life is forfeit," she said casually, as if this was just common knowledge and how stupid could I be!

"Good lord, freaking vampires!" I exclaimed and rolled my eyes. Eric was going to get an earful about this when we got home.

When all the drama was over, and Dr. Ludwig had my blood (or should I say, Eric's blood) she told me I could get dressed. She handed me a prescription for prenatal vitamins, told me I was as healthy as a horse and that I should come back in a month. Then she walked out the door. "Thanks, Dr. Ludwig," I called to her retreating back.

"Well, it seems that everything is fine, lover, as I knew it would be."

"Yeah, Mr. Know-it-all and his band of sword wielding killers," I murmured sarcastically, and Thalia just burst out laughing! I don't think I had ever heard Thalia laugh. Actually, I don't think I had ever seen her smile.

Eric gave her his knock that off or die look, and she just laughed harder. "Women!" he said in exasperation, and I started laughing too.

When we got back to Fangtasia, Pam and Amelia were sitting in a booth with their drinks and the bridal magazines. "Hey Sookie, what did the doctor say?" Amelia asked.

"Everything is fine. I have to go back in a month. You two get any good ideas for me?"

"Pam, show her the picture of the bouquets you liked." Amelia prompted Pam, who was looking out into the club with a quizzical look on her face.

"What happened Sookie? Why is Thalia smiling, did she kill someone?" Pam asked suspiciously. I tried to not be too obvious as I looked over at Thalia. Yes, she was definitely still smiling, which in a vampire is not always a good thing. Thalia was very fixedly looking right at us.

I told Pam the short version of my doctor's visit, and what I had told Eric, and she laughed out loud too! "Pam," I said, "do you think she wants to join us?" Actually, I didn't know if I wanted to sit that close to Thalia, she was pretty scary, but she was still looking at us.

Without answering, Pam beckoned to Thalia. "Sit," she told her. Amelia was sitting next to Pam, so that left the seat next to me. Thalia had dropped her smile and was now looking nervous. I wasn't sure what the hierarchy was with Pam and Thalia. Pam was part owner of the bar, and sort of general manager, but Thalia was ancient and probably more powerful than Pam. Eric was Thalia's Sheriff, so she would owe some kind of allegiance there, but Pam was just her boss, I guess. Thalia didn't look resentful or anything though, when Pam barked at her, she just looked nervous.

Pam signaled to Felicia, who was bartending tonight, and a waitress brought over drinks for all of us, True Bloods for the vampires, ginger ale for me, and red wine for Amelia. "We are planning a human wedding," Pam explained to Thalia, and slid the magazines over to her. Thalia started leafing through the pages, still not saying anything, and Pam and Amelia resumed the conversation. "What colors are you thinking about, Sookie?"

"Jeez, Pam, I haven't even thought about it yet," I said sheepishly. It was my wedding, and I should have been a little more excited about the planning I suppose.

"Sookie, you don't need to worry your pretty little head about it, we are full of ideas already," and she was off and running on lighting (it would have to be at night, of course), flowers, table decorations and blood types. "Eric cannot eat the cake of course, so maybe you should pick out the flavor," Pam offered generously.

"Maybe one of the ones that has square layers would be nice," chimed in Thalia, and we were all dumbstruck with surprise.

The three of us sat staring at Thalia, not sure what to say next, when Pam saved the day, "Yes, I think that's a good idea, I have seen pictures of those, they are all the rage, that and cupcake displays." Thalia sort of beamed (if a vamp can be said to beam) at that.

"Where's Eric," I asked Pam. "Shouldn't he have some input on this?" Pam, Amelia and Thalia all snorted at once.

"As soon as we have the date, you must see to the invitations, Sookie," Pam continued with the plans. "And don't you need some kind of minister or something?"

"I'll see what I can come up with," I said, yawning as exhaustion started to settle in. I wondered what had happened to Eric, if he was in the office doing paperwork or what. I was ready to go home, but I didn't know if he was coming with me or not. Neither Amelia or I had a car with us. I thought I would just close my eyes for a moment.

Eric must have carried me to the car, because I woke up as he was fastening my seat belt. "Sookie, are you awake? I will be gone for a few days, Jordun and Amelia will take you home."

"Where are you going, Eric? I asked, not expecting an answer really.

"I have some business, dear one. You must be careful while I am gone, stay close to your guards. I will be back soon. Remember what I told you about my brother, if you need him." Before I could say a thing, he kissed me deeply then closed the car door and Jordun drove me away from him.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

Amelia wouldn't be home until five, so I had plenty of time to run over to the store and get paint samples. It was time I got proactive with the house. Now that I could afford it, I thought I would hire a painter instead of doing the work myself. Maybe Terry Bellfleur could do it. He didn't always see eye-to-eye with the real world, but he was a hard worker and he and I had an easy understanding. We were both pretty scarred I guess and had more in common with each other than he knew.

I had been so exhausted when I got home last night, that I had slept like the dead and had woken up in the mood to get things done. Even my little bout of morning sickness hadn't slowed me down and I had gotten the laundry done and the house was sparkling. Of course the windows and porch were all dusty, but the guys working outside would just kick up more dust. I suppose I couldn't get the outside of the house painted until that was all settled, but I was going to pick out the colors. There was my old bedroom (soon to be nursery) to consider too. Any vampires sleeping under the closet shouldn't affect whether the painting got done, they would just have to be careful of the wet paint when they crawled on out at sunset.

Thinking of vampires made me wonder what Eric was up to. After having him around for a few days, I was missing him. He would be sleeping at this time of day in any case, and I didn't want to try reaching out to him in his sleep again until we talked about what had happened the day before. No use to worry about that now. I grabbed up my purse and my keys and headed out the door.

The Bon Temps Hardware Store was still a family owned and operated business. They had expanded into part of the parking lot with a garden center and they even had a little kitchen gadget area inside, but they mostly still focused on plumbing parts, nuts and bolts, and other supplies for the local homeowner and handyman. In the back of the store, they sold paint, and you could now get your paint computer color matched, which I thought sounded like a real useful idea.

Dave Broussard, who was the owner's son, was manning the paint counter. He had been a few years ahead of me in high school. I remembered him being quite the catch then, one of the stars of the football team. He was getting a little loose around the middle now and he looked a little haggard. Dave was married and had two boys, I'd heard.

"Hi, Sookie, how 'ya doin'? What can I help you with today?" he asked, politely enough. What he was thinking was how could a nice woman like me be fucking a vampire. He caught sight of Travis, who had accompanied me into the store, and wondered if I was fucking that big scary guy too. I threw my shields right up.

"I'm doing just fine, Dave, how're those boys of yours doing? They must be getting big," I answered, giving him my best crazy Sookie smile.

"Yeah, they're both in school now, and growing like weeds. I hear you're gettin' married. You marrying Bill Compton?"

"Nope," I answered curtly. He could just wonder if it was no, I'm not getting married, or no, I'm marrying someone else. Jason or Amelia must have been talking, and news spread quickly in a small town like Bon Temps. "I wanted to choose some paint colors for a room inside and for the outside of my house," I told him, in my best no-nonsense voice. I didn't want to know what kind of reaction he would have about me marrying a vampire.

"Let me just show you what we got," he said and he began to tell me about what kind of paint I would want and showed me where to pick out samples. I thanked him and said I would just browse the colors for a bit.

I just wanted white for the outside of the house like it was now, and was amazed at all the shades of white there were. I picked one that didn't look too bright and thought it would do fine. The bedroom was another story. I thought it would be nice to do something fancy in there, like you see in magazines, so I had been thinking a light green with maybe a yellow striping. I picked up three cards with greens and three with yellow that I liked. I would show them to Amelia and see what she thought before I bought anything. I asked Travis what he thought and he just said, "Anything but pink, Ma'am," and I laughed. I didn't know a single man that wanted anything pink in the house.

We stopped at the store on the way home, and I picked up some groceries and stocked up on synthetic blood. I would make chicken and rice, salad and biscuits. I texted Amelia on my cell and let her know not to worry about dinner tonight.

I had everything ready by the time Amelia got home. She was bubbling over with news as she sat down to the table. Apparently, Agent Weiss was recovering and they had reduced the charges against Whit Spradling, since they had figured out it was Danny Boling's gun that shot Weiss.

Whit and Danny had plotted to crucify me. They had gotten the idea from what had been done to my sister in law Crystal. Arlene had tried to get me over to her trailer where the two men were waiting inside. I had called Andy Bellfleur, and he and the FBI agents had come to my aid. Whit and Agent Weiss had been shot; Danny Boling had died at the scene.

"And that's not all," continued Amelia, barely taking a breath in her excitement. "Whit got out on bail. I guess his brother put up his house and just about everything he had to make the bail money. Anyway, he got out on Monday, and last night he went to some bar up in Shreveport. On the way home, he ran off the road and was killed."

"Oh my god," I exclaimed. "It was an accident?" I was wondering what time this all happened last night, was it after we left Fangtasia? I had a bad feeling about this.

"Yeah, they're saying it's an accident. Maybe he was trying to avoid a deer or something, but he ran his truck right into a tree and he was dead before anybody got to the scene. Arlene's out too, and I guess she was in the Grab-it-Quick today saying she was afraid she was next and that she never hurt anybody and now she didn't have a job and didn't know what she was going to do." Amelia sort of huffed as if she had run out of steam telling the story so fast.

Poor Arlene, I thought, she had brought all of this on herself with her fear and her hate. "Where's her kids?" I asked, barely able to speak, my throat closing up and tears starting to stream down my face.

"I don't know. She's telling everybody a whole different story now, and says Whit and Danny didn't know those people were from the FBI and you just made up the whole story that they were planning to hurt you. I guess her previous statement would have been brought up at the trial and of course, you would have had to testify, but you couldn't very well say you just heard it in her brain. Melba Jennings is trying to have the whole thing dismissed now that Whit and Danny are both dead anyway."

"What a mess," I sighed. There was nothing I could do about any of this to change it, and I had to stop second-guessing myself about what might have been. I sure wondered though, whether my vampire had anything to do with Whit dying. I thought about what had happened to my uncle after I had told Bill about my childhood. No matter what she had done, I didn't want anything bad to happen to Arlene. I didn't care whether Whit was dead though. To be honest with myself, maybe I was a little relieved. I told myself that wasn't what a good Christian would think, but it seemed like it was getting harder and harder to think like a good Christian these days. Well, I would have that philosophical debate with myself at a later date. I wiped my tears away and got up to put my dishes by the sink. I had lost my appetite.

Amelia did the dishes since I had cooked dinner, and I stayed at my usual spot at the kitchen table drinking my tea while she chatted. I wasn't concentrating anymore on what she was saying, something about Maxine and Hoyt I thought. I was still thinking about Arlene's kids. I could hear water running in the shower, so I figured Jordun was up. He seemed to get up a little early for a vampire, part of that whole day walking thing maybe? Amelia moved her monologue on to the trip to New Orleans and I snapped back to attention.

"My dad wants me to have dinner with him on Saturday and I just know he is going to try to get me to stay in New Orleans. He can't figure out why I want to stay in this backwater, as he calls it," Amelia chattered.

"Well, I guess it is kind of a backwater next to the Big Easy. He just wants you close because he worries about you, Amelia," I responded.

"Yeah, maybe. It's too bad you didn't get your car yet, we could try it out on the drive there."

"The drive where?" I heard from the doorway and yelped! Jordun had come in silently in that creepy way vampires had of doing things. He was sort of leaning on the door jamb, bare chested and bare foot, his long black hair still wet from the shower. He looked better than a hot fudge sundae! Amelia was standing there looking like a deer caught in the headlights. I found myself adjusting my ponytail and squirming a little in my seat. Jeez, Louise!

"Sookie, Amelia," Jordun greeted us companionably.

"Hey, Jordun, sleep well?" I returned his greeting, then thought "Duh", of course he slept well, like the dead!

"Yes, thank you," he responded kindly, acting as if I wasn't an idiot. "You are planning a trip?" he asked, conversationally, but with a direct look at me, as if in concern.

"Sookie and I were talking about driving to New Orleans," Amelia piped up, out of her daze. "I was going to go check on my house, and go see my dad I guess."

"That would be ill advised on Sookie's part. She must not go to New Orleans," he said, with no explanation. I was about to ask him "Why not?" when someone knocked on the back door, then stepped right in.

Jordun was in front of me before I could bat an eye, but it was only Bubba. "Bubba!" I greeted him. "How ya doing?"

"Evenin' Miss Sookie, Miss Amelia. Hey Mr. Jordun. You got any of them True Bloods, Miss Sookie? My cooler done run out, and there ain't a cat to be had around these parts anymore."

I cringed at the thought of the poor cats and got up to get Bubba some blood. I warmed two True Bloods in the microwave, and then handed them to Bubba and Jordun. "Thank you, Ma'am," Bubba said politely. Jordun just nodded.

Bubba looked a little disheveled. His usually well-coifed hair looked hastily combed. His jeans looked stained around the knees. The other vampires usually took good care of him, and he was almost always clean and well dressed. "Where you been staying, Bubba? You got someone looking after you?" I asked solicitously.

"I been stayin' over to Bill's, Miss Sookie. Mr. Eric told me I was to stick around here and keep an eye on things, and if any other vampires came up to the house, I was to tell Mr. Jordun. I called Miss Pam and told her I don't have me no clean clothes and I'm runnin' out of blood, and she says, you go see Miss Sookie and she'll take care of you. So here I am."

"Well, Bubba, you've come to the right place. Now, you go run over to Bill's and you get your laundry and bring it right over, you hear? I'll take care of it and I'll fill your cooler up with blood so you have something to eat."

"Yes'm, Miss Sookie, I will sure do that, quick as can be," Bubba said, and he was off like a vampire into the night.

"Thanks Pam," I muttered to myself. I turned around to look at my other vampire-in-residence. "You have any laundry, Jordun?" I asked him. He looked abashed as he nodded his head. "Well, go get it, I can't have you running around with no clean shirts, Amelia might have a stroke if you keep standing there looking like that."

"Sookie!" exclaimed Amelia turning red in embarrassment, but then she just laughed. Jordun laughed too, and Amelia and I both watched his backside in admiration as he strolled back to the bedroom to get his dirty clothes.

It wasn't long before Jordun reappeared, this time in a shirt and boots. He was carrying his laundry in his overnight bag. He handed it to me, said "Thank you sister," and sat down at the table. I carried the bag to the porch to get the washer started and Bubba came in a little while after with his pile of clothes. "Bubba, I will put these on the back porch after they are washed. You make sure to come up and get them when you get up tomorrow, okay?"

"Thank you Miss Sookie. I'm just gonna go out and watch the house like Mr. Eric said." I handed him his cooler, filled with True Bloods, and he carried it off into the night.

After Bubba left, I turned to Jordun and asked him "Why can't I go to New Orleans with Amelia?"

"Felipe de Castro is presently in New Orleans, and it is not a safe place for you right now. Your bonded asked that you stay here where you can be more easily guarded," he answered.

"Oh he did, did he? Who died and made him king?" I asked sarcastically.

"Well, that is yet to be seen, sister," he answered ominously, his voice laden with foreboding.

"Maybe it's better we don't go, Sookie," Amelia chimed in. She was looking between me and Jordun, an uncomfortable worry on her face. "I can just go another weekend. I don't want to leave you home all alone."

I had been looking forward to a trip to New Orleans, especially now that I could afford to do a little shopping, but now I was a little nervous about going. I had resolved to be careful and not put myself or anyone else in danger if I could avoid it, so maybe it was time to listen to some advice and stay home. Eric hadn't stayed alive this long without knowing how the whole vampire political thing worked and he thought it wasn't safe in New Orleans for me. I wished I knew what was going on, and where the hell was my vampire?

"Amelia, I think you should go on ahead as planned. Your dad will be expecting you, and I am fine by myself. I have all these guards around here, if I need to go to the store or something. I'll feel terrible if you miss out on the trip, and we can go together soon, after the new car comes and Eric chills out a bit. Anyway, I am surrounded by werewolves, vampires and construction crews; what could happen?"

"Well, hon, if you think you will be okay; my dad would be upset if I cancelled now. I really should pack tonight. It would make sense to just take off from work tomorrow and then I will get home on Sunday. You can call me if you don't feel well or something and you need me to come home," Amelia offered.

Amelia headed upstairs to pack and I stayed at the kitchen table to speak with Jordun. "Do you know where Eric went?" I asked him.

Jordun thought about that for a moment then replied, "I am not sure where he is right now," very carefully avoiding my question. "Whatever he is doing will be in your best interests, sister. Of that, I am sure. You must be patient and trust my brother."

"I do trust him, Jordun, but I just want to know what's going on," I said in exasperation. "I don't like being treated like a child, you know." I resisted the temptation to stomp my foot, then got up and headed for the porch to work on the laundry.

"She is a child, but what a beautiful one."

"Good lord!" I replied and started to turn when I realized I hadn't actually heard Jordun! I did turn then, and focused on his face. I had heard his thoughts!

"Sister, are you okay? You look as if you had seen a ghost! What are you doing?" He was looking at me quizzically and began to get out of his chair to come over to me.

As he approached I began to get a little nervous. How would he take it if he knew I could hear him? But Eric had wanted me to reach out to Jordun. Eric trusted him. I reached out to him with my mind. "Sit down, brother. Assure me that you will not harm me," I told him silently.

He gasped, and then sat right down, looking astounded. "Sookie, what is this?" he demanded. "Tell me. I promise that I will not harm you."

I wasn't sure how to explain this, so I started out with the basics. "You know that I am a telepath, right? I can read human minds."

"Yes, of course, but not vampire minds?" he stated uncertainly.

"I thought I couldn't read vampires, that is what attracted me to you guys in the first place." I hesitated before continuing. "But a few times, maybe three or four, I have heard a vampire, usually after I have had vampire blood, a couple of those times it was Eric. Then, just in the last week, I heard Eric when he was sleeping. I called to him in a dream and he answered me. I can't explain it; it was like he was with me. And Eric asked me about it, because he thought he was dreaming, and vampires can't dream he said. I told him about hearing the vampires those few times and he thought it was a good thing and said I should try it with you, but not to tell anyone." I was babbling now, but I couldn't seem to stop.

"He wanted me to try to talk to him during the day, when I was awake, and I did. But he sounded so lonely and sad and when he woke it was like he was still dreaming, all upset and strange and I think he thought he was dead or something. I know he is dead, but not like vampire dead, but finally dead. We didn't get a chance to talk about it, then he went away again. I didn't try to hear you before. I just did it without trying. Then, I tried to reach out to you and you heard me. Somebody is going to kill me for this, aren't they?" I ran out of things to say. I was suddenly completely and utterly exhausted. I sat down at the table, put my head in my hands and started to cry.

Jordun jumped up from his seat and extended his hand to stroke my hair. "Sister, sister, please! Don't cry. Everything will be fine. Your bonded will be home soon, and I will protect you, but I don't know what to do if you cry!" He sounded a little panicked. I choked back my sobs, got up to get a tissue from the box by the phone and blew my nose.

"I'm fine," I assured him, my voice still a little hoarse from crying. "I'm just so tired. I'm just going to put those clothes in the dryer and start another load," I said and I headed to the porch again.

When the next load of laundry was going, and I had had a glass of milk, I decided I should just call it a night. Jordun was still sitting in the kitchen. "I'm going to bed. You can watch television if you want, there are some videos in there too."

"I think I will just go upstairs and help Amelia with her packing," he said, grinning.

I headed to my room where I brushed my teeth, put on my nightgown and climbed under the covers, wishing the cool, beautiful body of my vampire was next to me.


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

The razor sharp edge of the glittering knife inched closer to my thigh and I began to tremble. My muscles tensed and I tried to pull myself away as the first sharp edge of pain began to overwhelm me. "Eric, please God, help me. ERIC!" I screamed and screamed.

"Shh, shh, lover, come to me. Kiss me. You are safe now," he crooned. I wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could, his cold skin sending a little shiver through me.

"Eric, thank god you came. I was missing you so much, they were hurting me, don't leave again," I pleaded.

"My lover, sleep here with me, no one will hurt you here. Hush, dear one." He pulled the covers over me and settled in by my side, his long, cool fingers stroking my hair and my face and I knew that I was safe.

Buzzzzzz. Buzzzzzzz. I hit the snooze button three times, wondering why the alarm wasn't stopping before I finally realized the noise was the phone ringing. Reaching out to pick up the phone, I managed to knock the clock to the floor, so I had no idea what time it was. "Hello?" I croaked, "What time is it?"

"It's 11:30. Sookie, Holly can't make it in tomorrow, and I can't seem to get anybody to take her place. I think we're okay for today, but tomorrow I could sure use you from five to nine. Cher, you think you are up to coming in for the dinner hour?"

"Sam? I had my eyes almost opened now, and was fishing around on the floor for the clock.

"Sookie, you okay?" Sam asked with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm not awake yet, Sam. I haven't even had my coffee. I don't know about coming back, Sam, and Eric has guards following me around. What would I do with my guards?"

"Sookie, what's going on with Eric? You've hardly been out of the house. Is he trying to keep you away from everyone, did he tell you not to go out?" he asked suspiciously. Okay, this was waking me up and making me a little mad.

"He's just trying to make sure nothing happens to me, Sam. And how is that your business?"

"Cher, anything that happens to you is my business, you know that."

"No, I don't know that, Sam!" I snapped at him. "And I don't know if I'm coming back to work," I fired at him.

"Sookie, listen, we need to talk about all of this. I know you've been through a lot, and I've been hearing stuff around town. But just do this for me, please. It will be good for you to get back to your life. We'll talk about everything when you come in tomorrow and you can tell me all about it. About five o'clock, okay?" he cajoled, his tone soft and melodic, like he was talking to a small child. As usual, I found it hard to turn him down.

"Okay, Sam, I'll come in tomorrow for a few hours, but we need to talk. And I have a couple weres from Shreveport following me around, so you'll have to figure out what to do with them."

"They can hang out in my office, or sit in the bar. Did Alcide send them over?"

"I don't know, I'm getting two new guys today, I guess they'll be from Alcide's pack or someone he finds anyway." My voice was still a little petulant.

"Okay, cher, I'll see you tomorrow then. Thanks Sookie."

"Bye, Sam," I said and hung up the phone.

I stayed in bed for a while, thinking over the conversation with Sam. I had planned to tell Sam I was quitting and here I was committed to working tomorrow. I was a coward to not just face Sam down and tell him. It was hard to say no to Sam though, he had been such a good and loyal friend. I didn't have many of those. And that got me thinking about something else. I had been dreaming a few days ago, something about tigers. What was it Quinn had said to me, when he had come over here a few weeks ago? "He's trying to wall you off from everyone else who cares for you," he had said. I wondered if that was true and I wondered how many people really did care for me.

I hardly saw anyone who wasn't a vampire or a were, except for Amelia, and she was a witch. My brother wasn't really human and Sam was a shifter. Eric wasn't trying to keep me from any of them. I had never had many people in my life. I was spending less time with humans now, sure, but then look at the humans I had been hanging around with before. I wasn't altogether human myself. I thought of Arlene. No, I wasn't going there.

Everything had gone so fast. What did I really know about Eric anyway? He had stayed with me for less than a week, and he had been under a curse while he was here. By the time he had gotten back his memory of that time, we were bonded. But it wasn't about the blood bond. If he hadn't cared for me before the bond, he would have let Andre have me. I had told Quinn that I wanted someone who would put me first. But hadn't Eric put himself in the way of danger for me time and time again? I had a feeling he was doing it again, with Felipe de Castro this time. I was getting myself all worked up. I wasn't going to doubt my vampire now. I might as well get out of bed.

I took care of necessities, showered and put on some light makeup. I was tired of wearing pants, and decided I would wear a dress today and to hell with the scars. I needed to feel in control of my own life, and it was a warm day and I would wear what I wanted. I knew that I wasn't ready to go out in my bikini to work on a tan, and maybe I never would be, but it was time to get some semblance of normalcy back into my life. I picked out a blue sundress with little white flowers and white sandals. I put on pretty underwear too, although probably no one would see it. I just wanted to feel pretty down to the skin. I made up my bed and headed to the kitchen.

The thought of breakfast made me a little queasy, but I knew I needed to start eating better, so I got out some cereal and cut some fruit up on top of it before I poured the milk. After I'd eaten something, I actually felt better and went ahead and made some coffee. I never really felt human until I'd had my coffee, and I needed to feel human today.

After the breakfast dishes were washed and put away, I got busy on the laundry. It was kind of nice taking care of the men's clothes, kind of like having a family. There was still something comforting about the traditional role of wife and mother. I knew the realities of working women and could imagine how hard that would be with kids too, but the thought of washing Eric's clothes and folding them up just made me smile. I guess I wasn't very politically correct.

The rest of the day passed quietly. I left Bubba's neatly folded clothes on the porch for him to collect, and put Jordun's things on the bed in my old bedroom. I spent a little time reading about pregnancy from the book I had bought in Clarice. The whole process sounded kind of daunting. I wondered what Eric would think when I got all huge. I suppose he'd probably had women of all shapes and sizes. He was from an era when women were probably pretty thin, just because food was so hard to come by. But he would have been around when women were more comfortably rounded too, before stick skinny became all the rage. I would watch my weight in any case, no matter Eric thought, but I hoped he wouldn't mind too much when I changed shape.

That made me think about maternity clothes and baby furniture and all the odds and ends it would take to deal with a child. I was thankful that I could afford to do this without financial hardship. It had been so hard for gran to raise us on her limited income. I don't know how she managed to do it and still stay so kind and loving. She would be a good example for me on how to be a mother.

I had leftovers for lunch, and then went outside to get some sun. The new "relief" guards hustled right up to the porch as soon as I opened the door. These two weres were not quite as intimidating as Travis and Mark. They didn't have that military stance and attitude, but that didn't mean they weren't formidable. They were both close to six feet tall and stocky. Jim had sandy hair and a ruddy complexion and was maybe thirty-five. Dwayne had light hair too, had a nice tan and looked young, maybe early twenties. They greeted me pleasantly and I asked them if they had had their lunch.

"Yes, Ma'am, we brought our lunch with us. Mr. Herveaux said not to bother you and to stay outside the house or right with you if you went out, until your night guard showed up," Dwayne said. He seemed like a person with a very sunny disposition, and was maybe a little nervous around women too, so he kept chatting. "Mr. Herveaux said you'd been ill, Ma'am, so if there is anything we can do for you, you just ask away."

"Thank you, Dwayne. You can just call me Sookie. I'm doing just fine now, but I appreciate the offer." Jim was standing quietly and trying hard not to stare at the scars on my legs. Maybe I shouldn't have worn a dress, I thought. "Tomorrow I will need a ride to town, I have to work for a few hours at Merlotte's in the evening, but today I am sticking around home. I just thought I would come out and get some sun and see how the work was going on the garage."

Jim spoke up this time. "We can drive you wherever you need to go, Sookie. If you need to be out a little late, that's fine, we can drive you home."

"Great! I bought a new car, but it had to be ordered, and it hasn't come in yet. I am hoping to have it next week." They asked what I had gotten and that started a discussion about cars and gas mileage.

The construction seemed to be going right along. Not only did I have a cement-lined hole in my yard, but it looked like I had trenches too. There was a cement mixer getting ready to pour its next load. That must be what had made such a gawd awful noise earlier in the day. Somehow all of this chaos would turn into a vampire motel down the line. It didn't seem possible by looking at it. I felt bad about my beautiful gravel drive, which was suffering from all the traffic. It would have to be regravelled again. The guys on the crew waved and nodded as I looked around but kept working. They were determined to be right on schedule I supposed. I wasn't going to complain about that! I watched the bee hive of activity for a while then headed back inside.

I snatched a favorite romance novel from the shelf and took it over to the couch to lie down and read. I got to page ten before I fell asleep.

A snuffling sound next to my ear woke me up, and for a brief moment, I thought it was my cat Tina sniffing me. I almost reached up to pet her and then remembered it couldn't be Tina. Tina was dead. It was Pam. She was smelling my hair. "Pam, what are you doing?" I shrieked and sat up so quickly I almost fell off the couch.

"My master must keep you around just for your delicious fragrance. Thalia is stomping around on the porch. Are you going to invite her in before she becomes annoyed? We brought your dinner."

The thought of an annoyed Thalia was enough to get anyone moving. I jumped up and headed for the door. "What are you doing here, Pam? Did Eric send you?" She didn't answer; she just headed into the kitchen. I heard cupboards opening and the rustle of paper bags. Something smelled good. I headed to the door to deal with Thalia.

Tiny Thalia was striding up and down the porch, still in her Fangtasia garb, her round black eyes glowing. She was swinging a sword that was almost as long as she was tall. "Good evening, Thalia," I said politely, staying inside the doorway and away from the path of the sword.

"Mistress," she said deferentially and bowed her head in my direction.

"Just call me Sookie, Thalia. Won't you please come in?" I invited. She picked up what looked to be an overnight bag, tucked the sword under her arm with the blade pointed behind her, and walked in. I scurried out of her way. I wasn't exactly afraid of Thalia, but Pam had once described her as a trained pit bull, so I thought caution was the better part of valor.

Thalia looked around the living room and actually smiled. I guess I was glad that it met with her approval. I offered to take her bag, and she looked a little confused, so I just suggested that she might want to set it down next to the door. I didn't make any suggestions about the sword. Pam popped her head in from the kitchen and snapped, "I believe your meal is supposed to be served warm." I took that to mean I better get my butt into the kitchen, so I left Thalia to her own resources. "Feel free to explore," I told her and followed Pam to the table.

Pam already had a place set for me at the table, with plate, fork and knife, napkin and a glass of milk. There was a take out container of something that smelled absolutely delicious and turned out to be barbecue chicken with beans and rice and corn on the cob. I realized I was starving. "Sit," Pam directed and I sat. "Apparently we are lady's maids and your Master has concerns that you may not be eating enough," she said as she headed to the fridge to get out two bottles of blood.

"Eric is not my master, Pam, and make yourself at home, please," I said. Pam just snorted. She was wearing a pair of designer jeans and a fluffy pink sweater. I tried to remember if I had ever seen Pam in jeans before. The microwave beeped and she put the blood on the table and sat down.

Thalia came in and sat next to Pam and the two just stared at me until I realized I was expected to start eating. I loaded my plate and began to dig in. I was so hungry! I must have made an appreciative sound, because Pam settled in, no longer staring and said, "Good!"

"Pam, can I ask you something?" I asked after I had taken the edge off my hunger. She nodded, so I continued. "Does it bother you to be around human's eating? Bill always seemed annoyed that I needed food and actually seemed offended by my eating. It doesn't seem to bother you or Eric." (Or Thalia, I thought to myself, but decided to keep my remarks addressed to Pam for now.)

"Compton is an infant," offered Thalia by way of explanation. I knew Thalia must be old, but to consider one hundred fifty years or so as infancy was beyond my comprehension.

"Some vampires are offended by everything human's do," Pam offered, and I could see she was considering what to say. "Most think of themselves as superior and look at humans as walking food, like cows, or like a pet." I remembered Eric had said almost the same thing. "Some never fully accept who they are, and they are bothered by what reminds them of their lost humanity. Those do not usually reach an old age." I wondered what that meant in terms of Bill.

"Is that what I am to Eric, Pam, a beloved pet?" I asked scornfully.

"Sookie, first of all, you aren't entirely human, you are sort of a natural phenomenon. But that aside, no one really understands what you are to Eric, but the two of you seem to be one entity now. To harm one, is to harm the other you might say. I would not call you a pet!" I pondered that for a moment, not sure what to think.

"So how is Bill, Pam? When is he coming home?"

"Compton will be home soon. He is safer in the hospital until he has regained full strength, but he will survive this time," she said, almost regretfully. I had a feeling there was no love lost between Pam and Bill.

"And what brings you here tonight, Pam? Is Eric coming?" I asked, maybe a little too eagerly.

"As to why I am here, I have brought Thalia, who will take Jordun's place for a few days. He is needed elsewhere. As to Eric, who knows?"

About this time, Jordun came in the back door, dressed in his now clean clothes and looking gorgeous as usual. He nodded to Pam and Thalia and looked approvingly at me with my dinner. "Good evening, sister," he said. "Hi, Jordun, can I get you some blood?" I offered politely. "Thank you but I have fed," he answered, then directed his attention to the vampires.

"Bubba has seen a man in the woods, he says he thinks it is a fairy, but he couldn't catch him."

"Dermott!" I said shakily, fear in my voice. "He is half fairy, he's been hanging around my brother's house too." I wondered why he was now hanging around my house.

"A fairy?" Thalia asked as she sat up straighter, looking hungry.

"You must not leave your mistress unguarded to go chasing fairies," Pam told her sternly. "He is not the gravest threat at this point."

"That's easy for you to say," I mumbled to myself, not wanting to know what threat to me was worse than fairies.

"I know better than to be led off into the woods by fairies," Thalia stated, obviously offended by Pam's rebuke.

"Well, we will leave you two girls to enjoy your evening. Sookie, finish your meal," Pam said.

"Yes, Mom," I said, and they were out the door, leaving me with Thalia.

I was a little disconcerted, not exactly knowing what to do with this ancient vampire for the rest of the evening, but decided to do as Pam said for now, and finish my dinner. Everything was delicious.

Thalia and I sat in silence as I finished my supper, but it was not an uncomfortable silence. Finally, Thalia shifted slightly in her chair and focused on me. "You do not ask many questions," she stated bluntly. I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but I had an idea.

"My gran always told me that people would eventually tell you more than you ever wanted to know, if you were just patient. I admit I get very curious, but it seems sort of rude to just ask personal questions of someone unless you have a close relationship."

"Yes, people are always talking, talking, talking. You hear them, yet it doesn't make you crazy?" I guess she thought we had enough of a relationship to ask me personal questions, but I didn't really mind.

"Well, people call me Crazy Sookie, so I must appear that way to lots of people. It makes it hard sometimes to cope with things; it is very distracting. And the things you hear from people sometimes can just curl your hair."

She reached up to touch her dark, curly hair and looked confused. "What I mean is, it is sometimes pretty shocking or scary. But I can't hold people responsible for what they are thinking, we all think terrible things sometimes." She nodded at that. I could just imagine how terrible some of her thoughts were, if they matched the looks I had so often seen on her face.

"If I ask you something personal, that is rude?" she queried. She looked a little uncomfortable, as much as a vampire can with their immobile faces.

"I suppose it might be, depending on what you ask, but go ahead. If I am uncomfortable to answer, I will tell you." She seemed satisfied with that.

"You are with child," she stated, and I nodded. "How does it feel?" she continued and she looked so eager and genuinely interested that I took a few moments to consider my answer.

"It is all so early yet, that I haven't really taken it in. You know the circumstances?" I asked her, and she nodded. "I always knew that I wanted children, but I pictured something so different, getting married first and of course, the baby would be my husband's child. So, at first this seemed a terrible and frightening thing. Now, though, it is like a blessing. I am amazed and maybe a little scared and sort of excited, but in many ways it is still not real to me."

She was staring at me with longing on her face. "Will you let me hold this child after it is born?" she asked in a very small, quiet voice, and then turned away, as if in embarrassment. "I do not feed from children."

I considered this, although my natural impulse was to say of course you can't hold the baby. "This baby will be half fairy. Dr. Ludwig thinks that it will be safe around Eric, because the baby will have had his blood through me. I don't know how safe it will be around other vampires." She was looking at me again, with disappointment in her eyes. "If it is safe, if it looks like the baby is not "addictive" to vampires, then of course, you may hold it," I offered. She nodded her head at that, and gave me a beautiful smile, but she didn't ask any more questions.

After I had washed up from dinner, I showed Thalia where everything was in the house, in case she needed anything, and how to work the trap door in the closet where she would sleep. I apologized that I couldn't offer better accommodations, and explained about the new sleeping arrangements I would have when the garage was finished. She seemed very interested in everything about the house. After the tour I asked her if she would like to watch television and she seemed okay with that. She looked at what I had to offer in the way of movies, which wasn't much, and snatched up my Buffy the Vampire tapes that Tara had given me.

For someone who could carry such a deadly sword around like it was a handbag, she had a very feminine and delicate laugh. She laughed and laughed whenever the vampires got all blood lusty and I even heard her from my bedroom after I had gone very late to bed.


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Thank you for all the kind reviews. They encourage me to keep going.

The cashier gave me quite a look when she saw how much True Blood I was buying. "Havin' a party, hon?" she asked while trying not to look at my neck too obviously. It had been like Grand Central Station for vampires at my house lately, and I figured I couldn't have too much blood in the fridge. Bubba would probably need his cooler refilled and who knew how many vampires would stop in unexpectedly. "Something like that," I said, which I thought was a nebulous enough response (another good word-of-the-day word). Her overly made-up eyes looked me up and down while she rang up the rest of my groceries, checking out the "muscle" standing with me and speculating on what I had to offer to have such an "interesting" life. She didn't know how lucky she was to lead a dull one.

Jim and Dwayne helped load up the van with my purchases. They didn't make any comment about the blood and I wasn't making any effort to know what they thought. Weres weren't usually big broadcasters like a lot of humans were, and I found that refreshing.

When we got home, and had brought in the groceries to the kitchen, I reminded the guys that I would need to be at Merlotte's by five and they said that was fine. They could get their dinner there, while I was working. They both seemed to know Merlotte's although I didn't remember ever seeing them in the bar. I put everything away, and sat down to a second cup of coffee and a sandwich. I had picked up the mail on the way home and had some bills to pay and the newspaper to read until it was time to go to work.

After so much time off, it felt strange to put my bar uniform on. The late afternoon sun was warm and I could have worn shorts, but I chose the black slacks, black nikes, white socks and white scoop necked tee with Merlotte's on the front. I put my hair up in a tight ponytail and wrapped a pink band around it three times. It would match my nail polish. I chose some small gold studs for my ears and I was good to go.

I can't say I was enthusiastic about heading back to work. Now that I didn't need the money, there was no real reason to go, except for Sam. I needed to talk with him tonight and tell him I was quitting. I should have done it over the phone the day before, but I hated to say no to a good friend like Sam. I would just help him out tonight and that would be that. I grabbed a light sweater in case it was cool when I came home, grabbed my keys and purse and headed out the door.

My guards went in with me to Sam's office so I could put my purse in its usual drawer and hang up my sweater. Sam was in the office doing paperwork and he got up from his desk to give me a big hug. He sniffed my hair and seemed satisfied, as if he was testing for vampire scent and didn't find it. Of course, I hadn't seen my vampire in days, but he didn't know that.

"Sookie, thanks for coming in. These must be your guards. I'm Sam Merlotte. I own the bar." Sam said, extending his hand. His tone was not exactly friendly, but it was polite.

"This is Jim and this is Dwayne," I said as they all shook hands. "They need to stay with me while I work, Sam, it's kind of in their job description to not lose track of me."

"I don't understand why you think you need them in the bar, Sookie. You know I wouldn't let anything happen to you here while you're working. What's going on that you need guards?" He was looking me up and down as if my appearance would somehow tell him what he wanted to know. I straightened my clothes and adjusted my ponytail self-consciously.

"Eric thinks I need a guard, Sam, and I don't want to argue with him about it," I said, trying not to sound too defensive.

"Eric," he spat out, as if he was talking about gum on his shoe. "What hold does he have over you, Sookie? You have to do everything he says now?" His voice was like cold water dripping down my back.

Jim and Dwayne were looking uncomfortable with this discussion and I was getting mad again. "Listen Sam, I only came in as a favor tonight. If you want me to go home, fine, but these two are staying with me. I won't be coming in after this, and I'm sorry about not giving you proper notice, but there's a lot going on right now and I just need to move on," I said and burst out crying.

All three men tried to pull out a chair for me at the same time, and managed to knock me right into the side of Sam's desk. The air rushed out of my lungs and I made a sound like "Oof!" and grabbed onto Sam to steady myself. "Sorry Ma'am," the guards spoke at once, looking abashed. Sam looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Sookie, please don't cry. I didn't mean to yell at you or anything. I guess we just need to talk is all and work this all out." He handed me a tissue from a box on his desk and I dabbed at my eyes and blew my nose. "You can go on home if you want, we can manage somehow."

His concerned demeanor and resigned voice made me feel kind of bad, since I had told him I would help tonight. "No, that's okay, Sam, I'll stay and help through the dinner hour, since I'm here already."

"Thanks, Sookie, that would be a big help. Jim and Dwayne here can sit in the bar, and that'll be fine."

"Okay, " I said with finality and went out to get an apron on and start working. Terry waved at me from the bar and seemed happy to see me. I had to remember to ask him about painting the house. Antoine popped his head out of the kitchen and called, "Hey Sookie." There were two other waitresses. They were both new. Sam had been hiring to replace Arlene and to fill in for me. They must have been new to town, since I didn't know either of them. They seemed like they were doing okay with their tables but were glad to see some more help.

The bar looked just the same as it always had been, and that was both a comfort and a disappointment. It's not like I had expected it to have changed, but I think maybe I had changed. I had expected that the clatter of minds would be deafening after being away, but my shields snapped into place on their own and it was as quiet as a room full of vampires.

Working here had given me a kind of acceptance, mingling with the bar patrons and chatting with my co-workers. I had needed that acceptance, because I had thought of myself as handicapped. Now I began to see that maybe my telepathy didn't have to be a disability, that maybe it could be a gift. I had crossed some kind of a line in that dank cabin in Arkansas. My captors had pushed me beyond the limits of my strength and endurance, as I knew them then. But I still had strength, and I could set new limits, higher limits. Maybe I could be something besides a barmaid in a small town in northern Louisiana.

I would have to ponder all of that when I didn't have a table full of drunken servicemen clamoring for another pitcher of beer. The bar was filling up fast and as I served drinks, cleared tables and greeted customers, I put a smile on my face, and it wasn't my crazy Sookie smile.

Andy Bellfleur came in about seven o'clock for his usual burger and fries. He must have been on duty and taking his dinner break because he ordered a coke instead of a beer. "You hear about Whit Spradling, Sookie?" he asked me. "You know anything about that?"

"Yeah, Andy, Amelia told me he had an accident out on the road from Shreveport, and that's all I know."

"Seems kind of odd that people that have a run in with you tend to have something bad happen to them, don't you think?" he persisted.

"I don't know what you are implying Andy Bellfleur. You think that I ran that guy off the road or something? Kind of like you thought my brother killed his own grandmother cause you couldn't find the real killer," I snapped at him defiantly.

"Now I'm just saying it seems a little too convenient that he should just die out on the road like that. What's with the muscle sitting over there, watching everything you do?" he asked, looking over at the corner booth where Jim and Dwayne were sitting.

"You want another drink, Andy? I have tables to wait on," I answered, evading his question.

"That Agent Lattesta is awful interested in you, Sookie. He says you don't return his calls. I guess we'll be coming over to your house to talk to you soon." He gave me his best lawman stare, to make sure I was properly intimidated.

I whipped my cell phone out of my pants pocket, found Mr. Cataliades' number and wrote it on the back of Andy's napkin. "That's the name and number of my lawyer, Andy, you can talk to him. I don't think I have anything more to say to you unless you want something else to eat or drink," I said and stomped away, my ponytail swinging side to side.

I went and checked on the guards, refilled their cokes and went on to my other tables. Everyone seemed to know I was getting married, and there were lots of ooh's and ahh's over my ring. Everyone seemed to think I must be marrying Bill Compton, since they had never seen me going around with anyone else, and they were all asking where he'd been lately. Since we'd both been gone for weeks, they just naturally assumed we'd been off somewhere together. The gossip mill just made up the details if there were parts missing in a story going around.

I had a pat answer I was giving to everyone. "No, I wasn't marrying Bill, he was out of town somewhere. I didn't know when he was coming back. I had met a guy in Shreveport. Yes, it was kind of sudden, but you know how love is, you never know when it will hit you. He owned a bar. We hadn't made any plans yet, or set a date. Yes, I would be keeping the house. No, he wasn't paying for my garage; I'd gotten an inheritance. Yes, it was the same relative that had left Jason the money for the new truck he was planning on buying."

I was surprised I hadn't seen my brother. He usually came in the bar most nights to see who was free and looking for company. I hadn't talked to him in a few days and I wanted to ask him whether he had talked to Dermott again. Well, if he didn't come in before I finished my shift, I would call him tomorrow.

After three hours I was totally exhausted. I still had a few full tables in my section, so I couldn't slow down yet. I hoped Sam wasn't going to ask me to stay any later than the promised nine o'clock, because there was no way I was going to stay any later than that. Thinking of the time made me realize it was very dark outside and I hadn't told Thalia my plans for today. Oh shit! She was going to be very annoyed when she got up and I was nowhere to be found. I didn't have her cell number either. I could try calling the house, but she might not pick up the phone.

I signaled to Sam that I needed a minute and stepped back by the office to call home. No one picked up. "Thalia, sorry that I didn't leave you a note or something, I just forgot. I am at the bar, Merlottes, I have my guards. I'll be home around nine. Sorry," I told the answering machine. I tried Pam next, just in case Thalia had her on alert. "Pam, I forgot to tell Thalia that I was picking up a shift at the bar to help Sam out. She might be worried where I am. I have my guards with me, and I'll be leaving here at nine. The weres will drive me home. Let Thalia know, okay?" I told Pam's voice mail. Okay, that would have to do. I had a feeling I was going to be in trouble with my vampires when I got home.

During the last half hour of my shift my feet just dragged, but I freshened everyone's drinks and made sure my section was tidy before I signaled to Sam that I was ready to go. I threw my apron into the laundry bin, waved my guards over and headed to the office to pick up my purse and sweater. Sam followed me into the office. "Thanks, Sookie, I really appreciate your helping out. I'll come by in the next few days and we can talk about things," he said. He was being conciliatory now, since I had avoided him the whole evening after our original discussion in the office.

"Okay, Sam, that would be good," I answered. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek to let him know that we had made peace and headed out the door. Jim, Dwayne and I climbed into the van and drove the few miles to my house. I took the band out of my ponytail and leaned my head against the back of my seat. I was half asleep in the car. I was so tired. I was looking forward to a nice hot shower and maybe a cup of hot cocoa before I climbed into bed. We were on my drive and into my yard when I snapped into alertness. I'd heard the apprehension in Jim's voice.

"Sookie, something is going on here. I think we better turn around." I looked out the window and gasped. The security lights were on and there was enough light to see that my yard was full of vampires.

Jim began to back down the drive but before he could get two feet, the car was surrounded by vamps. I didn't recognize any of them. They were all carrying swords. He slammed on the brakes and hit the lock button on his door. The click of the locks engaging sounded loud and ominous. Both weres pulled their guns out from under their jackets and clicked off the safeties. They were talking quickly with each other, but I wasn't paying attention. I was looking out to see if Eric was here.

It looked like there were twelve vamps, no, fifteen all together. Maybe six were around the car. Four were in front of the porch, either guarding or restraining someone small. Thalia. I could see her big broadsword now, the blade glinting in the porch light as she swung it rhythmically back and forth, like rocking a cradle. The rest seemed to be circling a man in a cape, but not in a threatening way, more like offering protection. That would be Felipe de Castro, the king.

I opened my mind to the area around us and called out to Eric. I could feel him faintly. He was close. He was coming. "The king is here. There are fifteen vamps," I tried to tell him with my thoughts. "Be careful," I warned him. I scanned for Jordun, but couldn't find him. "What do I do, Eric?" I called to him. He didn't answer, but he sent me his confidence through the bond. "Do not be fearful, Lover." Someone else was approaching the car; I needed to focus on that.

Jim and Dwayne had their guns pointed at the windows, at the closest vamps to the car. I knew if they fired, the vamps would kill them both. "Put down your weapons. Everything is fine. That's Eric's boss, Felipe de Castro. Eric is on his way. I'll just go up to the house and you guys go on home," I told Jim and Dwayne, trying to sound like I had a vampire convention in my yard every night.

"I don't know Miss, they don't look friendly. We can't just leave you." Jim sounded a little panicked, not sure what he was supposed to do in this situation. "Maybe I should call Alcide or something?"

"Vampires never look friendly," I assured him, "especially to weres. They see your guns, so they are going to look nasty until they know you aren't going to fire." I didn't want them to incite anything, and I could feel the fear escalating in the weres. I hoped they wouldn't do anything stupid.

The vampire walking towards the car turned out to be Victor Madden. I remembered him from the night of the Nevada take over. I didn't care for him one bit! He stood outside the window where I was sitting in the car, and bowed. "Miss Stackhouse," he said in his deep courtly voice. I nodded back, and held my hand up to let him know I would just be a moment. I slung my purse over my shoulder, and unlocked my door, but didn't open it yet.

"I'm just going to go on up to the house with Mr. Madden. You guys go on home. Thanks for staying late tonight, I surely do appreciate it." My voice was so nonchalant that I could feel the tension in the car ratchet down a notch. "Well, if you're sure you're okay, Sookie," said Dwayne. Jim was staring at me, scanning for the slightest bit of fear or reluctance. I knew how to control the expression on my face; I had a lifetime of experience at that. I looked back at him confidently.

"It's fine. I know this guy, he's been up to the house before. You go on ahead and get home. It's late." I guess I had convinced them, because they put their weapons away and relaxed their shoulders.

"Okay, Sookie, I guess Travis and Mark will be back here tomorrow morning. We might see you again next week. You have a good night, and be careful around those guys," Jim said looking at the vampires.

"I will," I assured him and opened my door. Victor extended his hand to help me out of the car. I accepted it gracefully and greeted him. "Mr. Madden, so nice to see you. My guards will just be leaving, if they could get the car out?" I said, glancing at the vampires standing around the van. He made some kind of signal and the vampires stepped back to the side of the drive. I waved at Jim and Dwayne and they backed out the drive and headed off. I sighed with relief. At least they were safe and I wouldn't have to be responsible for their deaths.

"Mr. Madden, I didn't expect to see you here," I said, still keeping the panic out of my voice, but with more difficulty. Where was Eric?

"Miss Stackhouse, how very nice to see you. I am sorry that we have arrived uninvited. The king wishes to engage your services, but apparently your bonded has been incommunicado. He has come to speak with you directly," he explained as he led me to Felipe de Castro. This was so not good. If Eric wasn't answering the king's summons, some body's head was going to roll. I hoped it wasn't Eric's or mine.

The king was as gorgeous as I had remembered him. He was wearing his black cape again and a ruby glinted in his pierced ear. His caramel skin glowed in the security lights. "Miss Stackhouse, it is such a pleasure to see you again," he purred, inclining his head.

"Mr. de Castro," I said, bowing my head slightly, "to what do I owe this pleasure? I wasn't expecting you."

"I have come to escort you back to New Orleans, Miss Stackhouse," he said. You could have knocked me over with a feather.


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

The king reached out to me and took my hand. I instinctively started to pull away, but he just held on tighter. "What are you talking about?" I asked him, wondering how I was going to get out of this. There was no way I was going anywhere with de Castro without Eric. I was thinking hard, but the only thing I could come up with was to get inside the house. They couldn't get into the house without an invitation, but there were a lot of vampires between me and the house, and one of them had a pretty good hold on my hand. Maybe I could say I needed to pack my clothes?

"There is an Anubis flight leaving tonight from New Orleans, you will be on it with me. I have need of your services in Las Vegas," the king continued. "Everything will be provided for you of course, you may come as you are." He waved a hand as if dismissing all trivial considerations. Okay, there went the packing idea.

It hit me that he had said Las Vegas. "Las Vegas? I can't go to Las Vegas. Where's Eric, I can't go anywhere without Eric's permission." It galled me to say that, but by vampire standards I was Eric's property, so I would play that card. The whole knife ritual meant that the king had to negotiate with Eric about my working for any vampires, didn't it?

"Northman has been less than cooperative with my request. I have been informed that your health did not permit you to leave your house, but it appears that you continue to work at that shifter's bar?" He looked down at my uniform with distaste, as if in confirmation. "Apparently he has misrepresented the situation to me. Not only has he defied his king, he has not taken proper care of a valuable asset of my kingdom. Both of those situations will be rectified tonight."

So Eric must have been putting off the king so I wouldn't have to leave my home. I was getting worried for Eric, and I was getting mad. I tried to tug my hand back, but Felipe just clasped it tighter. My hand was starting to hurt and I was starting to feel like I had nothing to lose. I glared into his handsome immobile face. "Listen, Buddy, I am no asset of your kingdom! This is the United States of America, and we threw out the king a long time ago. I'm not going anywhere with you, asshole. Let go of my hand. You're hurting me!" I screamed, and I stomped on his foot as hard as I could.

The anger had barely registered on his face and I didn't even see his hand move before I felt it make contact with the side of my face. I shrieked as the sound of the slap reverberated through my whole head. If he had hit me full force, it would have killed me, as it was, I felt stunned and I thought my mouth was bleeding. I would have fallen, but he grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me in to face him. "I can see why Northman keeps you to himself, you are quite the wildcat," he hissed. His fangs were fully extended and he was staring at the blood running down my chin. Almost as if he couldn't resist tasting it, he leaned over my face and licked my mouth. That's when all hell broke loose.

From the porch came a shrike like a banshee, and de Castro threw me away from him and onto the ground. I landed on my butt with an audible thud, and by the time I shook my head clear, the fourth head of the vamps guarding Thalia was flying away from her powerfully swung sword. It landed less than three feet from me, and I scrambled back from it, turning my face away from the spattering blood. Thalia landed almost immediately after the head and stood straddling me, still swinging her sword. I had never seen anything move that fast, not even Eric! "For the blood that you have stolen, your life is forfeit," she directed at the king, and her voice held his death.

Felipe held his hand up for a sword and one was thrown to him, but he didn't have a chance to use it. There was a loud "Woomp!" and both of the king's legs were cut off at the knee with one powerful stroke. As Felipe's vamps surged forward to his aid, scores of vamps landed in my yard or ran in from the woods to surround them. Their battle cries rang through the woods like cathedral bells, the noise deafening.

Most of the Nevada vamps, seeing themselves outnumbered, dropped their swords to the ground. Those that didn't were dead within seconds. Eric, with sword held high and blue eyes blazing, turned his face to the sky and howled. The resultant silence was broken only by Felipe's desperate gasps. Felipe's blood still dripped from Eric's sword and my Viking stood in the middle of the ring of vampires looking for all the world like a Nordic god.

"This vampire has taken what rightfully belongs to me by law and tradition. His life is now mine," Eric bellowed. "All that he stole from Sophie Anne I claim as my own. Those who would follow Madden may fight over what is left." He stood over the fallen king, his white skin glowing where it wasn't spattered with blood, his stance daring anyone to defy him. He scanned each of the Nevada vamps in turn and they bowed to him as they caught his gaze. Madden bowed his head, and then turned to leave the yard, his men following behind him. Eric then turned to look at me, still huddling under Thalia. He had never looked so inhuman. "Pam!" he called, and Pam stepped forward. "Take care of your mistress," he commanded and turned his attention back to Felipe.

Pam strode over to me, and reached down to help me off the ground. "Pam, what's going to happen?" I whispered. Eric's blood lust was flooding into me through our bond, and I could barely stand up.

"Come inside, Sookie, you won't want to see this," she answered calmly and she threw me over her shoulder and carried me into the house. She had barely set me down inside the kitchen when the first screams began. I ran into the bathroom and threw up. I crumpled to the floor, rocking back and forth to comfort myself, my hands pressed tightly over my ears until the screaming stopped.

I stayed where I was for a long time, listening to the sounds of the vampires coming and going through my yard, talking on their cell phones and doing whatever vampires do. I was exhausted and surprisingly I was hungry, but I didn't have the energy to get up to even take a shower. The confines of my little bathroom were familiar and comfortable, and I didn't want to leave it to go out and see what my life had become. Of course, it would eventually come to me.

I felt him coming before he entered the bathroom, but I wasn't prepared for the sight of him. He must have taken the time to wash his face and hands, but his hair was matted with dried blood and his clothes were streaked with dirt and – other stuff. He still carried his sword and he laid it on the bathroom counter before he knelt on the floor next to me. He looked as tired as I felt.

His hand reached up to touch my bruised and swollen cheek, and I flinched. He pulled quickly away and a cloud of rejection and regret showed on his usually passive face. "We vampires are all murderers," he said, "no better than animals," and he got up and turned on the shower.

I watched him as he stripped off his filthy clothes, throwing them into a pile on the floor. He was turned away from me, and I was struck once again by the magnificence of his body, his marble white skin and stone hard muscles. As he pulled aside the shower curtain and stepped in, I pulled myself up from the floor and began to undress, throwing my blood stained clothes on top of his.

He was standing with his head leaned back, eyes closed, the hot water streaming over his hair and face, scarlet tinged streaks flowing down his chest and legs. "Kneel down," I said, "and I will wash your hair."

When we were both clean and my vampire had toweled me dry, Eric carried me naked to my bed, carefully stepping over the bloody footprints on the bathroom floor. I pulled down the covers and slid into the cool sheets and sighed. Eric slid in beside me and wrapped me in his arms. "Will you tell me what happened, Eric?" and I think he knew I didn't mean what had happened to Felipe. "What will this mean for us?"

He thought about that while he stroked my arm with his long fingers, still warm from our shower. "I have lived a very long time, Sookie, more years than you can imagine. In that time, I have known many of my kind, and some, like me, have just wanted to live our lives, not beholden to another power, but not exercising power over others either. With Sophie Ann, here in Louisiana, I managed to find a balance of sorts. I was under the rule of another, yes, but the queen did not abuse that power. I controlled others, but mine was a small domain and I tried to be a fair and generous leader that allowed others autonomy. I know you have thought me ruthless sometimes, and perhaps I am, but no more than I must be to allow some control of my own life. It is a ruthless game that vampires play. When de Castro took over Louisiana, I thought I could play by his rules for a while."

He paused for a moment, kissing my neck and inhaling my scent, while he considered how to continue. "When you saved the king's life, and mine (he kissed my neck again), he bestowed a great honor on you, the kingdom's protection, as he should. But when you asked for that protection, he refused you anyone but Bubba. Not only did that show a great disrespect for me, as your bonded, but also it pegged him as a dishonorable man and a coward. Then, when you had barely healed from the torture inflicted on your beautiful body (he kissed my hair), he asked that I bring you to stay in Nevada, so that he might use your gift for his own gain. You must understand, that when a king asks something of you, you must give the expected answer, or soon you will be removed. I thought that he would try to find a way that I could not be with you, and I also knew that you would not want to leave your home. I could not ask you to give up control of your life, or eventually to have to give up control of our child to him."

He paused again, and stroked my belly. "I contacted vampires that I have known through the centuries, old ones that feel as I do, many who would call me friend. Some owe me favors. Over the last few weeks, I have been putting them in place throughout the state. I knew he would come for you, and then I could strike. He could not have bested me in personal combat, but I could not kill him outright, you understand, without some blood offense, because of my oath. I would have forfeited my life. And my life is too valuable now, since I have you to protect. But I have taken his life and his kingdom and now he cannot have you and I am in a position to defend my territory to protect you. I am sorry that you were hurt and frightened, dear one."

I pondered all of this for a moment, but I was too tired to take it all in. "So you are king now, Eric? Will we be safe?"

"Yes, My Lover, and you are my queen. But I can feel how tired you are, and we have talked enough for tonight. Let me feed you, Lover, so you will heal." He bit his own wrist and put it to my lips, and as my mouth pulled on the wound, he pulled my body even tighter to his. His teeth punctured my neck and he drank. Joined by blood and by flesh, we were both healed.


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

The construction workers didn't come on Saturday, so it was quiet and easy to sleep until the early afternoon. As I entered my bathroom to take my "morning" shower, I noticed that Eric's sword and the pile of bloody clothes had been removed while I slept. Someone had made an attempt at the footprints on the floor too, but I decided it would need a good mopping before I spent any significant time in there. I decided to just take care of necessities, throw on some jeans and a tee and then I would tackle the house.

First things first, I needed some coffee, then breakfast. My stomach was growling for attention and I realized I hadn't eaten since yesterday's lunch. I had meant to have something at the bar, but it had been so busy I just hadn't gotten to it. I wished gran were here to make her huge heart attack meal of sausage, eggs and biscuits. I could manage the eggs and I had bread for toast, but no sausage unless I went to the store. I didn't want to go out.

I wondered when my car would show up. I also wondered if I was going to be safe out alone. I wasn't sure what the political situation would be now that Eric was king. Would I be an easy target for anyone with a grudge or who wanted to try a takeover? I'd been a pawn in more than one power play. Then there was the whole Dermott issue. Because he hadn't shown himself to be a threat to Jason, didn't mean he wouldn't go after me. If that wasn't enough there were the plain old humans, like the FOTS. They would just skip the torture and intimidation and go straight for death by bullet. Okay, I was freaking myself out, time to start cooking.

My stomach wasn't a bit queasy and enjoying a meal made me feel a bit more grounded. By the time the dishes were done up and I had poured my second cup of coffee I was ready to get started. The answering machine was blinking, so I would deal with that first. The first call was from Sam. "Sookie, I tried to stop by around eleven, and your guards wouldn't let me up the driveway. You okay? I heard some rumors that there was some kind of takeover. Call me, cher, I'm worried about you." Okay, the guards were probably worried about Eric, sleeping in my closet right now; I could sense him there. I'd have to see about arranging who could come in. This was going to get tiresome.

The next message was from Tara. "Sookie, I've got some great cocktail type dresses in stock that would really work for you. You want me to put anything aside for you? I haven't seen you in a while. You doin' okay, girl? Call me." Clothes were something I would have to think about. Anything I bought now probably wouldn't fit for long, but if Eric was going to be the big cheese, would I have to go to events with him? I'd had to have practically a whole new wardrobe to deal with working for the queen. I'd ask him about that. Better call Sam first, he was probably as mad as a hornet.

Terry Bellfleur answered the phone at the bar. "Hey Sookie, you wanna talk to Sam? He's worried about you."

"Sure Terry, but I wanted to ask you something. Would you be interested in doing some painting for me? It probably won't be for a while yet, but I thought I'd ask. I want to do one bedroom and I need the whole outside of the house done. It's going to need some scraping and there are a few boards that are looking bad too." I needed to remember to show Amelia the colors I was considering.

"Sure, I could probably do that. I was thinking I might get me a second dog, so I could use some work. You let me know when you're ready and I'll come over and price it for you." Terry kept a hunting dog and took great care of her. I wouldn't mind having a dog, but this place was kind of dangerous for pets, with Bubba hanging around. It wasn't all that safe for me either, come to think about it.

"Thanks, Terry," I told him, "I guess I'll talk to Sam now."

Sam didn't waste a minute before he was going off on me. "Sookie, what the hell is going on? Is it true Eric is king now? Is that why people can't even come to your house to see you? You going to walk away from your friends now?"

"Whoa, Sam. You just take two steps back and calm down, mister," I snapped at him. "I didn't even know you were here until a few minutes ago, and I'm sorry you couldn't get up to the house. You wouldn't believe all that happened here last night, Sam. I don't know if I can even talk about it yet. I'm sorry, Sam, I'll make sure you can come anytime you want," I said and he could tell from my voice that I meant it.

"You okay, cher? Is it true?"

"Yeah, it's true and I don't know yet what it's going to mean, Sam. I had a really late night last night and I just got up a while ago. Listen, I'll tell the guards to let you in anytime. I know we were going to talk about stuff today."

"Okay, Sookie. Maybe this is not a good day for a talk, you'll have a lot going on over there. But you call me if you need me. We're going to miss you around here, so don't be a stranger. Really, Sookie, I don't know what I'll do without you, I could always count on you."

That added a pound of guilt to the load of emotions I was already carrying around. "Sorry, Sam. I know you'll always be my friend, and we'll get together soon, I promise."

"Gotta go, Sook. The delivery guy is here. I'll see you soon," he said and hung up.

I decided I would talk to Eric about the clothes thing before I talked to Tara. I realized too, that I wasn't sure whether I should tell her about the baby yet. A few of the vampires knew and Amelia of course, but I hadn't told anyone else. Would Eric want me to keep it quiet? Tara had waited for a while before she announced that she was pregnant, when she knew that it was past the dangerous first months when so much could go wrong. I just didn't want to think about anything going wrong with this baby, but maybe I should wait. I wished Amelia were here to talk this over with me. I needed a human perspective. I would be so glad to see her when she got home tomorrow. Yikes, maybe the guards wouldn't even let her in! I needed to get this straightened out. It was my house after all!

I looked out to see who my guard was today, and just about fell over. There were six men out there, and they all looked like serious muscle. I was glad to see two familiar faces though, so I stepped outside. "Good afternoon, Ma'am," Travis said. Mark just gave his usual nod.

"Nice to see you, Travis, Mark. You can just call me Sookie, you know," I replied. I had almost given up on the Ma'am thing, but one more try might do it.

"Yes, Ma'am. Something we can do for you today?" he asked politely.

"Well, I guess I was wondering what I needed to do if I wanted someone to come visit. I had a friend who couldn't come in the yard today and I'm not sure who to talk to about that."

"Oh, sorry, Ma'am. We would usually just come to the door to okay any visitors with you, but Mr. Northman said you were not to be disturbed for any reason today. Actually, he said we were not to disturb you unless God himself showed up at the door or the house was on fire," he said. Mark started to laugh at that, but then thought better of it, as if just laughing at a vampire might get you killed. Well, I guess it might.

"Freaking vampires!" I said in exasperation. I didn't even know what god Eric believed in!

Travis gave me a big smile in response, then added, "Yes, Ma'am," in agreement.

"Okay, then, I guess you can just let me know if anyone comes calling," I said, " since I'm up now. Thanks guys," and I went back into the house. I had floors to mop and clothes to wash. I'd put fresh sheets on the bed.

I couldn't find the clothes Eric and I had been wearing last night, and I was sort of relieved at that. I probably would have felt like I had to get the stains out, and I really didn't want to ever see them again. Maybe he had burned them. I hoped so. I didn't know if Eric had brought any more clothes with him, (probably not, since he'd been flying) so I dug around my closet to find the clothes he'd worn when he had stayed with me before. The red bikini underwear were still tucked away in a drawer, I had never returned them. I wouldn't mind seeing him in those again. I set out the clean clothes in a pile by the closet door where he'd be sure to see them when he woke up.

I managed to keep busy for the rest of the day. I don't know who all had been in here last night, but I wanted all trace of last night erased from my house. I cleaned until everything sparkled, took my shower and got dressed in a pretty pink dress with a little white sweater. By the time I sat down to the kitchen table with a glass of milk and a sandwich, I was tired again. I must have nodded at the table, because I didn't notice that Eric was up until he wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. "Yikes," I shrieked, a little startled.

"My Lover, what have you been doing that you are sleeping in the kitchen?" he said and pulled up a chair to sit next to me." I was still a little drowsy and just sat there staring at him, wondering if he was wearing that pair of little red underwear.

"What are you thinking, minx?" he asked mischievously. "Penny for your thoughts."

I was a little more awake now, and could feel my face blushing. "Hah!" I shot back, " I bet you don't even have a penny in your pocket, Eric."

He reached into his pocket and his hand came out empty. "Will you take credit?" he asked, his grin getting bigger as he reached over, snatched me out of my chair and plopped me on his lap. I laughed and snuggled against him.

"I might," I told him. "Are you good for it?"

"I am good for a lot of things, lover, tell me what you were thinking, and I might show you how good I am."

I wiggled a little closer on his lap and whispered in his ear. "Are you wearing the tiny red underwear?" I asked and turned red with embarrassment. He burst out laughing. "Would you like to check for yourself?" he asked, knowing that of course I would. I think he would have unbuttoned his jeans right there in the kitchen if Bubba hadn't walked in. I yelped and leaped up so fast, I was on my butt on the floor before Eric could even catch me.

"Sorry, Miss Sookie, if I scared ya," Bubba said. "Hey, Mr. Eric, nice to see you." Bubba sat down and plopped his cooler on the table.

"Good evening, Bubba," Eric said, still grinning as he hauled me back onto his lap.

"Are you needing some more blood, Bubba?" I asked him.

"Yes'm. I sure do. I didn't know whether I should ask you or call Miss Pam, so I just came over here. I got my clean clothes off your porch and I called Miss Pam about them vampires coming round your yard last night and she told me to go on home to Mr. Bill's and Mr. Eric would be coming. So that's what I did. But I'm going to be needing some blood for my cooler."

Eric looked like he was going to explode with laughter, but managed to keep it down to a snort. "You do his laundry?" he asked unbelievingly.

I just ignored Eric and wriggled off his lap and headed to the fridge. I took out two bottles of True Blood and heated them up in the microwave, then set them in front of Eric and Bubba. I pulled out four more and put them in the cooler. "I need to go shopping, that's the last of the blood in the house," I said.

"Thank you, Miss Sookie," Bubba said, then turned his attention to Eric. "You need me to keep watching here at Miss Sookie's house, Mr. Eric?" he asked.

"Do you like staying here, Bubba?" Eric asked him.

"Well, I like the woods here abouts, and Miss Sookie's been looking out for me, since there's not a lot to eat around here anymore. I'm going to try to catch that fairy though, but he's awfully fast."

Eric looked thoughtful at that statement. "I think maybe it's a good idea if you'd like to stay here for a while yet, Bubba. You can keep chasing that fairy away, but if you catch him, you be careful, they're tricky devils." I raised my brows at that, not sure what I thought about Bubba catching Dermott. I hated to see anything happen to Bubba, and I wasn't altogether sure I wanted anything bad to happen to Dermott either. But I kept my opinions to myself, and figured Bubba probably wouldn't catch him anyway. "I'll send someone out for more blood, Bubba, and have them come around to Bill's and leave it in the house for you."

"That would be very kind of you, Mr. Eric. Thank you Miss Sookie," he said and he stood, picked up his cooler and walked out the door.

"Now where were we?" Eric asked me.

"You were going to send someone to do Bubba's grocery shopping," I teased him.

Eric's gleeful attitude sobered a bit. "Unfortunately, I do have business to attend to, in addition to Bubba. I expect my vampires are gathering outside already, waiting to go to Shreveport. The next few days will be crucial to solidify this change over. I will have to meet with the sheriffs and replace the staff that will be relocating to Nevada. Jordun will be helping, and Pam, of course." I must have looked chagrinned, because he added, "Would you come with me to Shreveport, lover? Just for tonight? We can stay at my house. You haven't seen my house, and I would like to show it to you." He sounded plaintive, as if this was very important to him.

"Okay, Eric, but Amelia is coming home tomorrow. Can someone bring me back? Remember I don't have my new car yet."

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "It is not a good idea for you to be out alone, lover. I will arrange for someone to drive you home, and you can be here when your witch returns. I want us to spend more time together, but I know your life is still here in this place," he said a little regretfully.

"We will work this all out, Eric. It will just take some time. We hardly know each other really, and I guess you could say we lead different lives. Let's just go with one day at a time for now."

He wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me slowly and deeply, with the skill of centuries of practice. My knees felt weak and I leaned heavily against him. We stood that way for a moment, happy in each other's arms, and then his phone rang. "Do what you need to do, Eric, don't forget Bubba's blood. I will pack some clothes to take to Shreveport." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and I went back to the bedroom to pack an overnight bag.

The thing about vampires is that there aren't many of them compared to humans. Sure it seemed that there were a lot of them around Louisiana, but in general, there just weren't many. It had been years after the great revelation before Bill Compton had come into Bon Temps. He had been my first. Vampire sighting, I mean. Well, other firsts too. So I guess what I was thinking, was that the chances of having that many vampires together at once, like there'd been in my yard last night, was pretty remarkable. There had been even more at the convention in Rhodes and that hadn't turned out well at all. Violence and chaos just seemed to follow them around.

Now a sane person that saw that many bloodsuckers might be thinking they should run like hell at the first opportunity, before they became collateral damage. I had pretty much been thinking that myself last night. But here I was packing my bag to head straight into the lion's den, and what was I worrying about? I was worrying about what to wear.

I finally chose a skirt that fell just below the knee and had panels in it, so it swirled when you turned. There was a pattern of big blue flowers over a black background that kept the skirt from looking too somber. I found a silk tank that just matched the colors of the flowers and a little black sweater with three quarter length sleeves that would go over the tank. I had a pretty blue bra and panties set that I had gotten at Tara's on sale that would go nice underneath, just in case, and I dug out some nice black sandals from the back of the closet. Eric was just in jeans, so I wasn't going to get too dressed up with heels. I gave my hair a good brushing, and then threw the brush into my bag so I wouldn't forget it.

I packed up some toiletries and make up, my nicest nightgown, and jeans, a knit top and underwear for tomorrow. I dug around in the bathroom until I found a few of those take along tissue packs and put one in my purse and one in my bag. Vampires often forgot things like "human necessities" and you never knew when you would need some tissue. I put the romance novel I had been reading the other day into my purse, in case I had time to kill while Eric was busy.

I wondered if he had a coffee pot, or any kind of pot actually. He would have a stove certainly, and a microwave for blood, but maybe not much more than that. I would follow Bubba's example and take my little cooler with some fruit and cheese and maybe I'd bring a little bit of instant coffee if I could find some in the kitchen. Vamps didn't always remember humans had to eat too, although Eric was pretty considerate in that department. Okay, I'd leave a note for Amelia, in case she got home early and I was good to go.

I turned to get my purse, keys and cell phone and Jordun was standing in the doorway. "Good grief!" I yelped. Damned silent vampires that don't know how to knock!

He didn't seem to register that he had surprised me. "You look very tasty tonight, sister," he said, "but don't tell my brother I said that." He winked at me and said, "He is being particularly possessive of you tonight." As if vampires hadn't written the book on possessive.

"He needs to get over himself," I said tartly.

"I would love to watch you tell him that," he said with a smirk. "Are you ready to go? I will carry your bags," and he snatched them up before I could say a word. I'll tell you something about vampires. They don't ever do anything for themselves if there is a human around to wait on them, well, excluding rending and hacking. Everyone was sure being very solicitous (another good word-of-the-day) of me these days though. Hmm."

Eric was standing outside talking to two scary looking vamps, but came over to help me into the car. "You look beautiful tonight, My Lover," he whispered in my ear, as he leaned over to buckle me in. He gave me a quick kiss and then went around to the driver's seat, started the car and roared out of the driveway like there was no tomorrow. Jordun and Thalia were in the back and I turned my head to greet Thalia. She was still holding that big old sword, and that sent shivers down my spine. Didn't she worry about what would happen if the car stopped quickly? It seemed like hauling that thing around was kind of like running with scissors. I guess vampires didn't worry about stuff like that.

I dozed on the ride to Fangtasia. Jordun and Eric were busy talking strategy and Thalia as usual didn't have anything to say. When we got to the club, I noticed a sign on the door that said "Closed. Come by for a bite on Tuesday night". It was rare that Eric closed the club, so there were a few fangbangers hanging around the front to see what was going on. When we got inside, I found out. There were all the vampires from the night before, and when they saw Eric, they all bowed to him. As if his ego wasn't big enough already. His head was going to swell so big it wouldn't fit through a door!


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Lots of people can't recognize a vampire when they first see them, well, if their fangs aren't out. I have always been able to spot them right away. They glow, at least to me they do. What I also began to notice as I met more of them was that I could sort of sense how powerful they were. Their power seems to grow with age, so a vampire like Eric, over a thousand years old, sort of radiated power. When I had first met Bill, I had thought he was pretty darned strong. He had turned over a trailer and rooted up a tree! But I was beginning to see that he was just a babe in the woods next to some of these ancient creatures. I don't know where Eric had dug them up (no pun intended) but he had managed to pull together a room full of real antiques. In this enclosed space, my skin was just about crawling with the energy of so many powerful beings, so I sort of stepped back and ran right into, of all people, Bill Compton, my former flame.

In the normal course of events, I would have thrown my arms around Bill's neck and given him a big hug, but he glanced up from his bowed position and looked at Eric's back, giving me a warning look. At the same time, Eric's arm snaked back and around my waist and pulled me to his side. The bond was sort of humming between us and I realized that Eric was nervous! I could tell, too, that he didn't like that Bill was so close to me. I could talk to Bill later.

Without any speeches or signals or trumpet calls, the vampires almost in unison straightened up and the room took on an atmosphere of informality. I looked around and noticed right away that Eric sort of towered over most of the other vamps. I guess most of them came from a time when people were just shorter. I felt pretty tall next to some of them, and I was glad I hadn't worn heels.

Eric led me over to the booth where Pam was now sitting, and Thalia came over and stood behind me, her big sword looking almost as menacing as she did. "I will be back shortly, Lover," Eric told me, then signaled to Felicia, who brought a ginger ale and set it on the table in front of me. "Hi Felicia," I greeted her, and she bowed to me!

"Mistress," she said and scurried away, looking a little frightened. Felicia was the most timid vampire I had ever met. Of course timid with a vampire still meant they could rip your throat out in about three seconds so that didn't mean you could disregard them. I turned to Pam.

"Is she still afraid I am going to get her killed, Pam?" Pam had told Felicia that I was like a curse to bar tenders, since Fangtasia had lost so many in the last two years.

"She doesn't want to be punished for showing a lack of respect," Pam said matter of factly.

"What are you talking about Pam?" I didn't want to be responsible for Felicia! I didn't want to be responsible for anybody getting hurt! I was going to have to tread carefully around the vampires, that was for sure. I still didn't understand their protocol. Pam may have actually answered my question, or not, if Bill hadn't suddenly shown up at the table. Bill looked like he was back to his normal self, maybe a little pale. Okay, vamps are always pale, but he still had just a little of that grayish tone to his skin from the silver poisoning. It was kind of creepy, but considering he had almost died, he looked good.

He nodded at Pam, then gave me a halfhearted smile. "Sookie, I am glad to see you are looking so well."

"Thanks, Bill, you're looking pretty good your own self. When did you get out of the hospital?"

"I left there today, and will be going home now. I just wanted to come over here first to congratulate Eric and see how you were doing. I have been very worried about you." He looked around as if to see who might be watching our conversation. "Perhaps I might call on you one evening this week." Pam must have made some small movement, maybe raising her eyebrows or something, because Bill started backtracking and looked nervous. "Of course, with our king's permission," he added.

"You may have a king, Bill, but I don't, so you come on over anytime," I invited, sort of nudging Pam with my elbow. That got a real smile out of Bill, but then he sort of nodded his head hesitantly, looked at Thalia this time, and left the table without another word. I turned to Pam and she was looking at me with exasperation, no doubt wondering what I would ask her next that she wouldn't want to answer.

"So, Pam," I began, but I didn't get any farther than that, when I felt my vampire approach my side.

"My Lover, if you would join me," he said and extended his hand. I shimmied out of the booth and taking his hand, followed him up to his usual chair at the end of the dance floor. There was another chair there and he settled me into it, and then sat by my side. He leaned over to whisper into my ear. " You look so beautiful tonight, Lover. Everyone wants to meet you," and turned to face the crowd of vampires. I wondered what would come next, some bowing and scraping feudal lord stuff I guessed, but it turned out to be kind of like a receiving line at a wedding – or a funeral.

The first vampire to approach was maybe five foot eight, with handsome features, an aquiline nose and long auburn curls, tied into a ponytail hanging down his back. He looked about sixteen. His teeth were very white, although you could tell he'd been made vampire before orthodontia. Of course, a lot of the people of Louisiana had never met a dentist in their life! I was glad I'd never had to wear braces, not that gran could've paid for them in any case.

Jan ignored Eric, which I thought strange, and focused his gaze on me. "Miss Stackhouse, it is an honor to meet you," he said. I almost put out my hand to shake, then thought better of it.

"Sookie, this is Jan, visiting us from Prussia," said Eric. Did anyone still call that part of the world Prussia?

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jan. You can call me Sookie," I said and gave him a smile. "You planning on staying long in this part of Louisiana?" I asked politely.

He stood as still as a statue and his nostrils sort of flared out slightly. "I think I may be visiting for quite some time." He hesitated just a bit and then added, "Sookie." He nodded at Eric and then glided away.

Each of the other vampires approached in much the same manner, Eric introducing them and telling me where they were from. They were all male and they were from all over the place. They all seemed to give off a lot of that creepy vampire energy of the very old. Many of them sort of smelled me, discretely. I kept my company manners through the last of them, although I had lost count after maybe twenty. I couldn't keep from yawning since we sat there so long.

At some point, Eric signaled to Felicia. She hustled over and leaned down and he whispered something in her ear. A few minutes later, she came scurrying over with a blood for Eric and a big glass of milk for me. "Thanks, Felicia," I told her and drank my milk down in a few thirsty gulps. Eric nodded approval. When the last in line had greeted me, Eric stood up, thanked his guests for coming and then picked me up and carried me out to the car. Jordun and Pam followed behind.

Eric's house was just on the outskirts of Shreveport. I don't know what I was expecting, but it looked very unassuming. It was a modest brick house, set in a clearing surrounded by woods. We pulled into the double garage and parked next to Eric's corvette. While I got out, he and Jordun unloaded the trunk. Eric carried my bag and cooler and his big old sword. He punched in a code to unlock the door and led us straight into the kitchen. Pam and Jordun took their weapons and headed outside.

"Welcome to my home," Eric said as he dumped everything onto a small kitchen table. The room was in keeping with the outside, modest in size, with all the usual appliances. Everything looked new, clean and unused. "I had Pam buy whatever she thought you might need, dear one. I am hopeless in a kitchen, I'm afraid." As if Pam would be any better, I thought. "Let me show you the rest of the house."

From the kitchen we entered a nice sized dining room. There was a beautiful wood table and chairs and a glass fronted china cabinet, surprisingly filled with china and crystal. The next room was the living room. It was primarily done in antiques, with comfy looking leather couch and chairs. The artwork on the walls was a collection of framed photographs of cityscapes. The cities all looked European and I recognized Paris and London. There was a beautiful Persian carpet on the floor and a large wall cabinet, which I assumed, held the television, if he even had one. "This is wonderful, Eric," I said and he looked pleased.

There were two bedrooms and a small bath off the hall. The first room was completely empty. The second had its own bath and it was lovely! "This is your room, My Lover," he beamed. The bed was very like my bed at home, a four-poster. There was a vanity table to match with a big round mirror over it and a small dresser. The walls were a warm cream color and the bedding was sky blue with a pattern of cream-colored flowers. There were lots of pillows and an afghan at the foot of the bed. Everything looked new and high quality. "I thought you might like to pick out your own things for the walls, to make it more comfortable for you," he said.

"Oh Eric, it is so lovely," I told him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Now, let me show you my room, although it's a bit of a mess," he said and led me back into the hall to a small closet. "I have my own hidey-hole in a closet, but it is a little bigger than yours," he said, grinning.

He pulled up a little panel on the floor and punched in a four-digit code. "I will give you all the codes when we come back up. Each lock has its own code. The light switch is right here," and he flipped it on. "You must always remember to pull the door securely closed behind you. It is steel reinforced, but it has a hydraulic system so it is not heavy to open or close. Be careful on the stairs."

The downstairs space seemed to be as big as the main floor of the house. We entered into what should have been the living area. It seemed to be an office space that had been taken over with books, piles and piles of them. The walls were lined with weapons, mostly swords and big knives, although there were a few modern weapons, pistols and rifles. "It's a little bit of a mess," he reiterated, "Pam has been insisting that I wait to bring you here until I had it all sorted out. But, I don't know when things will settle down, so you will have to forgive me, Lover. I'm not sure what to do with all my books. I wanted to empty the room upstairs, but as you can see, they may not fit well in here. I will have to add on to the house I suppose."

"You don't have to apologize, Eric. Your home is beautiful. What are you going to do with the other room upstairs? Will you make a guest room?" I asked him.

"Oh no Lover, that is to be the nursery, in case you and the babe will come sometimes to stay with me. Pam said I should just buy a bigger house, and perhaps she is right, but it will take quite some time to install the necessary security."

"Oh, Eric!" I said and I flung my arms around him and hugged him tight. I couldn't believe, with all that had been going on, that he had been worrying about a nursery.

"Let me show you my room," he said and opened a door to the left. Besides being totally windowless, it seemed a very comfortable man's bedroom. There was a king sized bed neatly made-up, a comfortable looking leather chair, a bureau and a small walk in closet. There were a few paintings on the wall that looked like they might be of Eric's homeland.

He showed me the bathroom next, a good-sized room bigger than my old bedroom. There was a roomy shower with an extra long tub, and thank goodness, a toilet in a little closet of its own. The room was clean, but there was make up all over the counter, and odds and ends of feminine things. I must have raised my eyebrows at that because Eric started pushing everything to one side and said, "Pam leaves her things all over."

"Pam lives here with you?" I asked. "I thought she had her own house!" I said petulantly. I knew of course that Pam and Eric had lived together in the past and had been lovers. Pam had been sharing a house with Chow in Shreveport during the witch war, until Chow died. I thought that Eric and Pam no longer had that kind of relationship. Was this going to be like Lorena and Bill?

Eric put his arms around me and reassured me. "Pam sometimes stays here, she has her own room, through that door," and he looked toward a door on the other side of the living room. "She is staying here tonight with Jordun. It is safer that none of us are alone right now, in case someone is not happy with how things turned out. Did you think I keep Pam as my lover, dear one?"

"I don't know, Eric. You haven't promised me anything," I said as if it wasn't important, but of course I wanted that promise.

"I find I have no appetite for anyone but you, My Lover. I must feed, of course, but I find myself drinking that synthetic crap because no one else's blood seems satisfying to me now. We have much to work out, Sookie, and now that de Castro is gone, there will be much to deal with. I will promise you this. I will do whatever needs doing to keep you and the child alive and to keep us together. I cannot promise not to feed on anyone else, I may be in a position where I have no choice, but I will not have sex with them. We will be legally married soon, by human law, but for now we are married by vampire law, and I accept that as binding even if you do not. But it is getting late and you are tired. Let me take you to bed." We headed back upstairs to "my bedroom".

Eric brought my bag and purse from the kitchen and handed me a card that listed the codes for the doors. "Come and go as you will, Lover, the house is yours now too. I would ask that you be very careful to keep the doors locked, and that you keep these codes secret. There will be guards on the property when you rise, including your own. They will assist you with anything you need. Travis, whom you already know, will be in charge of your daytime security and his number is on the card. When you are ready to return to Bon Temps, he will drive you, although you are welcome to stay here." I glanced at the card and saw that it had the address of the house and codes for the outside doors and Eric's daytime rest too. He was literally putting his life in my hands. "Now, to bed, wife," he said in a more playful voice, and began to turn down the bedclothes.

I grabbed my bag and headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth and put on my nightgown, my thoughts straying to the question I had asked Eric earlier in the evening. I got my answer, when I walked back into the bedroom. There were six and half feet of Viking warrior lying on the bed. And he was definitely wearing those tiny red underwear.

Eric was on his side, his head propped on his elbow, looking like a centerfold for Fangtasia's vampire hunks. He waggled his eyebrows and said, "That is a lovely garment, My Lover, and I would hate to damage it in my haste to see your lovely breasts. Perhaps you might remove it for me."

Well, he had seen every part of me before, so taking my time, I slid the straps down over my shoulder and shimmied the gown down to the floor and stepped away from it towards the bed. It didn't take long before the itty bitty red underwear joined my nightgown on the floor.


	20. Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

Something woke me up, but by the time I realized it was my cell phone, it was quiet in the room again. I looked over to the nightstand to see what time it was, and the clock was missing. Right, this wasn't my room in Bon Temps; it was Eric's house. I'd have to buy a clock for the bedroom here. It was totally dark, the room had blackout curtains, but there was a small lamp next to the bed, and I managed to turn it on without knocking it to the floor. I wondered where my purse was, my phone was in there, but I figured whoever called could just wait until I took care of my morning routine. If it was good news it could wait, and if it wasn't, I didn't want to hear it before I was all the way awake.

Half an hour later, showered, brushed and dressed, I found my purse and dragged it with me to the kitchen. Please have coffee, I thought and gave the kitchen a more thorough scrutiny than I had the night before. Yes, there was a coffee pot, and a bag of fancy ground coffee on the counter. I found milk, bread, butter and eggs in the fridge, next to a good supply of synthetic blood. The fruit and cheese I had packed with me had been put in there too. Pam had managed to stock food for a reasonable breakfast menu. There was a set of everyday china and silverware and a few pots and pans. Assorted cleaning supplies and a new pack of sponges were under the sink. It looked like any other human kitchen except for the blood, and the fact that everything was new and unused.

I set up the coffee pot and ate an apple while the coffee dripped. I managed to find a toaster in the small pantry cupboard, along with just about every other small appliance you could want in a kitchen, and some I couldn't identify. I decided on a cheese omelet and toast and had eaten and washed up before I remembered I probably had a phone message. I still had no idea what time it was.

The phone told me it was three in the afternoon, and the message was from Amelia. "Sookie, listen, I'm not going to make it back to Bon Temps for a few days. You're not going to believe what happened. You remember Bob. You know, Bob the cat? Well, anyway, I'm going to be back tomorrow, if you're okay, but if you need me I'll come home right away. Oh, and my dad just couldn't stand that Victor Madden, and now he says he wants to meet Eric, so I hate to ask, roomie, but you know how dad is. Call me! Oh, Octavia says hi. Bye."

Hearing that Bob was back in the picture was a little surprising. Bob had sure acted like he wouldn't ever want to see Amelia again. I hoped he had managed to find his family and that they were all okay. Octavia had resumed her life in New Orleans and maybe Amelia would too, now that she had hooked up with some of her witch friends. I sure hoped she would stay in Bon Temps though, I didn't have an excess of friends and my house would be pretty lonely on my own. Eric was probably going to be pretty busy being all high and mighty with his new position. I should go out and find my guards and head back, but I didn't really want to go back to an empty house. Even with the vampires in their daytime sleep, I could feel Eric sleeping here, and I wanted to be close to him.

After making up the bed, I packed all my things up, and then didn't know what to do with myself. I decided to have a better look at the house, and went from room to room, just looking around. Although everything in it was beautiful, it didn't really feel lived in, almost like it was waiting for a family to arrive and mess things up a bit. Eric must not have lived here long, or maybe he spent most of his time downstairs in his office and bedroom. Was he going to need to move to New Orleans now that he was King of Louisiana? Would he be too busy to spend any time with me? It was times like these, when I felt lonely, that I would have called Arlene. She would have had me come on over and help her clean her trailer, or take the kids out somewhere. Well, I wouldn't be calling Arlene anytime soon.

I ended up dragging out the romance novel I'd brought with me and read for a few hours. I ate the rest of the fruit and cheese I'd brought and drank a glass of milk. Maybe I would just lie down on the bed for a few hours until Eric got up. I was keeping vampire hours these days, and I seemed to be exhausted all the time. Maybe I could creep downstairs and crawl into bed with Eric for the rest of the day. He wouldn't have given me the code to the door if he didn't want me downstairs. Of course, that wasn't the same as an invitation to sleep in his bed. He would just be dead anyway, and wouldn't even notice I was there. I didn't want to sleep alone anymore.

The trap door in the closet proved easy to open and close and I found the light switch for the stairs. It was eerily quiet in Eric's underground world and very cool, although not cold. I took a little time to look at the office and all the books. I didn't even recognize some of the languages they were written in and I recognized very few of the ones in English. There seemed to be a lot on military history and strategy, a good selection of books on philosophy and religion, a few current bestselling spy and suspense novels.

I sort of tiptoed over to Eric's door and opened it slowly, being very quiet and then I just hit myself right on the side of the head. It wasn't like he was going to jump up and say boo! Remembering how dead to the world he had been in Rhodes and how hard it had been to rouse him, I didn't need to worry about making noise down here. I creeped in anyway, just because. I almost felt like a peeping tom!

The room wasn't totally dark. There was a book left lying open on the nightstand in the soft light of the lamp. He had been reading. It looked like anyone else's bedside table, except for the six-inch long razor sharp knife kept within grabbing distance of the dead guy on the bed. Eric's long blonde hair was spread out behind him. He was on his side, clutching a pillow. He had pulled the blanket up to his waist, and the skin that was exposed glowed softly in the dim light. He looked like a work of art, a moment of perfection and vulnerability caught in stone.

I slipped out of my clothes, and still being as quiet as a mouse, I pulled back the cover and slid onto the bed next to him. I picked up his cold, immobile arm, and slipped the pillow out of his grip and eased my body into it, wrapping his arm over my waist. Pulling the cover back over us, I pressed my back against his cool chest and I felt like I was home.

The baby's cries were coming from the next room and I knew that I needed to wake up. Maybe the light had woken her, although I was sure I had turned it off. I needed to get out of bed and go to her. "Sookie, the baby is crying," Eric said, as he left my side. "She is hungry, Lover, and wants to suckle at your beautiful breast. Stay in bed, I will bring her to you."

"You can't go out there now, Eric, the sun is up, and it will burn you," I said, calling him back.

"Hush, Lover, I have her already," Eric said and he slid back into bed. "See how she glows? She and I are both very hungry, Sookie." He pricked his finger on his sharp fang and put it to the baby's mouth and she quieted and sucked hungrily. The glow on the baby's skin was coming from the angel, standing guard beside the bed, her wings rustling softly and her gleaming silver blade poised ready to strike. Eric laid our daughter between us, and her tiny lips closed on my breast.

The dream changed and Eric was pressing against me. He kissed the side of my face, and then down my neck and when a fang brushed my nipple, it stirred things lower down. His long, cool fingers delicately stroked my skin and I opened myself to him. "Please Eric, I want you inside me," I pleaded.

"It is where I want to be always, My Lover," he said softly as he entered me. As he began to move, slowly at first, I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him in tighter, matching his movements. He kissed his way across my breasts and whispered seductively, "I cannot get enough of your sweet blood." His pace became more insistent and as I felt the first wave of pleasure wash over me, he bit. As he sucked at the wound in my breast, heat lapped over us both, like a tongue of flame, and we were lost in a perfect moment.

His tongue moved over my skin lazily, healing the wound in my breast, and it was so intimate and restful that I didn't want to let the feeling go. "Open your eyes, dear one, are you awake? Look at me, Lover." I could hear Eric's voice, but I was immersed in a haze of such total contentment that I didn't answer. "Did I take too much blood? Sookie, you must answer me." Eric's voice was more forceful now, and his cool hand was stroking my face.

"Is the baby crying, Eric?" I asked, confused by his insistence.

"No, she is sleeping," he answered. "You must sit up, Sookie. I need to see that you are all right." He put his arm behind my back and pulled me up, propping a pillow behind my head. I felt very dizzy when I opened my eyes. He looked stricken with concern.

"Eric? I think I am going to be sick," I told him and he scooped me up and got me to the bathroom just in time.

"I'm sorry, Eric, I was confused," I told him as he eased me to the bathroom floor. I was feeling more awake now.

"You must never apologize for what cannot be helped, Lover. Are you feeling better now?"

"She doesn't look well," came from the doorway, and I looked up to see Jordun and Pam looking in.

"Yikes!" I shrieked and looked for a towel or something to cover up with. Eric grabbed a towel from the rack and laid it over me. All three of the vampires were naked, but Eric seemed to understand that I was not quite as comfortable as they were with nudity.

"Should I call the doctor?" asked Pam from the doorway. Eric raised his eyebrow in a questioning gesture and looked at me.

"No, I think I'm okay now," I said. "Don't you two have some fangbangers to suck dry or something? Can we get a little privacy here?" I snapped.

"I suppose that means she is okay," said Jordun and he took Pam's arm and led her away from the door. Eric was standing over me, looking very worried, and I thought the view was quite nice from where I was sitting. I guess that meant that I was feeling better.

"I'm better now, Eric, really I am. I just had a very strange dream. I think I will take a bath and then maybe I should eat something." Eric didn't look totally convinced that I was okay, but he started the water running in the bath.

"I'll get your bag, Lover," Eric offered and he zipped out of the room and was back in just a few minutes. I was glad to have my toothbrush, and I rinsed out my mouth and brushed my teeth before I got into the tub. I put my hair up with a big clip, since I didn't plan on washing it. Eric slid in behind me, grabbed the soap and began to wash my back and shoulders. We sat like that in companionable silence for a long moment, then Eric said, "Sookie, I need to go to Fangtasia tonight, I have to meet with some of my vampires. There will be much to do in the next few weeks if this is to be a smooth transition. Would you like to come with me? You can stay here of course, or I can have Thalia take you to Bon Temps. Did your witch return?"

I didn't have to think long about that. As much as I wanted to spend time with Eric, I didn't really want to spend another night in a room full of vampires. Of course, it wasn't like I could get away from them completely. "Sweetie, I think I'd like to go to my house tonight. You will be busy and I should check on Bubba, in case he has laundry or something. I'm hoping my car will come tomorrow, too," I continued. "Amelia decided to stay in New Orleans for a few more days. Oh, before I forget, her dad wants an introduction to you, you remember about him? He was doing rebuilding for Sophie Anne and then for Victor Madden. He didn't like working for Victor, Amelia said."

"Is that Copley Carmichael?" Eric asked, and I was surprised he remembered the name.

"Yes, that's the one," I answered.

"I will have Jordun arrange something," he said. "Do you remember the vampire Jan, Sookie? You met him last night," Eric asked.

I thought about that a moment and then remembered the handsome young man I had met, the first in line. "Yes, I remember him," I told Eric.

"May I send him with you, along with Thalia? I know you do not know him, but he is trustworthy and a fierce fighter. I think even Thalia might hesitate to attack him, although my money would still be on Thalia," he said and laughed a bit. "She is very ferocious, is she not? For such a small woman, she is very good with a broadsword," Eric said, admiration in his voice. "Although her fan club will miss her, I can spare her easily enough, and she will be glad to be away from the club. I would like to have Jordun and Pam involved in the reorganization."

"That's fine, Eric. Thalia and I seem to get along okay. I think she finds me amusing, although I don't see why," I said. "If she is so powerful, Eric, why doesn't she end up Queen or something?"

"She does not crave power, Lover, she just wants to live her life. It is very hard on the women that survive such a long life alone, harder than for a man I think. Not many survive so long as she. But I would not have these two guard you, if I did not believe that they were honorable. They have both sworn an oath of fealty to me. I believe that they will keep you safe."

I snuggled back against Eric's chest for a while, enjoying this intimate time together. Finally, hating to disturb the silence, but needing to know, I asked, "Eric, did you see her?"

"Yes, dear one, I saw our daughter and she was beautiful, like her mother," he answered, his voice soft and low with the wonder of it. He kissed my shoulder. "The angel will keep her safe. We should name her Claudine," he said with conviction, and I knew he saw the dream as a vision, as I did.

"Yes, I would like that," I said and I turned around to kiss him.

"Now, Lover, we must get ready to go. What is it that you say sometimes, 'no rest for the wicked'?" he said and I laughed as he scooped me up and plopped me on the mat next to the tub. I grabbed towels for us both, and we dried off and went into the bedroom to dress.

Everyone was in the kitchen drinking True Blood when I came out dressed, brushed and fairly presentable in my jeans and tee. Eric handed me a glass of milk, which I drank right down. He seemed to think that milk was the all purpose food for humans, and perhaps it is. When I had washed out the glass and set it on the counter, we all headed out to the cars. Eric buckled me into my seatbelt and then kissed me long and hard. "Jan and Thalia will take you to dinner, Sookie." He kissed me again. "I find myself missing you whenever you are away from me, Lover." I began to regret that I had decided not to go with him to Fangtasia, but before I could say anything he closed the car door and Jan, in the driver's seat, drove us away from him.

It was quiet in the car, but I was used to vampires and their often-silent ways, so I just spent the time thinking. I thought about Claudine, giving her and her daughter's lives to save mine. Perhaps a sacrifice like that was needed to become an angel. I hoped I deserved such a sacrifice. And now, would Claudine be my daughter's guardian angel? She had been my fairy godmother, something I had once thought was a fairy tale. But fairies were real, and I believed that angels were too. My baby was real to me now. I would have a daughter and her name would be Claudine.


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

The building was in a part of Shreveport that I was unfamiliar with. Most of the buildings were brick and it was primarily office buildings, and a few small restaurants and boutiques that were closed at night. This area catered to the high-priced crowd of lawyers and wheeler-dealers I thought, at least during the day. "Hey guys," I said to my vampires trying to get them to slow down as I was hustled up to a nondescript doorway. There was a brass plaque to the side of the door that said "The Alternative" and below that "By Invitation Only".

"I don't think I'm dressed for this place," I said, since I was wearing the jeans and tee shirt that I had brought with me to Eric's, thinking I would just be going home to do Bubba's laundry or something. If I'd known I was going out I would have a least worn my skirt and silk top again.

Jan, who looked like a million dollars even in his khakis and button down cotton shirt, looked me over from head to toe and then turned back to knock on the door. Thalia, who was taking up the rear of our little group, was wearing her usual black Fangtasia slut vampire outfit, and had a big old sword strapped on her back. She didn't even look at my clothes, she just gave me the vampire stare and said, "Our master suggested this place," and of course, that was that.

The door was opened by a young were woman wearing an outfit that cost more than I made in a month working for Sam. She saw Jan and I guess he was acceptable, because she let us in. The were led the way into a small reception area and pointed to a coat check desk. "You will need to check your weapons. There is a half hour wait right now," she said and walked back to the door. There was a vampire behind the counter and I was getting the picture that this must be a supes only place, kind of like a Club Dead for the rich. "Your weapons, " he prompted, nodding at Jan, and Thalia stepped forward.

"Your mistress cannot be left unguarded," Thalia said in her small but menacing voice, and the vampire looked us over more carefully. A brief look of unease passed over his face and he said, "Pardon me Madam," and bowed from the waist. "If you will follow me, I will make sure you are seated immediately," he said as he straightened up and led us into the dining room.

"Wow, Thalia, I guess he wasn't going to mess with you," I said, and Jan snorted, as if I had said something funny. We were led to a table towards the back that had a Reserved sign on it, which the vampire removed before he pulled out my chair. "Thank you," I said and he bowed again. Thalia and Jan got to pull out their own chairs and they both sat down. I sort of scanned the place and yes, it was full of supes, vamps and weres, with just a few humans. The décor was simple but elegant, with fresh flowers and candles on each table and crisp, snowy white napkins. A waiter hustled right over and greeted us as he handed us our menus, a different one for me than he gave to the vampires.

"Good evening, Madam, we are very pleased to serve you tonight," he said formally. "May I get you a beverage?"

"Good evening," I answered back politely. "I think I'd just like some iced tea," I said, since I wasn't drinking these days. He didn't pay any attention to the vampires with me, and left to get my tea. I was thinking it was a good thing I had my new credit card with me, since I wasn't sure if I was paying or not, and I patted my old purse hidden on my lap. I was surprised I hadn't needed a Gucci bag just to get in the door here. The waiter was coming back with my tea already, so I focused on the menu. There weren't that many selections, so I made my choice right away.

"Have you decided yet, Madame?" the waiter asked.

"Yes, please, I will have the New York steak, medium rare with a baked potato and the spinach salad," I said, figuring I could use all the protein I could get. The vamps ordered Royalty Blended, so I knew they would enjoy their dinner. I looked around the room while we waited for our meal and noticed that many of the other patrons were looking over at us. I noticed a few vamps that had been in Fangtasia the night before and they all bowed towards me when I glanced their way. I saw Alcide at one of the corner tables, sitting with two other weres, but he wasn't looking in our direction, and that was fine with me. I was feeling really self-conscious about my outfit and vowed that I would hit Tara's shop for sure this week and get me some new clothes.

By the time our dinner came, I was feeling pretty famished and dug right in. Everything was delicious and I enjoyed every bite. The vampires seemed to enjoy their blood, served in wine glasses placed on little glass plates. Jan said something to Thalia in a language that could have been German, and she laughed a little. It amazed me that in all the time I had known Thalia at Fangtasia, she had always seemed very somber, if not down right nasty. But since I'd been seeing her in different settings, it seemed that she could smile and laugh, although I wouldn't go so far as to say she had a sense of humor. I sort of wondered what Jan had said to her, but it was probably just cryptic vampire stuff anyway.

When the waiter had cleared our plates and glasses away, I started digging in my purse for my wallet, figuring I could afford to treat for dinner and the vamps were sort of working for me as guards, so I should pay. No one brought a bill though, and I doubted we had to go pay up front in a place like this. "Do we need to ask for the bill?" I whispered to Thalia and she and Jan both just cracked up. I was a little hurt, like they were making fun of me, and I choked up, holding back tears. "I'm sorry, I don't usually go to places like this," I said, sniffling a bit as I said it. This made Thalia laugh even harder and now I was getting mad at her meanness. Let's all make fun of the country mouse, I thought, and tears began to roll down my face.

"Miss Stackhouse, we did not mean to upset you. Do you not know?" he asked incredulously and he passed me a clean white handkerchief.

"Know what?" I asked him, dabbing at my face with the hankie.

"You own this restaurant!" he announced and my jaw dropped. He continued to look amused, and I wondered how he would know this if I didn't. I needed to take another look at those papers from Mr. Cataliades and see just what I did own. I was still registering all of this, when Alcide Herveaux walked up to the table. He started to put his arms out, like he was going to give me a big hug when he noticed Thalia pulling the sword out of its sheath on her back. He put his hands palms upwards in a peace gesture and stopped a few feet away.

"Sookie, good to see you. I was going to stop in to see you tomorrow," he said. I got out of my chair and I gave him a big hug, sticking my tongue out at Thalia when she frowned at me. Childish, I know, but I was a little tired of this overprotective vampire shit.

"Hey Alcide, nice to see you too. Sit down a minute, what's on your mind?" I said, more to irritate the vampires than to really see what he had to say. Although there had been a time that I had thought of Alcide as dating material, I had learned that he usually had some agenda that was not in my best interests when he dealt with me. "This is Alcide Herveaux, Packmaster of the Long Tooth Pack here in Shreveport," I told the vampires. "Alcide, this is Thalia, she works for Eric, and this is Jan, he is visiting Eric from Europe. We just finished dinner." Alcide gave a disdainful nod at the vampires and then pulled out the empty chair at the table and we all sat down.

"You're looking a lot better, Sookie," he said. "Everything going okay?"

"Thanks, Alcide. I'm feeling much better and I guess things are okay."

"Listen, I know you had some trouble over to your place. Jim and Dwayne said they only left because you told them it was all okay. They couldn't have stood up to that many vampires," Alcide said apologetically.

"Alcide, there was nothing they could have done, and it all worked out all right."

"I don't want you to think we won't look out for you, Sookie, that's all. There was no use to them getting killed and you told them to go."

"I know they would have fought for me, Alcide. I appreciate the pack looking out for me. You tell them I said thank you and they did the right thing leaving when they did. Anyway, Eric showed up and I had Thalia. So everything turned out fine." He had his pride and it must have galled him that his wolves couldn't take on the vampires, but they would have been dead in minutes.

"Okay, I'm just glad you didn't get hurt again," he said and then changed topics. "Anyway, I was going to stop by to talk to you about something," he began. "I know Eric's big coronation ceremony will probably be in New Orleans, but I was thinking, since you are a friend of the pack and all," he paused, as if trying to think of how to approach this. Jan's eyebrows went up when he heard the whole friend of the pack thing. "I was thinking, if Eric was going to do something here in Shreveport, you know a big party or something, he might want to have the Long Tooth pack do some of the security. We got quite a few guys here from the Barksdale base and we got some guys that could use the work, what with the recession and all. I figured you might say something to Eric. I mean, I'll talk to him myself, of course, but you could put a word in. I noticed he brought in mostly outside people to guard your house, so maybe he figures we aren't able to handle that sort of thing."

Of course, the whole coronation thing was news to me, I hadn't even thought about that. Knowing how vampires were about ceremony and tradition though, it wasn't surprising that they'd do a big ceremonial thing. If Eric had to wear a crown, it would be all I could do to not laugh my ass off though. Just the thought of that had me stifling a giggle. "Well, Alcide, I usually don't get involved in all the vampire political shit, as you know, but I will sure tell Eric that the pack is interested. I have no doubt you all can handle whatever needs doing."

"Thanks, Sookie. Listen, I'll come by and see how your garage is coming sometime soon, okay?"

"Sure Alcide, you come by anytime. I guess they are right on schedule. It just looks like a big hole in the ground to me right now."

"Okay, you take care now," he said and gave me another hug. I guess he figured he didn't get killed when I'd hugged him the first time, so he was probably safe.

"Okay, bye, Alcide," I said and watched him walk back to his table. I dug in my purse then, and pulled out some cash to leave on the table for a tip. Owner or not, which I still found unbelievable, I wasn't going to stiff the waiter. I was a little miffed that the vampires seemed to know more about my life than I did. "I guess we're ready to go?" I snapped at the vampires, and got up and headed toward the door. Jan and Thalia jumped into position flanking me, and we went back out to the car and headed to Bon Temps.

We hadn't been in the car long before Jan looked over at me. I never understood how vamps could keep the car in the lane when they hated keeping their eyes on the road. "You are a friend of the pack to the Shreveport wolves?" he asked with real curiosity in his voice. "How did that come about?"

I told him a little about the witch war and how I'd been a part of it, carefully leaving out the part of Eric being cursed. I didn't know how well known that was, and I wasn't giving anybody ideas of how vulnerable Eric had been to the witch's curse. He seemed very interested to hear about vampires and weres teaming up against a common enemy. "And you saved many vampire lives at Rhodes, I hear," he said when I had finished my story.

"Well, I tried to save as many people as I could, whether they were vamps or humans. It was horrible," I said. I didn't like to remember that day and thinking about how Eric could have died there just made me feel sick. Jan didn't ask any more questions after that, and before I knew it, we were home.

Jan and Thalia got their bags out of the car and I noticed that Jan was carrying a case of True Blood. I was glad he remembered to bring some, because otherwise we would have had to head back out to go shopping. I was sure going through a lot of that stuff these days, what with the place crawling with vamps. Thalia insisted that she go in first, to check the house I guess, and Jan paused at the doorway, looking expectant.

"Oh, sorry," I said, realizing he had never been here before. "You are welcome to come in."

I led him into the kitchen and told him he could put the blood on the table and I would put it away in the fridge. "Feel free to explore," I told him, knowing that vamps always wanted to be familiar with escape routes and such. I wondered where he planned on sleeping, but guessed he would head over to Bill's at some point. With Bill home, it was probably getting crowded over there, but I didn't have anything else to offer, since I assumed Thalia would stay in my hidey-hole. It wasn't my problem I guessed.

I had barely gotten the blood put away before Bubba was at the door. "Bubba!" I greeted him. "You doing okay?" Bubba looked a little bit more put together than he had a few days ago. He was wearing one of his jumpsuits, this one without rhinestones. His hair looked tidy and he was smiling at me as usual.

"Hey Miss Sookie, I'm doin' just fine. Mr. Bill's home now, so I been lookin' out for him. Mr. Eric said you'd be coming home with some blood for us, we're getting' kind a low up to the house."

"Jan just brought some in and I put it in the fridge, Bubba. Do you know Jan?" I asked him.

"I met him the other night, Miss Sookie, he was real nice to me." Bubba said that about almost every vampire, but then the vamps tended to treat him pretty well. He had a very special status, and rather than treat him like damaged goods, they acted like he was a spoiled grandchild sometimes.

"Well, Bubba, you bring your cooler in and fill it up and then if you have laundry, just bring it on over and I'll leave it on the porch tomorrow, like I did last time."

"Yes'm, I'll do that. That fairy ain't been back while you was gone, Miss Sookie, but I'll look out for him now that you're home," he said and headed out the door. He was back in a minute with his cooler and I filled it for him. "Thanks, Miss Sookie," he said and he went off to chase fairies or to do whatever Bubba did.

I wondered if Bill would come over. Oh excuse me! I wondered if Bill had permission to come over. I needed to talk to Eric about that. There were a lot of things I needed to talk about with my vampire. We were never together long enough to really hash out all the important things. Oh, we talked about stuff, he was being more and more open with me about some of the stuff going on in the supe world, but I still felt like a babe in the woods with all of these ancient creatures. What was it Bill had said, that I was naïve or maybe I was one of God's fools? Well, maybe I was.

It was time for me to examine what I was really doing. What would Gran say about all of this? She'd say something cryptic like "All will be revealed in God's good time". And then she'd bake some cookies or she'd clean out a cupboard and things would all seem right with the world. So that's what I did. I got out gran's recipe and some oatmeal and the flour and sugar and I started in on a batch of cookies.

While I measured and stirred and plopped the dough onto the trays, I made a few decisions. Maybe I had lived all my life here in Bon Temps, but there wasn't much left for me here now. If I was going to be Eric's wife, then I needed to be where he was, wherever that happened to be. I needed to stop assuming he would be there for me, if I weren't willing to be there for him. He had done everything he could to protect me. He had jeopardized his own life to insure that I could stay here, just because I told him I didn't want to leave home. He had promised to raise my child as his own. He had done everything he could to demonstrate his love for me, and I was here in Bon Temps holding onto the past, when Eric was my future. This wasn't really home anymore. Home was wherever Eric was. I was a fool if I didn't whole-heartedly embrace the one that I loved, for better or for worse.

I had the first tray of cookies cooling on the counter when the vampires came back into the kitchen. Thalia got a bottle of blood out of the fridge and after warming it up, sat down at the table. "What is that enticing smell?" Jan asked and he walked over to the cookies and sniffed.

"That is oatmeal cookies," I replied, as I put some on a plate and poured myself a glass of milk. "You usually have milk with cookies," I continued. "It's just about the perfect combination," I informed him as I took a big bite of the warm cookie. "Some people like them with coffee, I guess, but that just never seemed right to me." Jan was watching me closely as I took another bite. He didn't seem uncomfortable with my eating, and even if he was, it was my kitchen so I wouldn't let it spoil my pleasure. The timer dinged and I got up to get the rest of the cookies out of the oven and lay them out to cool. The whole kitchen was smelling heavenly and I was feeling pretty good about the world again.

"So, what do you do with yourself when you're not out hunting down your dinner?" I asked Jan. "You have a job or a hobby or something?" I said flippantly, as I picked up my glass.

He considered for a moment, his brows furrowing as if weighing the seriousness of my question. "I have done many things but I suppose you could say my hobby was painting."

"Oh, like landscapes?" I asked excitedly, my interest piqued. "I don't think I've ever known a real artist."

"No, primarily I do portraits," he answered, looking pleased at my reaction.

"Wow, that's so interesting! You make your living painting people?" I asked curiously.

He considered again, this time pausing long enough that I thought he wouldn't answer. I tried to hide my embarrassment at asking a personal question by going back to my milk and cookies.

"Sometimes I do commissioned portraits," he answered finally. "But more often, I 'make my living' as you put it, as an assassin."

"Good Lord!" I exclaimed, and choked on my milk, spraying it all over the table as I coughed and sputtered. Thalia, who had been sitting quietly at the table with her bottle of blood, burst out laughing. As good as I was at controlling my features after a lifetime of hearing people's most secret thoughts, I couldn't conceal the shock on my face. If this man, vamp, whatever, came into Merlotte's I would have to card him. He looked like a boy! He should be playing with his X-Box or Rock Band! An assassin? I got up from the table to get a dishtowel and mopped up the mess I had made. How did you respond to a revelation like that?

"Excuse me," I said, disconcerted, and sat back down. Jan was watching me intently, as if to see what I would do next. "Well," I said again, "that's interesting." I turned to Thalia, who was no longer laughing, but was definitely looking entertained, like this was the Greatest Show on Earth. "So, Thalia, what did you want to do tonight?"

Thalia looked pleased to be asked. She went off towards the bedroom to get her bag and was back in a flash, digging through it. "I have a movie," she said, and she pulled out, of all things, "Twilight".

"Oh, that's great! I haven't seen that yet. You can get it ready to go while I just wash up in here," I told her. Jan was still sitting at the table watching me, and I still didn't have a clue what to say, so I just started on the dishes in the sink. When everything was washed up, I grabbed a coke out of the fridge and turned towards Jan. "Are you going to watch the movie with us?" I asked him. He just nodded his head and followed me into the living room.

Thalia hit play on the remote as soon as we were all settled onto the sofa. I thought the movie was supposed to be a romance, but the vamps seemed to think it was a comedy, especially when the Twilight vampires got all sparkly. I probably should have been considering the ramifications of Jan's revelation and why I wasn't throwing him out in moral outrage, fear or a sense of self-preservation. But, their laughter was infectious and I found that I was enjoying the company of my two unlikely companions. I didn't make it through the whole movie before I fell into a deep and dreamless sleep, my head resting on Jan's shoulder.


	22. Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

I woke up early, which was not surprising since I'd slept so much the day before. I found myself on top of my bed, in my rumpled clothes. My shoes were off and I was covered with my gran's old afghan that both Bill and Eric had dubbed "truly hideous". The construction crew was already working outside; I could hear them from the bedroom. I had a lot to do today, so I got up and got moving, straightening up the bed and folding the afghan before I headed to the bathroom.

I showered and dressed in casual slacks and a knit top and headed to the kitchen to make some coffee. I felt good today, strong and resolute. While the coffee was brewing, I went out to the porch and grabbed Bubba's laundry. Mark and Travis were walking around, and I waved to them as I ducked back into the kitchen. I started the washer, and put some bread in the toaster and got out the butter and jam. While I ate, I began a list of things that I needed. I was going shopping. First things first, though, I should call Amelia.

Amelia's machine picked up, so I had to leave a message. "Amelia? It's Sookie. I'm going to be staying over at Eric's for a bit, in Shreveport. I'm not sure how this is all going to work, but I guess I'll be back and forth to the house for stuff. Let me know when you're heading back. I've got lots to tell you, and I want to hear about Bob. You can stay here at the house even if I'm in Shreveport. Call my cell." It seemed like there should be other people I should call, but really, there was only my brother and maybe Sam. I hadn't completely forgiven Jason, although I found myself feeling sorry for him. I didn't know about Sam. He had always been a good friend, but he would never accept that I was with Eric. They could find me on my cell phone if they wanted me. Speaking of which, I should put my charger in my bag before I forgot.

I kept finding things I should put into my bag, and I realized that I would need more than one bag. I didn't really have any luggage. That would be something to put on my shopping list. I popped up to the attic, where Amelia and I had stored some of the boxes used to bring home stuff from Hadley's. I brought down several moderate sized boxes and took them into the bedroom. Eric's house had most everything I would need, so I just needed clothes and personal stuff.

After putting Bubba's clothes in the dryer, I gathered up the paperwork from Mr. Cataliades. That definitely needed further examination. The bridal magazines, my book on pregnancy and a few paperback novels went into the box too. The weather was getting warmer so I packed mostly dresses, but threw in my newer slacks and tops and a few light sweaters, underthings, make-up and some jewelry. I remembered the beautiful jewelry from Niall and put that into the box, too. I sat down for a minute on gran's old four poster, a small lump in my throat and thought about all the years I had lived in this house. They weren't all happy years, but there had been many happy times: Gran in the kitchen humming a tune while making our lunches for school, Jason and I chasing around the back yard and hiding from each other in the edge of the woods. I would have to think about what to do with the house, but now was not the time for melancholy.

Looking around the room, I spotted my alarm clock, and remembering there wasn't one in the bedroom at Eric's, I unplugged it and put that in the box. I opened the bedside table drawer and took out the picture of Eric. It had been taken at the photo shoot for Fangtasia's calendar, only this one was quite a different pose. His hand was held out in invitation and the finely chiseled muscles of his chest almost, but not quite, drew the eye away from what he was offering. My heart beat a little faster just looking his photo. I turned it over and read the back. "I wait for the night you join me," it said. It was time to go. I put the photo into my purse, and closed the table drawer. I hesitated about packing the hideous afghan from the bed, but decided that it belonged to the house and left it on the bed.

There was no way I wanted to incur Thalia's wrath, so I made sure to write a note for her and Jan to tell them where I'd be. I put it on the fridge with a magnet, right by the door handle, figuring Thalia would see it when she opened the door to get blood. I would call her cell and leave a message too, just in case. Bubba's clothes were dry, so I folded them up into a neat stack. I pinned a note to the shirt on the top of the stack. "Bubba," it said, "I am going to Eric's. Bill has the key if you need to come in and get blood. You can call me if you or Bill need anything, or you can call Pam." I signed it Sookie and put my cell phone number. I headed out the back door to put the laundry on the porch where Bubba would find them. My guards were sitting on the porch and they got up to greet me when I stepped out.

"Good morning, Ma'am," Travis said. Mark gave me his usual nod. "Anything we can do for you today?"

"Morning," I greeted them cheerfully. "Yes, there is. I need to do some shopping today, and then head to Shreveport, to Eric's house. I have some boxes to take with me. Will that be okay with you?"

"No problem, Ma'am, when did you want to go?"

"I'm ready now," I told them, realizing that I was way past ready, I was eager. I showed the men where the boxes were in the bedroom, and they carried them out to the Escalade. I grabbed the leftover cookies, my overnight bag and my purse, locked up the door and Mark gave me his arm as I climbed up into the big vehicle. We drove away from the house, and I didn't look back.

The first stop was Tara's Togs. If I was going to be the wife of someone important, I needed to start upgrading my wardrobe. Tara would know what I needed I was sure. I would probably want to hit the shops in Shreveport or New Orleans at some point, but this would be a good start.

Tara looked a little alarmed when she caught sight of the two slabs of muscle that were hanging close to me like appendages, but when she saw me, her face lit up in a smile. "Where you been, girl? I haven't seen you in ages!" she exclaimed and gave me a big hug, which I returned with affection. The men seemed to realize that this was not a threatening situation, so they discretely scoped out the shop and then hung back by the door. Tara dragged me over to her desk and sat me down in a chair. "I hear you're getting married, tell me," she said.

"Yeah, I couldn't resist the charms of the Viking anymore, so I guess we're going to do it," I said, grinning, and held out my hand for her to see my ring.

"Wow! He didn't scrimp one bit!" she said, looking impressed. "Did you set the date yet?" she asked, then looking pensive added, "You sure about this, Sookie?"

"Yes, I'm sure, Tara. I think I have been in love with him for a long time, but just didn't want to admit it to myself. I know it won't always be easy, we're so – different." Of course that was an understatement, but I continued. "But, I think somehow we were meant to be together, and if I can, I will make it work. I think he can make me happy, Tara." On a less serious note, I added, "We don't have a date yet, but soon. I think we will just do something really small, the courthouse or something. According to the vampires, we are already married after all!" Tara rolled her eyes at that; she had heard the whole story about the knife.

"Well, honey, I wish you all the joy in the world and hope you know what you are doing," she said, looking like she thought I was crazy.

"Thanks Tara," I said. "And how are you doing, and how's JB?" I asked, looking down at her belly. She had the smallest hint of a bump, but if I hadn't known already, I wouldn't have guessed she was pregnant.

"Oh, I'm doing pretty good. The doctor says everything is going fine. I get awfully tired, but JB is sweet and helps around the house so I have time to rest. He's so excited, Sookie. You'd think no one else in the world had ever had a baby, he's so proud."

I almost told Tara my good news, but I didn't want to spoil things trying to explain how I had managed to get pregnant while being married to a vampire. It was just too hard to actually talk about it out loud and I wasn't quite ready for dealing with the reactions I was sure to get from my fellow humans that had no idea there were such things as fairies. Most of them still hadn't come to grips with the vamps and shifters! I would have to have a story for the humans, but what that would be, I hadn't really contemplated yet. So instead, I just told Tara that I needed a new wardrobe. Tara, never one to pass an opportunity to do some business, got up and started pulling things off the rack.

"I think I will need some cocktail dresses, maybe two," I said, "and an evening gown, something simple and classic. And then I'll need the lingerie to go with those, and I thought I might pick out some dresses for every day too, but pretty ones. I need some casual stuff too." Tara's eyes lit up at that, and she didn't even get upset when my guards insisted that they check out the fitting room before I could go in. Knowing what I liked, and what generally fit me well, Tara kept bringing things in, and though I was worn out by the time I had tried everything on and made my selections, we were both smiling.

I winced when I saw the total, but stalwartly pulled out my credit card and made the biggest purchase of my life, well, except for my car, which I hadn't actually gotten yet. Tara hugged me and helped me and the guys carry out all my bags. They were looking amazed at the amount of shopping one woman could do in that amount of time. I was thinking I couldn't wait to see what Eric thought of my new underwear!

"Don't be a stranger," Tara told me, as she gave me another hug. "Be careful," she added.

"I will," I assured her and got into the car. "Next stop, lunch, I'm starving," I informed my companions, and we headed towards Shreveport.

Travis and Mark knew a place on the outskirts of Shreveport that they assured me had great sandwiches, so we stopped there. A girl can sure work up an appetite shopping, and I wolfed down my food, which was as good as promised. It was a little awkward having Travis stand guard outside the ladies' room, but I was getting used to being hovered over, so I didn't give him a hard time about it. What would be the point? At least he didn't insist that he come in with me!

My list for the grocery store was in my purse, but I kept seeing things I might need to stock a new kitchen for real cooking. I had thought about bringing some of the staples with me from Bon Temps, but hadn't wanted Amelia to come home to empty cupboards. I planned on cooking dinner at Eric's, so I asked Mark and Travis if they cared to stay for supper. Travis assured me that they would love to take a raincheck for a home cooked meal any other night, but they had plans for dinner already. Since I'd be cooking for just myself, I decided on pork chops, baked potato and salad for tonight. I had the oatmeal cookies in the car, so I grabbed some ice cream to go with it for dessert. By the time we loaded everything in the car, the back was full.

I was glad I had help to unload the car, surprised at how much I had brought with me. After the boxes and bags were placed in the appropriate rooms, cold food put in the fridge and dresses hung up in the closet, I surveyed my new home once again. It was a comfortable place, large enough for a small family, but small enough to be cozy. As I walked from room to room, I could imagine how it would feel to have toys strewn about and laughed out loud at the thought of Eric tripping on a block left on the floor. Of course, he was so graceful that he probably would manage to avoid it even in the dark, and it would probably be me that would go sprawling. Eric had mentioned adding on or getting a bigger place, and I could see that it would be nice to have a family room and maybe an upstairs office. For our first home together, though, I thought it was just perfect.

Setting up a kitchen is a very personal thing. Choosing which drawer to put the silverware in, and which cupboard for the glasses isn't a big decision in the greater scheme of things, but if you are going to cook, it's nice to have everything handy when you want it. From what Pam had told me of her life before she died, she would have had a cook in the household. She had no doubt looked at catalogs from kitchen stores, and maybe even watched decorating shows, but her idea of where things should be was not my first choice.

As I started to put away my purchases, I kept thinking things were in the wrong place, so I started just pulling things out. Before I knew it, I had pots and pans and dishes all over the table and the counters, and the whole kitchen was a mess. I was kind of a mess too, and very tired and a little bit hungry, so I cleared a small place at the table, poured a glass of milk and got out the cookies for a snack.

The nip at my earlobe startled me completely out of my chair, and cookies went flying. "Yikes," I screeched and my eyes flew open and saw Eric standing next to me, grinning. "Sleeping in the kitchen again, Lover?" he asked, obviously amused.

Jordun was laughing outright and Pam rolled her eyes as she said, "Redecorating, Sookie?"

"Very funny," I grumbled, shaking the crumbs off my shirt. "Look at this mess," I grumbled.

"That appears to be the least of the mess, dearest," Eric pointed out, surveying the kitchen.

I sat back down in the chair. "I was just moving a few things around before I made dinner. I guess I got carried away."

"I like this look," offered Jordun, "very avant garde." He looked ready to explode into laughter again.

I glared at the three vampires in the room, and at the crumbs on the floor. "Well, if you three are done having fun at my expense, you might want to fetch a broom," I said petulantly.

"Do we have a broom?" Eric asked Pam. She shrugged.

"Jordun and I will go look." She laughed and dragged Jordun out the door.

Eric turned me and the chair around to face him and looked at me a little more seriously. "So, Lover, is this a commentary on Pam's organizing skills, or does this mean you have come to stay with me?" he asked, as he pulled me up and against his chest. He kissed the top of my head and then inhaled, as he often did when he was smelling me.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him close for a moment, then whispered, "I have come to stay." He ran his hand down the side of my chin, and then lifted my head until I was looking up at his beautiful blue eyes.

"Will I ever stop wanting you?" he asked, his voice husky as he bent down to kiss me.

He kissed me long and deep as his fingers traced the line of my spine to the nape of my neck. My fingers were busy too, flicking open buttons, one by one, to expose the muscled expanse of his chest. I pulled my face away from his kiss, and moved my mouth down to his nipple, flicking it with my tongue. His muscles moved sharply, like an intake of breath. "Do you want me?" I whispered into the pale white flesh and nipped his skin with my teeth.

He didn't answer, but pressed his hips tighter against me. "Then take me," I said and I bit him hard, piercing the skin and drawing his blood into my mouth. He gasped and stood stock still for a moment while I sucked, then he grabbed my wrist, drawing it to his mouth and bit down, moaning, almost growling. As he drew on the wound the air around us crackled as if charged with electricity. Something opened, like a floodgate, and images started racing through my mind, although I couldn't really see them. I tried to hold on to them, to grasp them, like a word on the tip of your tongue. But they came so fast, that it made me dizzy. I would have fallen to the floor if Eric hadn't eased me gently to my knees. I was gasping with the myriad of emotions flowing between us, and I realized he was too. I let my weight rest against him, my cheek against his bloody chest, his against my shoulder and I could hear the slow drip of my own blood hitting the floor.

We knelt that way for a moment, in a stunned silence, when several things seemed to happen at once. Eric froze and he shot up, almost knocking me over in his haste. I looked around to see what had happened and through the shimmer of whatever surrounded us I saw Jan standing in the doorway, watching. His face was not threatening, or even voyeuristic, but had a look of surprise. I looked up at Eric and although his body seemed poised for defense, his face looked dazed. Time stopped for a moment, as if in a tableau and then Jan spoke. "Master, will you let her bleed?"

Eric blinked, shaking his head, and then in a split second, he had scooped me up off the floor and was holding my arm up, staring at it. Jan was staring too, his eyes fixated on the still oozing flesh of my wrist. Feeling a strange impulse I moved my arm, now pulsating with pain, as if to pull it away from Eric. He let go as I held my wrist out to Jan. I looked up to Eric's face questioningly, and after a brief hesitation, he nodded to me. He still looked confused. Jan walked over to us cautiously, his eyes darting between Eric and my bloody wrist, and sensing approbation, he took my arm in both hands and gently began to lick the wound.

Pam and Jordun burst onto the scene almost at once, weapons poised for killing, followed by Thalia, her broadsword held high. Jan leaped back into a defensive posture, while Eric whirled around to move me from the fray. Everything was happening at such a speed, that I'm surprised no one lost their head before Eric's voice was ringing out, "Stop!" in a commanding boom. I felt the wind stir from the swing of someone's sword, but there was no accompanying thud, as the movement was cut short and everything just stopped. I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding.

"Thalia," Eric hissed. "There has been no offense," he said in a firm tone. Thalia, although looking surprised and not a little disconcerted, lowered her weapon, as did Pam and Jordun. Jan's posture relaxed and I thought he might have looked relieved, although his face had shown no fear before. Eric's face had resumed the impassive composure that it usually held when dealing with other vampires. The tension was thick in the room. I, as usual, was wondering what the hell was going on.

Thalia spoke first. "Master," she said and looked at Eric as if waiting for permission to speak. He nodded in her direction. "There was some sort of magic surrounding the house, it wouldn't let us in." Eric's eyebrows rose at this revelation and looked at Pam as if for confirmation.

"There was a glow…" She paused and considered. "No, a haze of some sort," she continued. "Jan ran in, and we would have followed, but it wouldn't let us enter." Her brows were furrowed and she had a slight frown around her mouth, a look of puzzlement. All eyes turned to Jan.

"It was a calling," he said. "The Queen's blood was calling." Eyebrows flew up at this, and obviously it had some significance, because everyone focused their gazes on me.

"Don't look at me," I said. "I don't know what the hell is going on." I looked to Eric for explanation, and he returned my look thoughtfully. His mouth was still bloody and his sculpted marble white chest was smeared with drying blood. He looked otherworldly, not a bit human, but he didn't look frightening to me. Although I had no idea what had just happened, or what could possibly happen next, I felt safe and loved in his arms, and he seemed the most beautiful thing in the world.

"Well, Sookie, there's never a dull moment when you're around," Pam said, out of the blue, and everyone seemed to relax at once.

Of course, being relaxed for a vampire was not always the same as being relaxed for a human. "Eric, sweetie?" I said to my vampire. "You can put me down now." I don't think he had even registered that he was still holding me; my weight would be nothing to him.

He set me gently onto my feet, and I must have swayed a bit because he whooshed me back up and took me to the couch and sat me down. All the vampires followed us in, watching intently. "Are you okay, Sookie?" he asked. I had been hearing that question a lot, and that didn't really bode well.

"Yes, I think so," I assured him. "Another outfit is ruined with bloodstains, I am surrounded by hovering vampires, my kitchen is a disaster and I haven't even started dinner, but I'm just peachy," I continued sardonically.

That seemed to elicit a big smile on my vampire's face. "I like that you call it "your" kitchen, Lover." He seemed to consider what to say next. "I will buy you a new outfit. The hovering is out of concern for your welfare. We can have food delivered if you are hungry. The kitchen disaster, however, may be beyond my power to rectify." He waited for my response, but since I hadn't formulated one yet, he continued. "Perhaps we should discuss what just happened here."

"Pork chops," I replied to him, mostly just to be contrary. I was tired. "I was going to cook pork chops."

"Pam!" he barked, and she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, started pressing buttons and walked into the kitchen with the phone to her ear.

"Your dinner will be here soon. Pork chops," he said. He looked amused and Thalia sounded like she was stifling a giggle.

"Then I'll just wash up for dinner, and we can discuss this at the table, Eric." I considered the state of the kitchen. "I guess it will have to be the dining room," I added and got up and walked down the hall.

Eric must have taken the opportunity to clean up too, because when I came out of my bedroom washed up and with a clean blouse, Eric was on his phone, looking pristine in fresh clothes. I noticed the blood was off the kitchen floor, too. I went to the fridge and got out bottles of blood, microwaved them and handed them around to the vamps, seated at the table in the dining room. I was hungry but my food would probably take a little while to show up, so I poured myself a glass of milk and joined them. Eric joined us shortly and I passed him his drink, which he ignored. Everyone seemed to be looking at me.

"Let's not all talk at once," I said into the silence.

Eric began, "Did you mean to call Jan to you, Sookie?"

I thought about that for a moment, not even sure what his question meant. "I wasn't thinking about Jan at all, Eric. I'm not even sure what you mean. When you say calling, do you mean like when a maker calls their child?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I mean. I have told you about this before. When a maker calls their child, it is a compulsion. The child must answer it. Jan says that your blood called him. Did you know that this was happening? Can you remember what you were thinking?"

"I think," I began, and then hesitated, wishing that Eric and I were alone. I turned to Eric, took his hands in mine and closed my eyes. My face flushed with heat. "I was thinking how I would tease you a little, you know, like we were going to….make love." I was embarrassed to be talking about this in front of others, but I knew something important had happened, even if I didn't understand it, and it involved us all. "And I was playing a bit, and looking at your chest, it's so beautiful." I stopped there, not sure if I could continue, but Eric pressed my hand and I pressed on. "And I thought about how you like it when I bite you, so I just did. And then you bit me, and it was like it always is, you know, when you bite. Only then…"

I must have paused too long, because Eric prompted me. "It's okay, Lover, you don't need to be embarrassed. What were you thinking?"

"Well that's just it, Eric. I don't know what I was thinking. I was just feeling. I was feeling you. But something was different. It was sort of like a silent movie, but the film was running too fast, I couldn't really see it, and it made me dizzy. When I saw Jan, it was just impulsive, I offered him my blood. And then everyone was running in with their swords."

"So you hadn't been thinking of Jan then?" he asked again.

"Well, no," I said definitively. "I was thinking about you, when…you know." Then I backtracked. "But I was thinking about him last night, when we were watching the movie," I said.

"And what were you thinking?" asked Eric, looking a little possessive and squeezing my hand a little too tightly.

I pulled my hands back a little, and Eric's grip lightened immediately. "Well, I was thinking that even though he is… well, even with what he does, that I would trust him and that it was nice to have him in our little family."

"You have an objection to artists?" Eric asked, a little amused. Of course I didn't think he knew that Jan had told me about his other profession.

"No! Of course not," I said. "But…." At this point I just sort of sputtered I guess.

"Good, because I asked Jan here to do your portrait," Eric announced.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, and I might have said more, but the outside guard was at the door with what appeared to be my dinner.


	23. Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

Eating dinner while sitting with a group of vampires can make a person feel a little out of place. Since the vampires were drinking blood, it wasn't like I felt that I should apologize for my pork chops, but vamps have a tendency to observe humans in a very focused manner. It does tend to make you feel self-conscious. I was pretty hungry though, so I just kept chewing and they just kept watching.

"This is very good." I commented on the sweet potatoes that accompanied the main dish. It was in fact quite delicious. That didn't seem to get the conversational ball rolling, so I decided to just keep eating. After years of wanting silence, years of being barraged with the random thoughts of those around me, I was a little nonplussed at the quiet. Mostly, I was curious about what everyone was thinking.

Eric rescued me from my discomfort. "Jordun, explain what happened when you tried to enter the house."

Jordun seemed to give this a little thought before he answered. "It was not an aversion spell, or one of misdirection. It appeared to be a force field of some kind that actually blocked physical entry. It surrounded the doorway. I am not sure what would have happened if I had tried to actually knock through the walls, but the door was impenetrable." Pam nodded in agreement. "Jan went right through it, as if he didn't even see it."

"So it was a visible thing?" Eric asked, picking up that detail.

"Oh yes," Pam interjected. "It was a haze, and it had a luminescent quality. That is why we came in ready for battle. We saw it as a threat."

"Perhaps Sookie's witch will have some idea of what it could be," Eric commented. "It clearly must emanate from Sookie"

"She's not MY witch, Eric, Amelia is her own person. And I don't see how it's my fault. I'm not a witch at all," I said. I was feeling much better after eating something substantial.

"It appears that the intent was to shield rather than repel," chimed in Thalia. Everyone seemed to nod at this, while I was just befuddled.

"What do you mean, Thalia?" I asked. I didn't know if Thalia was generally astute, but you don't live as long as Methuselah without a brain I guessed. Her opinions would be useful.

"Jan was called, so he said, but I would not have known that. If I had come in sooner, I would have killed him as he fed," she said matter-of-factly.

"Huh!" said Jan, looking at Thalia's slight and delicate figure. The others did not dismiss her comment.

"So what does all this mean though?" I asked. All this mystical stuff was all very well and good, but I just didn't get it.

"We will have to wait and see what it means, Lover. Things like this do not happen without a reason, but that reason may not be immediately apparent." Everyone seemed to take that statement as a dismissal, and they got up from the table.

"How was your day, Lover?" Eric asked when we were alone in the dining room. He crooked his finger and patted his leg and I climbed onto his lap and kissed him on the cheek.

"Very busy. I went shopping today, at Tara's."

"And what did you get?" He rubbed his chin against the top of my head as I snuggled against his chest.

"Some new dresses and things. I haven't even unpacked everything. It's all still in the bags except for the dresses. I'm too tired to deal with it all tonight."

"Good. I think you will be needing some new things. I have to go to New Orleans soon, and I hope you will come with me. There will be parties to attend and lots of people to meet. Are you feeling well enough for a little traveling, Lover?"

"I feel fine, Eric. I just get a little tired. Alcide said there was going to be a coronation?" I was grinning to myself, thinking again of Eric in a big old crown.

"Thalia told me you had seen the were. I will try to involve him in some of the security plans if that is something you wish. As to the coronation, there is a ceremony involved, nothing too elaborate, but it is usually accompanied by a fancy dress ball. It is best to formalize these things as soon as possible. It will make it more difficult should anyone have objections."

"Is there going to be trouble, Eric? Will you have trouble because of Felipe? Killing him, I mean."

"No, not for that. It was witnessed and justifiable. There should be no trouble over that. Madden may make claim to my territory though. I should have killed him too, perhaps. But if he is wise, he will take what he has now and keep his distance." Eric said this as if he had no doubts what would happen to Victor if he tried anything. As if wanting to lighten the mood, Eric switched topics. "I am very glad you have come to stay with me," he said.

We sat like that for a little while, and Eric began to stroke my hair. As much as I wanted to continue the closeness of sitting with him like this, his thighs, which were like small tree trunks and just as solid, were wreaking havoc with my bottom. I realized that I didn't have quite enough padding these days to sit for long on such an unyielding lap. "Eric, let's go sit on the couch where it's a little softer," I suggested.

He waggled his eyebrows at that. "I would think hard would be more appreciated, Lover," he said and he pulled me in a little closer so that I might evaluate that for myself.

"Eric," I complained, but not seriously. "I do appreciate that, but my butt is going numb. Come on, I want to talk to you," I said and climbed down from his lap, taking his hand to lead him into the living room.

I plopped down on the soft leather couch, and he sat down next to me, tucking me under his arm. "What do you want to talk about, Lover?"

"Did you mind that I came down to your room the other night? When you were sleeping?"

Eric looked at me in genuine surprise. "Sookie, why would I mind my wife in my own bed?"

"Well," I said, feeling a little stupid now for bringing this up. "It's just that you had a bedroom upstairs for me, and I thought maybe…well, I don't really know what I thought, but I thought maybe you wanted your room to be private. I know you showed it to me and all." I ran out of things to say then, truly not knowing why I was asking him this, but still wondering why he would set up separate bedrooms.

"Since we will not always sleep at the same times, I thought you would be more comfortable this way. You can have the sun in your room in the mornings, I know you love the sun." He said this somewhat hesitantly, as if that wasn't all there was to it. After a moment, he added. "I didn't know if you would want to lie with me when I am dead." He said this in a regretful voice, but I couldn't tell if he was regretting that I might not want to lie with him, or that he was dead. "I want you beside me, but I do not ask that you give up your humanity."

"I am beginning to realize that I am not altogether human, Eric. When Niall told me he was my great grandfather, I believed him, but I didn't really believe it. It didn't have meaning to me. I think my whole life has been like that. I dreamed that I would have a life like other people, even though I had something different about me, my disability." He started to protest that choice of words, but I waved him off. "Now I know that I'll never have that life, that I couldn't live it even if it was offered to me. That human dream I had is the real fairy tale, and my telepathy is only a disability if I choose not to look at it as a gift." I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts.

"Gran had a term she used for things that didn't quite fit. Neither fish nor fowl. I guess that's me. But I have found someplace now that I think I might fit, next to you. There is not much that I am giving up to be with you, Eric. I haven't had much of a life. I know I am naïve even by human standards, and that I don't fully understand what you are or even what I am. But I think I know what is important in life: love and honor and commitment. If I find those things with you, Eric, I don't care if you're dead."

Something eased in him when I said that, like he had been waiting to hear that I accepted him for what he was, as he accepted me. "Look at me, Lover," he said softly and turned my face to his. "I have never loved anything as I love you," he said. He kissed me tenderly. "You look very tired, Sookie," he said.

"I am exhausted, Eric. I should go to bed. Don't you need to go to Fangtasia tonight?" I asked him.

"I have sent Jordun and Pam. I will need to conduct some business, but I can do that from here. I will tuck you in first." He got up from the couch and gave me his hand to help me up. I was so sleepy that I could barely move. I went into the bedroom to gather what I would need and saw the mess of bags and boxes. I would deal with them tomorrow, along with the kitchen disaster. I managed to find my overnight bag and got out nightgown, robe and toothbrush and got ready for bed.

I climbed into Eric's big bed and he stripped and climbed in next to me. He covered us with the quilt and cradled me in his arms until I fell asleep.

When I woke up, Eric's body was spooned against my back and his arm was firmly wrapped around me. The small lamp on the bedside table was still on, the light outlining the knife and book that had been there before. I must have slept like the dead because I felt well rested and ready to get some things done. I had no idea what time it was. I suppose Eric had no need of a clock next to his bed, since the setting of the sun was his alarm and he seemed to know the time of that by instinct. Maybe I would bring my clock down, or get another one for this room. Needing the bathroom in the worst way, I pried his arm off and slid out of his embrace. Talk about dead weight! I decided to get the coffee going before I had my shower so I headed straight upstairs, locking Eric's door behind me.

Next to the coffee pot, was a note from Eric. "My Lover, Fangtasia is re-opening tonight and Pam tells me I must be there. I will have some small amount of business to conduct while I am there. I hope you will accompany me. You looked so beautiful as you slept. E." Maybe I would wear one of my new dresses tonight to Fangtasia, I thought. I started the coffee and headed down the hall to begin my day.

When I emerged from the bathroom, washed, brushed and made up, I began to paw through the clothes I brought with me. I found some of the new underwear from Tara's and topped it off with jeans and a red cotton tee. By the time I had poured my first cup of coffee I looked at the clock and was surprised to see it was one o'clock in the afternoon. I must have really been tired last night. I decided to go ahead and cook the food that I had planned for dinner the night before; it would make two meals, lunch and dinner. While the meat was in the oven, I began to work on putting things away in the kitchen.

I began a list of things I would need from the store and things that I could bring over from the Bon Temps house. You never realize how many things you really do use in a day until you don't have them. There were still things I had never replaced from the kitchen fire, and having lived without those items this long, I assumed I really didn't need them. But things like potholders were just difficult to do without. I did manage to find a broom. It was outside the front door when I stepped out to get some air. There was a note on it from Bobby Burnham. "Eric said that I was deliver this before noon. No one responded when I knocked." I guess I shouldn't expect to be on Bobby's Christmas card list! Unfortunately Eric didn't ask for a dustpan, but I didn't think I would mention that to him.

I wondered how Eric managed things like laundry. He probably sent it out with Bobby, but I went looking for a washer and found it in the garage along with a dryer and even a box of soap. Someone must do laundry here, maybe Pam? I went into the bedroom and found my clothes from the night before, some with bloodstains, and set them to soak. After searching through Eric's room, I found his, and thought I should throw those into the cold water too. I unearthed an assortment of things that needed washing, and brought everything out to the laundry area for washing.

Eric had managed to deal with his clothes for a thousand years without a wife, but I was used to doing the laundry and didn't mind it at all. Maybe he had a maid or something, since everything in the house was clean and well cared for. Of course, much of it seemed unused, and I wondered how long he had actually been here. I really should make a list of questions to ask him. I was always thinking of things when he wasn't around, and then, when he was, they all flew out of my head. Maybe tonight I would ask Pam about some of these things while Eric was working. She might answer me, if she felt like it.

The afternoon flew by, and I had the kitchen in fairly good order, had eaten my lunch and had gotten the blood out of yesterday's clothes. I was working on putting things into the drawers in the bedroom, when I turned around and ran right into Eric. "Good grief!" I shrieked as he wrapped me in his arms and kissed the top of my head. "Do you have to do that, Eric? You scared the crap out of me!"

"Do what?" he said and the innocent tone might have worked if I hadn't taken a good look at what he was wearing. His pants were tight, leaving very little to the imagination, and I could imagine plenty! His shirt was as tight and as black as his pants, and each muscle in his chest was clearly defined through the smooth fabric. The only ornamentation was a belt that only a Viking could pull off, large and highly ornamented and drawing the eye down to what he had to offer. Top that off with plenty of attitude and he was one badass vampire.

"I didn't realize you were up!" I said. That surprised me a bit, since I had lately been able to feel him rising through the bond. I suppose I had just been too distracted with everything I had been doing. "I'll be ready to go in a minute," I assured him, giving him a quick kiss and turning to the closet to pull out something to wear.

"Take your time, Lover," he said and assumed a casual attitude of waiting. He looked so gorgeous that I was tempted to ask him just how much time he thought we both could take, but that could wait for later. I grabbed one of my new dresses off the hanger. It was an A-line empire waist in a dark blue with a white pattern and had a pretty cropped cashmere sweater to go with it. I quickly pulled off my jeans and tee and was probably giving a good view of my new lacy and somewhat minimal underwear from the back when Pam must have walked by.

"Lovely outfit, Sookie, but don't you think you might get a bit chilled." Before I could turn around and pull the dress in front of me for cover, another voice chimed in.

"Have Jan paint you in that, Sister," Jordun said.

"Didn't you guys ever learn to knock?" I said in exasperation. Of course the door was wide open, so that statement made little sense. The two vampires looked at each other though, as if they were trying to remember back that far and both answered an emphatic "No!" at the same time.

"Eric!" I protested and he growled at the two of them, although the impact was probably lessened by the grin on his face. They both removed themselves from the doorway however and headed off to do whatever vampires did.

I slipped the dress over my head and Eric strode over to help me zip it up the back. He ran his finger up the curve of my spine as he did so. "Very pretty," he whispered into my ear. "Perhaps we might be a little late getting to the club."

The way his voice just dripped sex, I almost agreed, but knew he had work to do, so instead I went over to one of the unpacked boxes to find some sandals. "I'm almost ready, Eric. Didn't you say you had work to get done tonight?"

"Yes," he agreed. "I can see you are going to be a slave driver. All work and no play." He gave me an aggrieved smile and headed out the door. "We will be in the kitchen when you are ready, Lover." I gave my hair a quick brushing, gathered up my phone, purse and sweater, and followed him out.

There was a line of people waiting to get into Fangtasia, but we just drove around the back and came in the employee's entrance. Eric was planning on "enthralling the vermin" as Pam so aptly put it, at least for a while, then he had people to meet with in his office. I wasn't sure what my role here was, but I had brought my magazines and some food in a small tote, so I could sit somewhere and do some planning. I had my list to work on too, questions for Eric and Pam.

When we walked into the bar, I almost staggered as the minds of scores of humans hit me all at once. I hadn't even thought to put my inner shields in place. Eric noticed something amiss immediately, and took my arm. "Are you quite all right, Lover?" he asked with concern.

"Yes, I'm fine, Eric," I responded. "I guess I just haven't been around many humans lately, and it sort of surprised me. I'm fine now." He looked at me a little oddly, but then it seemed that he realized what had happened. He nodded and led me to his "throne" at the rear of the room. There was a chair next to it for me and a small table. Looking around, I noticed that the vampires in the room were all bowing from the waist and the humans were mostly quiet or whispering to each other, either wondering what was going on or just in awe at Eric's entrance. I didn't listen in to find out, enjoying that my shields were strong enough that I didn't have to.

"Will you sit here with me for a while, Lover?" Eric asked. I nodded, although I would really prefer a nice dark booth on the other side of the room. Thalia took up a position behind us both and she actually winked at me when I smiled a greeting. I was really beginning to like her. It wasn't long before those who were brave enough began to approach Eric, some asking for autographs, some just staring. He ignored the staring humans, gave out a few autographs and just seemed to survey the overall running of the establishment. I just fidgeted in my chair until Felicia came up with our drinks, ginger ale for me and a blood for Eric.

"Hi Felicia," I said to her in my friendliest most non-threatening manner. She did her bow and mumbled "Mistress," looking at Eric as she did so. Geez Louise! I poked Eric in the ribs and he looked over to see what was going on, holding his side where I'd poked him and acting pained.

"Have I done something to warrant this abuse, My Lover?" he asked in a mockingly abject voice.

"Tell Felicia that I won't bite her and she doesn't have to bow!" I hissed at him, keeping my voice as low as possible. I could almost feel Thalia's amusement as she leaned in to hear everything. Of course Felicia heard every word I said with her vampire hearing.

"Felicia!" Eric snapped in a commanding voice that just about sent me hiding under the table. "Your mistress will not bite you and you are not required to bow."

Felicia, still bowing, turned her body towards Eric and said, "Yes, master," then scurried away back to the bar. Eric just looked amused.

"Seriously, Eric, you are such a tyrant! I don't want her frightened of me. That was mean!"

"Do not be angry with me, Lover. You are right. I will talk with her and let her know that you mean her no harm. She is a timid thing." He qualified his statement. "For a vampire, that is," he added sardonically.

"Timid my ass!" I mumbled and Thalia's laughter rang out, drawing the eyes of all the humans, many of whom were her fans and had probably never gotten more than a scowl out of her.

"If you would like to discuss your ass, Lover, perhaps we should step into my office," quipped Eric. I might have considered this if I hadn't noticed Pam walking up to Eric's throne, obviously with a purpose. She spoke into his ear for a moment, and then headed back to door duty. "Your witch is here with her father," Eric informed me, just as I saw them approach.

"Amelia!" I called and left my seat to give her a big hug. "When did you get back?"

"Sookie! I just got back today. I brought my dad over to see Eric. He said you arranged it and you are his very favorite person these days." She said this while beaming at me and almost simultaneously making sidelong faces of exasperation at her dad.

Copley Carmichael walked up to me with his hand extended and we shook cordially. "Hello, Mr. Carmichael." I greeted him and was rewarded with his customary rejoinder.

"Call me Cope, Sookie. You are looking lovely this evening. Amelia tells me you have been recovering from a car accident, but you look just fine." He said all of this with his usual good buddy joviality, always with a hint of charm added in for the ladies.

"Thank you, Mr. Carmichael," I responded. No way I was calling Amelia's dad Cope!

"I am in your debt again, Sookie, for arranging this meeting with Mr. Northman. With the last change over in ownership so recent, it is good to meet the new man as soon as possible and keep the work going. If there's anything I can do for you, you just say the word."

"Oh, I didn't do a thing but mention you to Eric, Mr. Carmichael. Amelia was of course concerned for your interests with the new administration." I always tried to put in a good word for Amelia. "Let me introduce you," I said and led him up to Eric.

"Eric, this is Copley Carmichael, Amelia's dad. I mentioned him to you the other day." Eric nodded at Copley. "Mr. Carmichael, this is Eric Northman." Introductions complete, I excused myself to let the men talk business and dragged Amelia over to the table in the back that was always left reserved for the vamps. Thalia must have made a signal of some kind, because two of the new vampires were almost instantly stationed behind Eric, and Thalia stepped behind me. Amelia looked a little wide-eyed at Thalia's sword, but they had met, so she wasn't really alarmed.

We both tried to talk at once, but I won out. "So spill, what's with Bob? Did you bring him back with you?"

"Well," she said giddily, "you won't believe it. He found his family and they were all okay, but living in Mississippi. I guess they weren't even mad that he hadn't found them sooner, since lots of people aren't finding their families for months and months. They were just glad he was okay. Anyway, he went to them for a bit, but they were barely managing as it was, so he came back to New Orleans. He managed to get some part time work in a salon, but he's just been renting a room in somebody's house." I was hoping she'd get to the point, but it was better to let Amelia get there at her own speed.

"Anyway," she continued, "I went over to Octavia's house for a get together. She says hi, by the way. So, Bob came to Octavia's, which surprised me, since I assumed he would never want to see any of us again. Well, we got talking and he was telling me about what was going on. I think at first he wanted to blame me, because of the cat thing you know. But really, most of his situation was more about Katrina. So, anyway, I offered him my apartment to stay in, and he's been staying there for the last few days."

"Wow, that's great, Amelia. That you would let him stay there I mean. But, I guess I thought that something was going on with the two of you, from the way you talked about him in your message."

"Oh, well, yeah, we sort of got back together. Not that we were ever together in the first place you know, but well….he's actually sort of impressed that I could do the transformational magic. After he got over being a cat, of course. So, what do you think? Can he stay with me at your house for a bit, upstairs, not in Octavia's old room? Since you're staying at Eric's and everything, which I want to hear all about!"

Amelia finally paused to take a breath, and I thought about the whole situation. "But what will he do for a living if he stays in Bon Temps, Amelia? I'm surprised he'd want to move out to the country from New Orleans, especially with his first experience at my place."

"Well, that's just the thing, he says he can get a job at a salon in Clarice, and he sort of misses being out in the country, even though he hasn't really tried it as a person yet. And I would love having somebody around who does magic. Octavia was great, really, but you know, being my mentor and all, it's not the same as having Bob. We were thinking we could set up a side business too, doing magic for the vamps here in Shreveport. Jordun already said he wanted to talk to me about warding Eric's house for fairies, and some of the New Orleans properties too."

"Isn't this a little sudden, Amelia? Really, you've only lived with him when he was a cat. Wasn't the night of his transformation the first night you guys actually," I paused thinking of a nice way to put "had sex". "Well, wasn't that like your first real date?" Okay, it wasn't like I'd spent much time with Eric either, before I'd shown up on his doorstep, but we'd had a little bit more time than Bob and Amelia.

"Well, yeah. I guess we haven't spent a lot of time together. We'd been in the same coven for a while though, and he really is a great guy, Sookie." Amelia was a little impulsive, but she was a grown up.

"That would be fine, Amelia. It looks like I'm going to be mostly at Eric's house, so gran's house wouldn't be empty if you and Bob stayed there. And you'd still be pretty close. I was worried you'd move back to New Orleans and I'd miss you. Although, I guess I'll have to be in New Orleans some with Eric being the king and all."

Amelia had obviously been dying to get to this topic, since she sprang on it so quickly. "So, are you Queen Sookie now? Do they call you that? Do they have some kind of cool crown or anything? Wow, Sookie! I thought it was exciting you were going to get married, but now you get to be queen, that's so romantic!" She was beaming at the idea, and I hated to burst her bubble.

"It isn't like Princess Di or anything, Amelia. It's just a vampire thing, and nobody is running around calling me her majesty. Some of them are big on bowing though, and that's really weird. I don't even know if Eric will have a crown, I don't think so. I never saw Sophie Anne with one. It's more like being mayor or something I think."

"So when's the wedding, Sookie?" Amelia asked.

"You know, I haven't had a chance to even plan anything. We weren't planning anything big in any case. I was thinking just something over at Jason's, since gran's yard is all torn up. Now, I'm thinking I might just do the courthouse. Mr. Cataliades says it's best to do the legal part soon, all the vamps consider us married already. And with the baby and all, I would like to not wait too long. Not that people aren't going to talk anyway. There's no good way to explain this, since everyone knows vamps are sterile."

"Who cares what people say, Sookie?" Amelia said. "You should just have whatever kind of wedding you want. You have to have some kind of party though, even if you do a courthouse wedding."

"I still have to talk to Eric about the whole thing. We have to go to New Orleans for some kind of king ceremony and I don't even know when it is. It's been so busy lately it seems." I proceeded to tell Amelia all about moving over to Eric's, what his house was like and the new clothes I'd gotten and we managed to sit there for quite a while just having girl time together.

"I have some stuff to talk to you about, magic stuff," I told Amelia, but before we could go into any details, Amelia's dad walked up to the table.

"It was very nice to see you again, Sookie. You just let me know if there is anything I can do for you. I think it will work out real well working with Mr. Northman." He turned to his daughter. "Amelia, honey, I'll talk to you soon," and he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"It was nice to see you, Mr. Carmichael. I'm glad things worked out." I said, as he held out his hand.

"Didn't you come with your dad, Amelia?" I asked when Copley had left. Amelia was always flustered when she was around her dad, and I could see her visibly relax when her dad was gone.

"I brought my own car, so I could stay and talk with Jordun about the warding stuff, and so I could see you." As if on cue, Jordun walked up to the table.

"Sister," he said, nodding to me. "Amelia, you are looking lovely as always," he said charmingly and he sat down with us at the table. "Eric has asked me to discuss the job of warding with you," he began. They began to discuss the details of what was needed and while they were talking I looked around at the bar. Eric must have still been in his office, but Jan was drawing quite a crowd of fangbangers and unlike Eric, he seemed to enjoy the humans. This surprised me as most of the vampires barely tolerated them and only mingled with the "vermin" because it was expected of them, or to find a willing donor.

As if he felt my eyes on him, Jan looked in my direction and winked. Okay, this was creepy. Thalia had winked at me earlier. What was up with that? I wasn't sure how to respond, so I just sort of gave him a little smile, and he went back to posing for the fangbangers. I was still very unsure what to think of Jan. My gut feeling was that I could trust him, with no reason behind it except Eric's assurance of an oath of fealty. He'd tasted my blood now, so did that mean he would know things about me? It hadn't been a lot of blood, but he was pretty old. That probably made a difference. The whole assassin thing was troubling too. I didn't want to know any details about it, but at the same time it held a certain morbid fascination, like watching a train wreck.

I found myself touching my wrist, where he had licked my skin clean of blood. My eyes felt heavy and when I closed them I could see a very clear picture of myself. I was wearing a dressing gown made of a heavy material like brocade, white with red flowers, reminding me of the dress I had worn the first time I had met Eric, but in a style from the time of Henry the Eighth. The underskirt looked smooth and shimmered as if it was satin. The bodice was cut low and straight, my breasts mounded above the fabric. My arm was bent and my hand rested on the small of my back as if trying to ease the strain of carrying a child. I was very obviously pregnant, and I looked happy and beautiful. I knew that I was seeing the portrait that Jan wanted to paint. I opened my eyes and he was staring straight at me, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Sookie, hello? Sookie?" Someone was talking to me, and I pulled my fingers away from my wrist and my head cleared. "Sookie, were you sleeping hon?" Amelia asked.

"Oh, sorry Amelia," I said, "I guess I was daydreaming. What were you saying?"

"I was just saying that Bob and I could come over tomorrow to work on Eric's house, for the warding. What's a good time?" Amelia looked very excited about the whole thing and I wondered what kind of arrangement she had been making with Jordun while I had been drifting.

"Oh, great! I don't think Dermott will come around a house with that many vampires, but better safe than sorry. Are you working at the insurance company tomorrow?"

"Yeah, in the morning. There hasn't been that much work for me lately, since I've gotten everything all caught up for them. How about I come over about two?"

"Sure, I'll let the guards know you're coming. You have the address?" She nodded. Apparently Jordun had given her the information she would need, and it was all arranged. We both got up to say good night, and Amelia headed home to Bon Temps.

While I was up, I decided to use the lady's room and of course Thalia accompanied me. It wasn't like something was liable to happen to me in the middle of the bar, but she was taking no chances. On the way back, a young man, obviously with a few too many drinks under his belt, put his hand on my arm and slurred, "Hey babe, you here all on your lonesome?" Before I could come back with a quick retort, Thalia had her hand around his neck and was backing him up against the bar. The poor man, completely taken by surprise and no doubt scared half to death, started shaking and turned white as a ghost. Everyone around us got very quiet, watching to see what would happen.

"Thalia, stop that!" I said in exasperation. "Please let him go." She complied reluctantly, and the man fumbled his way through the crowd to the door and left the bar. "You didn't have to do that, Thalia. I can perfectly well handle a drunk after years of working in a bar," I admonished her.

She shrugged me off saying, "It's good for business. That's what they come for, a little brush with death." I wondered about that. The first time I had come here, with Bill, I had listened in and most of what I had heard was thoughts about sex, sex, and more sex. But sex wasn't the only element that attracted humans to vampires. It was kind of like playing with fire. Death certainly must play a part in the attraction. The French had a term they used for an orgasm, La Petite Mort, the little death. There was a thought to consider.

And speaking of sex, death and playing with fire, I had no sooner gotten back to the table, than Eric's office door opened and the personification of sex and death himself appeared in the doorway. He caught my eye and beckoned me to join him in the office. He thought he could just crook his finger and I would just hustle on over to his office. Which is of course exactly what I did. I was still thinking about the French connection. I had no doubt that Eric spoke the language perfectly.

"Parles-tu français, Monsieur?" I asked him in my best high school French after I'd walked through the door.

"Oui, Madame," he answered. "Qu'est-ce que je peux faire pour toi?" he replied in his best sexy vampire French. I translated in my head. "What can I do for you?"

Since I could see that the office was empty, I turned the lock on the door and whispered in his ear just what he could do for me. Being the sweetie that he is, he didn't waste any time accommodating my request. Before too long we were both speaking in tongues and it was pretty damned close to a religious experience.


	24. Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

(WARNING: This chapter contains very adult interaction, which may be considered rape by some. Please be advised.)

I napped on the couch in Eric's office. I had eaten the food I had brought from home and Eric had dug a pillow and blanket out of the closet. I was comfy and warm and the sounds of Eric talking on the phone and typing on his computer were comforting as I drifted off. When the bar had closed and Eric was finished with his business for the night, he woke me, kissing my lips lightly. "Sleeping Beauty, it is time to go home," my prince whispered in my ear. I groaned a bit at the thought of getting up and walking out to the car, but I couldn't stay on the couch all night. I wanted our bed, and Eric would soon need to find shelter to sleep.

Pam locked up behind us and Jordun drove us home, while I leaned against Eric's shoulder in the back seat. By the time we got home from Fangtasia, I was more than ready to go back to sleep, but I hadn't really had much chance to actually talk with Eric. When we were alone together, talking was not always the first thing we thought of. "When do you think we will go to New Orleans, Eric?" I asked my vampire when we had gotten settled into bed. He was snuggled up against my back, lazily stroking my arm.

"I think we must go on Friday, Lover. Jordun will go tomorrow to make sure things are ready at the residence."

"The queen's residence, where Sophie Anne lived?" I asked. I had met with her there when I had gone to New Orleans to clear out Hadley's apartment.

"Yes, enough of the rebuilding is done that the place can be secured. Your witch's father has done a good job from what I hear. I think you will be comfortable there," he answered. "Mr. Cataliades hopes to meet with you while we are there."

"Oh good," I remarked. "I have been thinking I should start really looking at what I own, and he said he would have more papers for me to sign. I meant to call his office, and just haven't gotten to it." That made me think of the trust fund I wanted to start for Hunter. I had promised Remy Savoy that I would meet with him and Hunter soon, and he would be expecting me to call. I wondered if I should just tell Eric about Hunter, but I hated to see the little boy get involved with the vampires at all. I was worried that any contact I had with him might lead Dermott there too. That was another problem to be dealt with, but not tonight.

"I have arranged for your guards to go with us, so that you will have someone familiar. You must take them with you whenever you go out. I will have some business to attend to while we are there, of course, but we will have some time together. I am worried that all of this will be too much for you, Lover. I know that pregnant women get very tired." Eric sounded very tired, which was unusual for him.

"I guess things are a little hectic for you now, with the whole state under your charge," I said.

He sighed a bit at that. "It is nothing that cannot be dealt with, but it is an adjustment," he said with his usual pragmatism. "I spoke with our human liaison tonight and she will be in Shreveport tomorrow. Would you be willing to meet with her tomorrow afternoon? She can go over your schedule and what the expectations will be. I think perhaps you might want to have your own assistant. She might be able to arrange that."

"Assistant for what, Eric? What is my part in all of this exactly?"

"That is where we are in new territory, Lover. There are of course alliances made between vampires, marriages that are arranged. You witnessed one in Rhodes." I nodded at that. Eric had officiated at the marriage of two kings. "There are also kings or queens that have human favorites. These humans are sometimes courted for favors, although usually they are more like pets." I felt him tense a bit, as if waiting for my onslaught of indignation. I decided to let it pass, in favor of getting to the heart of the discussion.

"You, My Lover, are in a rather unique position. It is rare for a vampire to wed by the knife as we have." I did not add in that I had no knowledge of what that had meant at the time. We were past that at this point.

"You have some status in the vampire kingdom as a result, but it is not well defined. However, there have already been requests for audience with you. You are being called queen. There is no precedence for you to hold any official position of judgment, you understand, but some would court your influence." I didn't understand this at all, seeing as how I was in no way a vampire, and didn't want to get sucked into the politics. Knee deep in alligators is the way I saw that! "It is in many ways like the royalty of Britain," he continued. "They have a queen, and a prince consort, and he is much courted, but not the actual seat of power."

"So sort of an honorary position?" I asked him.

"Exactly!" he answered. "Knowing that you do not want to be involved in more vampire shit as you call it so delicately, I think you must have a liaison to deal with social obligations and to screen those that wish access. There will of course be the day to day running of residences and employees but there is a staff in New Orleans already in place for that. You will want to have input on that as well though."

I took a minute to digest all of this. He was right that I didn't want to get more deeply involved in this, but I didn't think he did either. We had landed in this situation as a way to keep me safe from those in power that would use me for their own ends. It was a little like Dorothy in the Land of Oz. "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto."

"So you want me to meet with this person tomorrow?" I asked Eric.

"Yes, her name is Liz Richards. She will be at the office at Fangtasia and would like to meet you there around two thirty. I thought we should keep business away from our home as much as possible at this point."

"Oh, wait, Eric. I told Amelia that she and Bob could come over tomorrow at two. Amelia wanted to see the house, and they were going to look it over for the warding spells. I guess I could ask her to come another day."

"Who is this Bob?" Eric asked suspiciously.

"You know, Bob the cat? You saw him at my house in Bon Temps. He was Amelia's accidental transformation." She had often referred to him as her "little accident". "He's going to stay at my house for a while, with Amelia. He's a hairdresser and I guess he can get work in Clarice, but he is a witch too. Amelia is thinking they might start a magic practice together."

"How well do you know this man, Sookie? Tell me a little more about this." Eric was sort of sitting up in bed and he didn't sound pleased. He had very good reasons to not trust witches, so I told him everything I knew about Bob the cat.

"So your interaction with him has been mostly when he was a cat," Eric commented. "Do you not think it strange, Sookie, that he would so readily come back to Bon Temps with Amelia after his experience?" I didn't discount Eric's suspicions, since I knew that he was very good at reading motivations in people.

"Now that you say it, I guess I did think it was sort of sudden. But people's lives have been turned upside down with Katrina, Eric. And Amelia, well, she is sort of impulsive." I didn't want to say that Amelia tended to jump into bed with people, and vampires, with very little courtship involved. "I really don't know Bob at all as a human, and I don't know if Amelia does either, really."

"I do not think it is a good idea to invite him to our home at this point, Sookie. Witches are not something to take lightly. If you would call her tomorrow and tell her that we will have to put this off until our return from New Orleans, that would be best. I am not worried about Amelia, she would not harm you, but we know nothing about this cat. I was under the impression that your witch would be doing the wardings. Jordun did not mention any one else."

"I don't think Jordun has met him. He and Amelia were talking about doing the wardings but I wasn't paying attention. Which reminds me, I wanted to tell you something about Jan." I then told him about the strange experience of seeing my painting when I had touched the spot where Jan had tasted my blood.

"You have some connection to Jan now. Was it the same as your telepathic communication with Jordun?" Eric asked.

I had to think about that. "No. With Jordun it was more like when I read the minds of humans. I could send thoughts, but I have done that before, with Barry the Bellhop in Dallas, remember?" Eric nodded. "I didn't hear Jan's thoughts, or send anything. It was just that I saw the painting. I thought at the time that it was what he wanted to paint, but now I think it is what he will paint. I don't know if that makes any sense or if those two things are different."

"They are very different, Lover. One is telepathy, but the other is a vision. Perhaps you are also a psychic." When he said that, I remembered something Eric had said the first time I had met him. "I had a psychic once," he had said.

"It is a little like when we saw the angel, Eric, at least the way I felt that it was true. But that was a dream."

"I think we will have to pay attention to your dreams, Sookie, and these visions. They may be important."

"I don't want to have visions, Eric. I will end up getting beaten up, or worse," I said petulantly. "And why would I all of a sudden be psychic?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with the angel, or the pregnancy," he said. "It might be that it is something unique to your interaction with vampires. Did you experience anything of this sort with Compton?" He said this like he had just stepped in something nasty on the street.

"No, never. I never read anything from his mind, either. Speaking of Bill, Eric, did you say that he couldn't see me? He intimated as much." I was ready to get steamed up if he was going to tell me who I should or should not see.

"You may see him whenever you please, Lover, since he has petitioned me for that privilege, but I do not wish you to spend time with him." He said this dispassionately, but I could see the tension in his shoulders build.

"So!" I sputtered. "People have to petition to see me? Mr. High and Mighty gets to decide who I see and who I don't? Who died and made you king?" I exclaimed. Of course the minute I said it, I realized what a ridiculous statement that was, but I moved over to the other side of the bed and glared at him none the less.

"Since you were there, I must assume you know who died," said Eric, cold anger in his voice. Believe me, an angry vampire is a scary thing. He was glaring right back at me, and if I didn't know deep down that he wouldn't hurt me, I would have been crawling at this point. "He will not see you unless I give my permission." I didn't like that one bit. I was getting mad.

"I'll see whomever I damned well please," I hurled at him. "You can't tell me what to do!" I shouted.

"I'll tell you this," he shouted back, "Compton will die if he lays a finger on you. I should have killed him long ago." Eric's fangs were out, and the look in his eyes alone was enough to kill someone. He grabbed me by the shoulders and his fingers locked on tightly. "I should rip his heart out for taking what should have been mine; what is mine!"

He swung me down to the middle of the bed and pushed me hard against the sheets. I struggled against him futilely, and it seemed to excite him. "Eric, what is wrong with you?" I protested. He looked so angry and his eyes had gone wild.

Using his knee, he spread my thighs. "I hate the thought that he has touched you." His weight pressed down on me and he began to thrust himself against me. Without preparation, it was painful and I cried out. I tried to pull away, but he held me tight. "I will kill anyone who touches you," he hissed as he thrust again, pushing deeper. I dug my nails into his shoulders, pushing at him and he snarled, but didn't let up.

He pounded against me, and when I cried out again, he hushed me with brutal kisses, bruising my lips. "You are mine," he growled against my mouth as he thrust again. "Mine," he murmured, softer this time, as he slowed his movements. His kisses became more tender. His eyes lost their wildness and he gazed at me for a moment. "Oh, how I love you," he whispered. "Oh, how I love you." My anger melted away and my body opened to him as my heart did. I wrapped my legs around him to pull him in to me completely, what was pain now becoming need and passion.

As we moved together my breath began to come short and fast. Each thrust pushed deeper and deeper until I felt I would scream with the sensation building within me. My fingers dug hard into his back and the tension thrummed through my body until I thought I would burst. I screamed as the first wave hit and I bit him savagely on his chest. The thick sweet blood flowed into my mouth as he released inside me. His fangs pierced my neck as I shuddered around him and for a moment we were joined completely, body and soul.

We lay together sated and content. His tongue lapped softly at my neck and my hand stroked his back as we comforted each other. The room smelled of blood and sex and it was blissfully quiet. I reached down for the quilt and pulled it up around us, snuggling in as close as I could get to the cool skin of my vampire. His arms wrapped tightly around me. The strain that had filled both of us for the last few weeks was gone and the bond between us seemed to hum a lullaby as I fell asleep.


	25. Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

When I woke the next morning, I had lots to think about. Most of what I had to think about was lying right next to me. Eric looked beautiful. His hair was splayed about the pillow in a tangled mess, and his sprawled limbs were taking up most of the bed. When he slept he was absolutely still. There was no rise and fall of his chest, since he didn't breathe. His eyelids were immobile since he didn't dream. Well, we had dreamed together those few times, but now there was no movement. At first I had missed those sounds and movements. I had expected them, and there was a void where they should have been. Now I thought I would have been startled if he did pretend to breathe, as Bill often had. Now the absolute silence seemed right in some way and I found it comforting.

Maybe I should have been angry with him for how he had behaved last night. I'd been plenty mad then and so had he. But I'd been angry at him, and he had just been angry. It had quickly turned to something else and I had enjoyed raking him with my nails and ripping at his chest with my teeth. Playing with fire. If he was awake right now, I think I'd start a fight. Maybe Thalia was right.

There were things to do and I was absolutely famished, so I kissed my beautiful vampire on the top of his head and hauled myself over him and out of bed. The coffee was ready by the time I got out of the shower and dressed, so I sat down with a cup while I called Amelia. She would be at the insurance company this morning and I had gotten up early enough that I could catch her before she headed to Shreveport.

"Amelia? It's Sookie."

"Hey, Sookie, how you feeling? I'm glad you called; I am totally bored here at work today. I'm the only one in the office and no one wants insurance today I guess." Amelia sounded her usual bright and cheerful self.

"I'm feeling pretty good, actually. I just got up and I'm having my coffee. Listen, I needed to talk to you about this afternoon."

"What's up?" she asked.

"There's a woman I have to meet with today. Eric calls her the human liaison of the vampire world or some such thing. Anyway, she is supposed to arrange my schedule for New Orleans. We're going on Friday I guess." That was pretty much the truth.

"Oh, you want to reschedule then? I can come tomorrow maybe." She didn't sound put out by the change in schedule.

"I was thinking maybe when we get back. I'll be packing and seriously, Amelia, I have no idea what to take for this. When I was in New Orleans last time, it seemed like the vampires were very big on getting dressed up." I had stayed at my cousin Hadley's that time, upstairs from Amelia, and had ended up wearing one of Amelia's dresses.

"You said you got some new clothes this week, just take them all. If you are meeting with this liaison woman, she will know what the dress code is for everything, ask her." Amelia was always practical about this kind of thing.

"Yeah, I'll do that. I can always shop in the city if I need anything else."

"I gotta go," Amelia said. "A client walked in. I'll call you in a few days; I might end up in New Orleans this weekend. Have fun, Sookie."

"Thanks, Amelia," I said into the phone, but she had already hung up. Time for breakfast, I was starving.

I couldn't believe how well I was feeling. My stomach felt fine except for its persistent grumbling in want of food. The tracery of scars on my lower legs was so fine now, that they only showed in good light. The ones on my abdomen and thighs were still marked, but only Eric saw those and he didn't seem to mind. I was very conscious of them, of course, for what they represented, but I suppose I always would be. I thought feeling so well was probably the result of the vampire blood I had been drinking. I wondered if I would become addicted to it, it was a drug for humans after all. I suppose my fairy blood worked the same way with Eric, he certainly seemed to crave it. Sometimes I could see him focused on my neck or my wrist and I thought he watched the movement of the blood through the veins there. He was like a cat watching a mouse.

I needed to stop thinking about Eric, or I would burn the bacon that was sizzling in the pan. It seemed to take forever to cook. I had already eaten the piece of toast that I had planned to go with it. I thought I might have a few eggs too, so got them out of the fridge.

When the breakfast things were cleared up and washed, I went out to tell the guards about my afternoon appointment and was totally surprised to see a brand new Prius sitting in front of the house. Travis saw me coming out and walked over, pulling an envelope and a set of keys out of his pocket. "Good afternoon, Ma'am," he said, as he handed the items to me. "The dealership has had your new car delivered. It's been cleared for explosives."

"Hi Travis," I greeted him, smiling with excitement, and then it hit me what he had just said. "Explosives?" I asked in alarm. "Who would want to blow up my new car?"

"I am sure I wouldn't know, Ma'am, but it is my job to make sure someone doesn't." He said this with such a deadpan expression, as if cars blowing up were an every day occurrence. Jesus Christ Shepherd of Judea! "The manuals are on the front seat," he continued, "and the paperwork is in the envelope."

I looked down at the envelope, addressed Ms. Stackhouse, and thought I should take a look at that first. There were a few documents, the usual stuff I guessed, having never bought a new car before. There was also an insurance policy document and a note that said that Mr. Cataliades had already arranged for insurance and who I should call if I had any problems at all. Well, it was ready to drive then, and I was ready to take it out for a spin. Looking at the size of it and the size of Travis, I wondered just how this was going to work.

"I want to drive it," I said to Travis. "Do you need to follow me or something?" I asked, thinking that might be an alternative to him cramming himself in. I couldn't imagine him or Mark in the back seat.

"Where did you plan to go?" he asked.

"Well, I will have to pack for New Orleans, and I realized I only have an overnight bag, so I wanted to get some luggage. And then I have to meet with someone at two thirty at Fangtasia." I glanced at my watch and thought I would have enough time to get luggage first, although I had no idea where in Shreveport I should go for that. Did they have a Wal-Mart close by? "Maybe you know where I can get luggage here in Shreveport?"

"You cannot go in the car alone, Ma'am. Mr. Northman would have my head." He looked more closely at the backseat of the car. "I don't think Mark and I will both fit, along with luggage. I will go with you, and Mark will follow with another guard. When did you want to leave?"

"I just need to get my purse. Can we stop at the bank too? I want to get some cash." I had my credit cards, but I might need money for tipping or small things while we were in New Orleans.

"No problem, Ma'am," he replied and I went back to the house for my things.

The car was a little different than any I had driven before, and it took a few minutes to get the seat and mirrors adjusted. I could see Mark and another guard that I hadn't met in the Escalade behind me in the rear view. I headed out the drive, following Travis's directions to the highway. The car was wonderful. It had that new car smell and the seats were cushy and of course, everything worked. Travis got a little nervous when I was fussing with the radio and not exactly watching where I was going, so he took over the music selection. We got to town and through the ATM drive-through listening to country western with me grinning like a lunatic the whole way over my new toy. I could get used to this!

The luggage store looked a little upscale for me, but I decided that I would just get something nice and pay the price this time. Eric would be annoyed if I showed up with him at the residence with cheap luggage anyway, I knew. I ended up with a set of four, two suitcases, garment bag and carry-on, all matching in a pretty red color. Mark and the other guard, whose name was Jim, took the luggage to the back of the Escalade and we all headed over to Fangtasia.

Liz Richards was already in Fangtasia and waiting for me when Belinda let us in. The guards stood close by, but back enough to give us some privacy, keeping their eye on Liz as if she was going to stab me at any minute. It was a little disconcerting to me, but she seemed to take it in stride as if that was the usual way of doing business. Maybe it was when you worked for vampires. Liz was not much older than me I guessed and was a striking woman with red hair and blue-green eyes. She was tall, about five feet ten and slim, but muscular. Her accent was very east coast, New Jersey maybe. She made me feel comfortable right off the bat.

"It is very nice to meet you, Miss Stackhouse," she said. She didn't extend her hand and I wasn't sure if that was just because I was female or if it was habit from being around vamps all the time.

"Nice to meet you too, Miss Richards, call me Sookie, please."

"Okay, Sookie, and you can call me Liz. Let's get started, shall we?" After that, she was all business, going over schedules and who I might be expected to meet. "I have everything printed out for you, with the times and the expected attire. The queen and the last king were very exacting about that kind of thing. Mr. Northman has not expressed opinion on that, and rumor is that he is much more casual, but as this is his first official visit to New Orleans, better to err on the side of formality." I gathered from this that she had worked for the vamps for a while.

"Can you tell me about the coronation?" I asked her.

"Other than that it is considered an extremely formal event, not much I'm afraid. The catering will be handled by EEE and there will be quite a spread for the humans that are invited to the after party. Special vintages for the vamps of course." I thought for a moment about Quinn, who worked for EEE. Surely he wouldn't go anywhere Eric would be. "The actual ceremony will be vampires only, and I hear that it is fairly ceremonious but short."

"Oh, I don't have to worry about that, then," I said, a little relieved.

"Well, as Mr. Northman's bonded wife, apparently you will be expected to attend. It is formal dress of course. Instead of saying vampires only, perhaps I should have said that humans were generally not invited. There will be a few others that are not vampire, such as Mr. Cataliades." I was relieved to hear he would be there. He generally was glad to answer questions for me, and I almost always had questions.

Liz explained that she would be assisting me with any concerns during the day while I was in New Orleans, and gave me the card of a woman that would be available at night. "I will be glad to help you with anything you need. You have my cell number to reach me directly. You've been to the residence before I think?" she asked.

"Yes, when Sophie Anne was the queen," I told her.

"Then you will remember that there are quite a few tourists outside the building, hoping to see the vampires. Occasionally we have protesters, FOTS mostly. There are also members of the press sometimes, especially with a new administration coming in. I expect Mr. Northman will be quite a draw to the tabloids, he is very attractive." I nodded and smiled at that. Yes, he was attractive all right. They would be all over him like moths to a light bulb.

"It might be a good idea to not speak with the press, to keep a low profile," she advised. "They are not often kind, although they sometimes appear to be when they ask questions." I knew this just by reading the headlines of the tabloids at the check out counters. Gran had loved to read all about the latest celebrity scandals. I did not want to end up on the cover of one of those! It had never occurred to me that that was possible. Yikes.

I guess she saw the panic on my face. "If you keep your guards with you at all times when you leave the residence, they shouldn't be a problem," she reassured me. "Now, do you think you will need a personal assistant, for wardrobe for example?" I thought about that for a moment. Eric said that I might want an assistant.

"I think I'd rather not," I said. "I am used to taking care of myself and frankly, I'm a little overwhelmed by the guards around all the time as it is. Although they are always very nice," I added.

"Well," she said. "If you change your mind, we have people on staff that can help you while you are in New Orleans. We can always call in someone for make up or hair if you want. Are there any other questions I can answer for you?"

"No, I think that's it. This will be very helpful, I'm sure," I told her gesturing at the packet she had made up for me. For a bar maid from Bon Temps, Louisiana I was in way over my head. I would either sink or swim I guess. "I think I'll be okay. I appreciate your help, and I'll call you if I need anything. Thanks. It was very nice to meet you, Liz."

"It was very nice to meet you too, Sookie. I'll see you in New Orleans then," she said and this time she stuck out her hand.

I asked the men if they would like to get something to eat on the way home, and they seemed to think that was a good idea. I couldn't believe I was hungry after eating such a big breakfast just a few hours before, but I was. Since I didn't have a preference, the guards seemed to agree on a steak house not far from Fangtasia and we went there. I ordered a rare steak and salad and sweet tea. The men placed their order and then we all just sat there. I decided to open the conversation by asking if any of them had been to a coronation before. Jim had been to Felipe de Castro's; he was a hold over from de Castro's reign in Louisiana.

"Only the vamps go in," he said. "But I heard the king gets blood from every vamp when they pledge their loyalty. There's a special ceremonial knife for it," he told us. "Then they have a big party. They invite some of the other groups to that, weres and humans. It's mostly a vamp thing though." I just knew there'd be some kind of blood thing.

"So where did you hear about it?" I asked. "It's not some kind of big secret vamp thing?"

"Well, the vamps like their secrets, that's for sure, but I know a guy that works for EEE, Quinn. He sets up that kind of thing. Guess he'll be doing this one too." Mark and Travis looked at each other, but didn't say anything. I guess they must have known about Quinn and that he wasn't welcome in Eric's territory. I hope they didn't know why.

I changed the subject. "So you guys will be going to New Orleans with me? Doesn't Eric ever give you a day off?" I asked.

"We'll have a whole team there," answered Travis, "but Mark and I don't take many days off. On an easy job like this, we like to just work straight on through for a few months, and then take a big chunk of time off. Save up some money and then go to the islands or something for a while." Travis seemed much more at ease than he had been when he first started guarding me and I was thinking I might get him to give up the whole Ma'am thing if this ease continued.

"Caribbean or Hawaii?" I asked, wondering if I'd ever get a chance to see either.

That started a discussion over the merits of different islands and where the most beautiful women were. They didn't seem to mind talking about the girls in front of me, but I had noticed before that weres had different ideas about modesty and what was appropriate than humans. I guess they didn't consider me quite a human, or they forgot I was there, but they just chatted away like a bunch of guys might do if there were no women around. I worked on my steak, which was delicious, and enjoyed myself immensely, laughing along with the men as they told tall tales of their prowess with fishing, surfboards and bar hopping.

I enjoyed driving my new car back, leaving it parked out front so Eric could see it when he got up. I went in thinking I would work on my packing or straightening up my room and all the boxes. That resolution lasted only long enough to see the comfy couch, and I decided maybe I would curl up and read my romance novel for a little while instead. Of course I didn't get very far on the book before I fell fast asleep.

I woke up to find Eric's head on my lap. He was kneeling on the floor next to the couch and his face was nestled against my belly. "Hey sweetie," I said sleepily, rustling his hair a bit. He sat back on his heels and looked at my face. He looked contrite, at least as much as a vampire can.

"My queen," he said, rather formally, still staring at me. Did he think I was still mad at him? "Can you forgive me?" he said softly.

"Oh Eric," I sighed. I touched the place on his chest where I had bitten him, then blushed at what I was thinking. "Come here," I said, patting the couch next to me. He obediently sat down beside me on the couch. I climbed up on his lap and put my arms around his neck, just resting my head on his chest for a moment.

"When I woke up today," I whispered in his ear, "do you know what I was thinking?"

He looked at me quizzically and waited for me to continue. I was blushing a bit, so I buried my face against his shirt. "I was thinking, if I could have woken you," I paused for a bit wondering if I should say it. "I was thinking, that I should start a fight with you, so we could do it that way again."

He laughed in surprise, then pulled my face to his, kissing me deeply and wrapping his arms tightly around me. "You are a pearl beyond price, My Lover," he said, love and affection in his voice.

"Oh," I said, jerking upright as I remembered, "you have to come outside and see my new car!" I jumped off his lap and grabbed his hand to pull him to the door. "I drove it to Shreveport today," I babbled. "It's wonderful, Eric, it has that new car smell and everything." I grabbed the keys from my purse and then showed him the car. I laughed when he remarked that I would need to buy a trailer to pull behind it for him, since he would never fit his legs in that front seat. When I thought he'd admired it sufficiently, we went back inside to join Pam and Jordun who were having their dinner in the kitchen. I warmed up a True Blood for Eric.

"Did you have plans this evening, My Lover?" Eric asked me.

"Aren't you going to Fangtasia tonight, Eric?" wondering what he had in mind. "I don't have any plans."

"Good," he said. "Pam and I need to go into work. Jordun is leaving shortly for New Orleans. I thought you might want to stay at home tonight. Jan and Thalia will be here shortly to guard you. Jan wanted to begin some sketches for your portrait if you had no objections. He can work more comfortably here, where it is quiet, than at Fangtasia."

"I guess that's all right, Eric," I said, taken by surprise. "Won't I need a costume or anything?" I was reminded of the photo shoot I had done with Claude and it made me sad for a moment, missing my cousins.

"He will bring whatever he needs, Lover. If you do not care to sit for him tonight, you can come to work with me and Pam," he offered.

"No, I think it will be interesting, although it feels a little odd to think of someone painting me."

"You will be beautiful, Lover. Jan is gifted, he will do justice to your beauty," he said definitively, brushing that topic aside. "Have you eaten, Sookie? I don't want to be accosted by Dr. Ludwig when you go to your next appointment." I laughed at that. The doctor was formidable, considering she was the size of an eight year old.

"Yes, Eric, I had a nice meal out with the boys." I proceeded to tell him about my day, mentioning to Jordun and Pam that they should make sure to check out my new car when they went outside. When Thalia and Jan arrived, the three vampires got up from the table to head out to Fangtasia, Jordun with his bags for traveling.

As Eric kissed me at the doorway, he whispered in my ear. "I will be distracted at work, thinking what I can say to make you mad at me. It should be easy enough though," he said and laughed as he walked out the door.


	26. Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

Jan and Thalia accepted a True Blood, which I heated for them in the microwave. Thalia looked a little less forbidding than usual in jeans and simple white blouse. The weaponry she carried sort of spoiled the wholesome image though. Jan's weapons, if he carried any, were not visible. Perhaps he didn't need any, since his whole body was a deadly weapon. He made me think of John Cusack in Grosse Pointe Blank, only with fangs. While they were drinking their blood at the kitchen table, I excused myself to get a few chores done. If Jan wanted to sketch me, he would tell me when he was ready.

I put some water on to boil for tea before I went down to our bedroom. While Eric was awake, I wanted to put some clean sheets on the bed. I wasn't sure where he kept his linen, but I could always wash the ones on the bed and put them back on before bedtime. I was surprised to see that he had thought of it already and the bed was nicely made up. Well, he did have a domestic side. I found the dirty sheets in the same pile as the rest of his clothes, on the floor. I still wondered if he did his own laundry or took it out to be done, but since I was going to wash my own, I just hauled all of his up too. I put the sheets in cold water to soak, since they were a little the worse for wear.

When I came back in from the laundry area, Thalia was nowhere to be seen. She must be outside prowling the grounds. I guess she hadn't brought a movie for tonight. I made myself a cup of tea and went looking for Jan. He was sitting in one of the chairs in the living room, sketching pad and pencil in his lap. "Eric said you wanted to sketch me," I began. "Do you want me to sit any particular way? I don't know much about this," I said.

"Just on the couch is fine," he answered and opened his pad. "I will just begin some preliminary sketches tonight. You don't have to pose." He began to move his pencil about, glancing at me occasionally. I felt very self-conscious and fidgeted. I wondered how the vampires did it. How they sat so damned still, not moving a muscle, in what I always thought of as down time. They really were so very different. Bill had always reminded me that vampires were not human, that I couldn't expect that from them. It was so true! I didn't expect it anymore; I just wanted to understand what they really were.

"So how will you paint me?" I asked. I think he knew that I didn't mean what medium he would use.

"You knew that already, even before I did," he answered matter of factly. His pencil was moving so fast, I could barely follow it.

"Does it bother you if I talk to you while you draw?" I asked.

"Not at all," he said. But since he didn't say anything else, I thought maybe he was just being polite, so I just sat quietly until I couldn't stand it any longer.

"Have you known Eric for a long time?"

He thought about that for quite a while before he answered. "Perhaps five hundred years."

"Oh my god!" I gasped in surprise, unable to even conceive that.

He laughed. "It is a long time to you, to me also I suppose. I had heard of the Vikings of course. They traveled much of the known world at one time, as far as the Muslim lands and to Iceland and Greenland, even your new world some say. Their ships were legendary even then, the dragon ships filled with giants carrying big axes." He continued to sketch as he talked, his voice that of a storyteller of old, dramatic and rhythmic, soothing in a way. "The humans threatened their children with tales of the Viking raiders."

"There were not so many vampires when the Vikings roamed the earth. We did not make many children. There was not enough food, and we had to live in secrecy. Too many of us in one area would guarantee discovery, so we killed the young ones that wandered into our territories. Vampires were not a big threat to the humans. The Christians were a bigger threat to most people than vampires, with their crusades and witch hunts."

"In any case, a Viking vampire was something unique and became known among our kind, if for no other reason than his size. Most of us were small, you see, from a time when people were mostly half starved. I had heard of him. Even then there was some communication between us, although not the organization that we have now. I met him in France, in the slums there, where a vampire could cover his trail easily. He had been alone a long time I think, as had I, and we hunted together for a while. We never stayed anywhere for long then, so I would run into him from time to time, in different lands. We formed a friendship. He is an honorable man." He said this with affection.

"Was he much the same then as he is now?" I asked, my curiosity piqued. I hoped I wasn't being rude. Thalia and I had talked about that very issue the week before, but here I was cross-examining him.

"Yes and no. He charmed the women and men alike when he wanted to. He was a fierce fighter when cornered, and merciful when he could be. He had a certain joy of life that is rare, even in humans. But he was restless then. And he hated the filth and squalor of the times. The Norse must have been a clean people, although I never visited there, so I do not know. I think he still grieved for his homeland though he hadn't seen it in centuries."

"And now he has a home and wife and soon a family, something impossible for a vampire," he said.

"Did Eric tell you, or did you know after the vision?"

"Is that what it was, a vision? It took me by surprise. I have never experienced anything quite like that."

"I haven't either," I explained. "And I don't know what it was, Eric said it was a vision."

"I knew already," he said, replying to my earlier question. "I could taste it. It is common knowledge by now, it is a fragrance around you."

I was well and truly shocked. The vampires could smell that I was pregnant? A few people knew already of course, Amelia and the vamps that had gone with me to Dr. Ludwig's. How would the rest of the vampires see this? Ideally the child was the important thing, not how it was conceived. But the reality was always different, wasn't it? The vampires might think I had cheated on Eric, when I was supposed to be his. They were all about pride, possessiveness and power. Would it make him less in the eyes of the other vampires? He could not afford weakness among so many predators.

In that uncanny way that vampires had, Jan must have sensed what I was thinking. "It is known that you were in the hands of the fairies and it is known that they lost their lives for it. Eric's image will not diminish because of what has happened, nor will yours. He is envied." His language was so stilted and formal, like something from another time. It made him sound a little detached, but it felt sympathetic. There was a lump forming in my throat. I would just start crying if we talked about this anymore and I didn't have enough energy for drama.

I took a deep breath, got up from the couch and looked at Jan, still watching me. "Excuse me," I said. "I have to start the washer. I have the bed sheets soaking."

He raised his eyebrows, and then he grinned sheepishly. "You do laundry?" he asked, hopefully.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, bring it out to the garage." He put down his pencil and went to get his bag. I just hoped I didn't run out of soap.

Thalia came back in while I was folding the first load of laundry. She was carrying her bag and if it had laundry in it, I'd tell her she'd just have to get in line. Fortunately, she had something else to offer. "Oh good," I said. "I'll make popcorn. What movie are we watching?"

"The Lost Boys," she answered and I laughed out loud.

When Eric walked in the front door a while later, he found two vampires, his pregnant wife and a pile of folded laundry sprawled out on the couch laughing. He perused us, then the laundry, then the boys on the screen going after the vampires with squirt guns. "Don't you keep one of those in your purse, Lover?" Eric asked me, and I laughed even louder, because I did!

By the time we got into bed I was pretty much done in. "I hope you don't plan to pick a fight with me tonight after all, Eric. I am so exhausted, I can barely move." My eyes were already closing as he snuggled in beside me.

"We are both weary, Lover, and the next few days will be busy. Sleep, dear one," he whispered as he kissed my shoulder and wrapped me in his arms.

My stomach clamoring for food woke me on Thursday afternoon. I headed straight from the bathroom to the kitchen in my bathrobe to make breakfast. Looking at the clock, I realized it would be time to go before long; I had slept through most of the day. After scrambled eggs and toast, and two cups of coffee, I headed in to my room to get ready for New Orleans. We would be keeping vampire hours over the next week, and I wondered if I would actually get any time to sleep if I wanted to see the city and get the shopping done that I planned. From what Liz Richards had told me, one of the cocktail dresses I had gotten at Tara's would be fine for the reception on Friday but I thought I would need something a little fancier for the coronation. I was hoping to convince Eric that I didn't really need to be at the actual ceremony for vampires, but he would want me at the party held after.

We would be leaving for the airport soon after the vampires rose, so I got into the shower, did my hair and make up and started to pack. I planned on wearing some nice slacks and a silk blouse tonight, since we didn't have any official activities and that would be comfortable for travel. I found a gold chain and some gold hoops to dress it up a little. I checked myself in the mirror. Besides being a little pale, I was pleased with my reflection. I made a note to myself to hit the tanning booth as soon as we got home though.

I packed carefully, putting my dresses in the garment bag, then laying out everything else on the bed, trying to decide what to bring. I was glad Liz had given me some guidance on what to wear. Although my wardrobe was pretty limited, I could manage for the most part. Something drastic always seemed to happen when I traveled, and my clothes always took a big hit. This time, I was planning on doing some shopping while I was in the city. Hopefully, no hotels would blow up and I wouldn't get kidnapped, so my wardrobe would survive the trip.

I was drinking some milk in the kitchen when the vamps came up. All three were dressed conservatively in suits. I didn't see Eric in a suit very often and I must say he looked pretty mouth watering in his well-tailored ensemble. I was sorry that we had to catch a plane. Eric seemed to be thinking the same thing from the way he was looking at me, but since cars were pulling up outside and everyone else was ready to go, he just kissed me and sighed. "You look delicious, Lover," he whispered, "but I must save you for dessert." He accepted a True Blood from Thalia and drank it down before we all headed outside.

There were three vans in the front, and the yard seemed to be bristling with vampires. Eric settled me into the backseat of one of the vans and got in beside me, while the luggage was loaded and the guards got into the vehicles. Our caravan got us to the airport in no time and we walked directly onto the plane flanked by the vampires guarding Eric. Pam was already onboard, looking as pretty as always in a gray silk suit. I was the only one that bothered with seat belts and I gripped Eric's hand as the plane took off.

"Sookie, my friend, you look quite nervous," she said. "Are you afraid of flying?"

"Only when they take off and land," I answered as I gripped Eric's hand a little harder.

"Well, we have found something that frightens our brave little Sookie, Eric," she said, looking surprised. "Perhaps I will write Dear Abby and ask her how one overcomes a fear of flying. She will certainly know." Pam considered Dear Abby the authority on everything human.

I was glad it was a short flight since there was quite a bit of turbulence. The vampires seemed completely unruffled but I was pretty unsteady and probably looked green by the time we got to New Orleans. Cars were waiting for us and it didn't take long before we were at vampire central.

The king's residence took up almost a whole block downtown, not far from the French Quarter. It had suffered some damage during Katrina, but it wasn't apparent. We were ushered inside quickly and Eric had someone show us up to our room right away, since he was concerned that I didn't look well. I think a few minutes of outside air would probably have done me some good, but Eric was not going to be argued with. Of course, the press of the tourists outside waiting to see the vampires enter and leave made that an unviable option anyway.

Our suite was beautiful, done in the traditional New Orleans style with deep crown moldings and a sparkling chandelier. The bed was a carved mahogany four-poster, hung with silk curtains in cream with a black stripe. The writing desk looked hand-painted and the chairs were French, covered in watered silk. A beautiful flowered carpet covered the center of the highly polished floors. The effect was elegant while still looking totally comfortable. "It's beautiful, Eric," I said as I went over to the bed and plopped on the thick soft comforter.

"I am glad that you like the room," he said as he looked around. "How are you feeling?" he asked. I assured him that I just needed a few minutes to lie down and I'd be fine. "Rest then, Lover. I will go and see that everything is in order with the arrangements for tomorrow and come back for you in an hour. I'll have one of the staff come in to unpack and bring you whatever you need." He bent over me on the bed and kissed my forehead. "Do you like the bed? It looks very comfortable," he said. "I look forward to trying it out later."

Someone knocked about fifteen minutes later. I called for them to come in and a young woman opened the door and wheeled in a cart. "Miss Stackhouse, my name is Maria. I have brought you some refreshments and I will unpack these cases."

"Okay, thanks," I said and decided I would see what she had brought. Now that I was feeling better, a snack sounded just about right. The tray on the cart held an assortment of cheese, crackers and fruit along with bottled water and my usual drink, ginger ale. I helped myself to a drink and a few crackers and sat at the little table in the room. "Is there a kitchen here, Maria, or is there just human food here for this weekend, with the party and everything?" I was wondering what people did for coffee in the mornings, if any people actually stayed here.

"There is a full kitchen here, and a small staff that prepares meals for the daytime guards and staff. You can always get something to eat there, although the selection is limited. You can call down to the desk if you need anything though, and someone will send out for it if we don't have it here." I was glad to hear I could get some food here, since I seemed to be awfully hungry these days, although I hoped that I could get out and try some of the local fare. Maybe Eric would want to go out, if he wasn't too busy hobnobbing.

When Maria had finished unpacking, I explored a little bit. The room had no windows, which I found out when I pulled aside the drapes. Safe for vamps then. Fortunately there were full bathroom facilities, since I needed them. There was a huge shower and a separate tub, big enough for Eric to sprawl in. Off the bedroom there was a room that served as a private office, with computer, office machine and phone.

When Eric came to check on me, I was munching on fruit curled comfortably in a chair with my book. He gave me a quick kiss and looked approvingly at the fruit. "Good, you are eating. Dr. Ludwig will be here this weekend, we have to fatten you up." Although it sounded a little too much like readying a cow for slaughter I decided to take it in the spirit it was meant. I found it humorous that Eric was afraid of a scolding from the doctor.

"I won't fatten up by this weekend, Eric, no matter how much I eat. I'll be fat soon enough, I'm sure," I said smiling. "I am glad they have human food here though, I'm always hungry these days."

"Me too," he said, his voice going a little husky. "But later. Would you like to go out?" he asked cheerfully.

"Yes, I'd love to. Where are we going? Do I need to change?"

"No, you look beautiful as always. I thought we might just enjoy the streets a bit and I will take you to dinner."

Two guards joined us silently as we left the room. Dressed all in black with flak jackets and lots of hardware, they looked like the SWAT team. We meandered through corridors to a garage where we were met by several more vampires that accompanied us in a limo to the French Quarter. We piled out at a corner of a street filled with people. Small groups, alternately drunken youth and wide-eyed tourists, strolled up and down the street, colorful drinks in hand. People on the wrought iron balconies above called down to the women in the streets and occasionally threw down Mardi Gras beads to the ones that showed enough enthusiasm or enough skin. The atmosphere was festive and colorful and the music streaming out of the clubs and bars was rhythmic and lively.

The crowds seemed to part for our group as we strolled along, taking in the unique ambience of New Orleans at night. Vampires were part of the scenery here, at least more so than in most places, but a big Viking and his band of dangerous looking guards would be imposing anywhere. No one paid the slightest attention to me, except Eric, who pointed out buildings of historical interest or amusing things he noticed in the shop windows. After a while, I found that I had forgotten all about our entourage. It was just Eric and me hand in hand, strolling down the street having fun. We weren't on our way to deal with any thorny problems or to fight any battles. In some ways, this was like our first date.

After enjoying Bourbon Street for a while, we cut over on a side street, and Eric steered me to into an elegant looking restaurant. Eric gave the name Northman to the maitre di and we were ushered to a table overlooking a tropical courtyard. The waiter brought our menus and I ordered a pecan stuffed salmon while Eric ordered a Royalty Blended. The guards were seated at a table near us. Their eyes scanned the room and insured that we were free from interruption except for the occasional ministering of our waiter.

"Eric," I said, in between sips of sweet tea. "Do I really need to go to the ceremony thing on Saturday?"

He raised his eyebrows at that, a little surprised. "You do not want to be there?" he asked and I got the impression that maybe I had hurt his feelings. Of course, this was a big occasion for him, becoming the king. Maybe I hadn't thought this through.

"Well," I muddled on, "isn't it just a vampire thing? Won't I be a little out of place there?" What I wanted to say was "Won't there be lots of blood and probably someone will lose their head or worse since it will be a room full of vampires? Wouldn't I be safer out of the way someplace?" He looked disconcerted.

"You will be perfectly safe, Lover. This will be a great honor for me and for you too. I had hoped you would want to be by my side. As my bonded wife, it will be expected." He paused. "I will not of course force you to be there." His face turned as still as marble and I could feel the hurt and disappointment that he was feeling. I regretted that I had said anything at all.

"I'm sorry, baby. I know it is a great honor for you, and of course I will be there if you want me. I was just a little afraid, that's all."

"I won't let anything happen to you, Sookie," he said and he reached across the table to take my hand. "You are my life, now." I wished I could be as sure of that as he sounded, but there was always a little bit of fear in my life now, and there had been for quite a while.

I'm not sure what he would have said next, but we were interrupted by the waiter who brought a dish that looked and smelled so heavenly that I closed my eyes and sighed. "Oh, that looks delicious," I said to the waiter, who smiled at my enthusiam.

Eric was smiling too now, relieved that I would not press the issue of avoiding the coronation. The salmon was so delicious, that I ate every bite and sighed in satisfaction at the end of my meal. "I can't believe I ate all of that," I said. "It must be that I'm eating for two. I couldn't eat another bite. I'm so stuffed!"

"Eating for three I think," Eric said grinning. "And I hope you have room for one more bite tonight, My Lover." He looked at me with teasing eyes and reached under the table to put his hand on my thigh. With his other hand, he signaled for the check. I think he was in a hurry to get home.

When we got back to our room, leaving the guards outside the door, we couldn't seem to get out of our clothes fast enough and I'm sure more than one button flew off of Eric's shirt. He scooped me up and laid me on the bed and began to kiss me. He muttered in his own strange language as he kissed my neck, my breast and then my thighs. As his tongue began to caress my folds, I moaned and pressed myself against his mouth. When he could feel that I was close, he moved over me, sheathing himself deep inside against my womb. Then he began to move, slowly at first, pulling out a little, then thrusting deep. As his pace quickened so did my breathing until I was gasping, digging my nails into his back to pull him even closer. When his fangs pierced my neck, I shuddered and cried out as the heat of pleasure washed over me. And when my teeth broke the skin around his nipple, so did he.


	27. Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

Getting out of bed with a giant Viking sprawled across you is no easy task. Eric had fallen asleep with his head resting on my belly and one arm wrapped over my thighs. I stroked his beautiful long blond hair for a few minutes admiring the view of his shoulders and back and his best asset (in my opinion). When my human needs demanded that I attend to them, I shoved and pushed until I had rolled his not inconsiderable weight off my body and climbed out of bed. Stumbling over my shoes that had been dropped next to the bed in our haste last night, I managed to knock my shin into the nightstand. "Damn!" I muttered to myself as I stumbled sleepily into the bathroom.

After reviving myself with a hot shower, I looked at the clock. Time to get moving. Grabbing some jeans, a knit top and some underwear out of the drawers of the dresser, I dressed, did my makeup and ran a brush through my hair. I pulled the covers over my sleeping vampire, kissing him on the top of his head. Grabbing my purse and checking to make sure I had the key to our room, I headed out the door. I ran smack into the back of Travis, who was apparently standing guard. "Yikes!" I sputtered as he caught me before I hit the doorframe on the rebound. "Uh, good morning Travis," I said.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am," he replied politely. "Did you sleep well?"

"Like the dead!" I responded and he laughed. "Know where a girl can get a cup of coffee around here?" I asked him.

He looked at the purse in my hand and asked, "Were you planning to go out?"

"Yes, I need to go to the Garden District to get a dress for the coronation."

"Well, how about we get you some coffee and beignets on the way," he said. "It's sort of mandatory that you do that at least once while you are in New Orleans," he said with a grin.

"Oh, that sounds great! I gather you are my escort today?" I asked.

"Yes, Ma'am, me and a few others. The security is a little beefed up here in the city. Apparently you are to be as guarded as the Hope Diamond while we are here. Let me call in the troops." He pulled the phone off of his belt and made a call, muttered something like "road trip" into the receiver and snapped the phone shut. "The car will be waiting, Ma'am," he said and I followed him to the garage.

Four big and burly weres can eat a lot of beignets. I was fairly well dusted in powdered sugar by the time I'd finished mine, followed by the last drop of a very delicious cup of coffee laced with chicory. "This place is great, y'all," I said to the weres as they finished their coffees. "We should come here tomorrow too!"

"No problem, Ma'am," said Travis. "Now where in the Garden District would you like to go?"

"Well," I said, "that's a problem maybe. When I was here last time, in New Orleans, my cousin Claudine took me to a fabulous dress shop. I need a gown for tomorrow night and I wanted to go back there, but I'm not exactly sure where it is. I thought if we drove around a bit, where the stores are, maybe I could spot it? I don't remember the name." I felt a little stupid asking them to just drive around looking for the place, but they seemed game to try. One of the guys, Luis, thought he remembered seeing a place that might be what I was looking for on Magazine Street.

Majestic oaks and gracious mansions built in the 1800's line the streets of the Garden District. The wrought iron fences that surround some of the yards are themselves famous. I enjoyed our drive through the historic area on our way to Magazine Street, which seemed to have miles of shops. As it turned out, we didn't drive around for very long before I recognized the area and was able to point out where to go. It was all I could do as we walked up to the store to not start crying. Claudine had brought me here to buy a dress to wear to meet the queen of the vampires, Sophie Anne. I missed Claudine so much and wished that she were here to help me pick out something today. But tears wouldn't bring her back. I followed Travis into the store.

The weres made a quick sweep of the place then took up positions enabling them to see the front door and the entrance into the back of the shop. The clerk was a little flustered at first, but I could hear when she decided that if I were important enough to have this many guards, I would probably spend lots of money. After that she was cheerful and helpful and very patient as I tried on gowns.

The men were my audience as I modeled each dress, doing my best imitation of a runway model, turning slowly before I headed back to the dressing room for the next one. Not having the stick thin figure of a model, I did have a flat stomach (at least for a little while longer) and a full bosom and I managed to get looks of approval from the boys. I knew when I had found the right dress by the reaction I got. The men looked at one another and then back at me and they all nodded at once. I changed back into my jeans and got out my credit card. I blanched a little as I signed, but decided I was worth it!

The helpful clerk directed me to the next store, just a few doors down to find shoes and a bag to go with my beautiful new gown. I decided to go a little higher on the heels than I would usually wear and hoped Eric would catch me before I hit the floor if I tripped over my own feet. The bag was tiny but big enough for the few things I would need, a little cash, a lipstick and my room key. I decided I wouldn't show Eric my outfit until the night of the coronation and hoped he would like it as much as I did.

We stopped at a diner for shrimp po' boy sandwiches, sweet potato fries and cokes before we headed back to the residence. Travis escorted me to my door. I don't know if I could have found it on my own. I still hadn't explored the compound but assumed I would see a little more of it that night at the reception. The residence didn't have a ballroom, but it had several large adjoining conference rooms where the vampires coming from out of town could meet and greet. There was also a court planned, which Eric would need to attend. I had been to one before, in Rhodes, and that had been enough for me. I would definitely skip that. Vampire jurisprudence was a little bit more direct than the human legal system.

The sun would be setting soon, so I put my new outfit away in the closet, stripped off my jeans and shirt and climbed into bed with Eric, spooning myself around his back. I woke to find Eric sniffing me. "What are you doing, Eric?" I asked, curious.

"Mmmm," Eric said, "If I could bottle your scent, I'd be a millionaire." He continued sniffing, focusing on the backs of my knees.

"You're already a millionaire, Eric, aren't you?"

"Well yes," he said, "but you can never be too rich."

"Or too thin?" I finished the saying for him.

"No, too thin is not always a virtue. Too thin would not leave these beautiful curves," he said, stroking my breasts. "Or this," he whispered, running a hand across my hip. He didn't speak much after that; his tongue was too busy.

"Don't we have to be at the cocktail party, Eric?" I asked him some time later. We were snuggled up in bed and he was lazily stroking my arm.

He sighed. "Yes, I suppose we do. Everyone will be waiting for you." He got out of bed reluctantly, extending a hand to yank me up too.

"For me? Don't you mean for the king?" I asked.

"No, I mean for you. They've almost all seen me. You, however, are quite a sensation. There is a rumor circulating that you have tamed Thalia, and that is no small feat. And as much as they would love to meet the enchantress in her present condition, I would personally prefer that you had some clothes on when they see you." He grinned and steered me to the shower.

When we were washed, brushed and dressed I had to admit that we made a nice looking couple. Eric was magnificent in his Armani suit and starched white shirt. I had braided his hair and it was tied back neatly. He had added a diamond stickpin the size of Texas to his tie. He looked young, rich and powerful. The dress I had bought at Tara's was a perfect fit. The pale aqua silk hung nicely over my hips. The neckline was low, but not precarious if I had to do any bowing and scraping. (You never know when you are in a room full of vamps.) The diamond solitaire, a gift from Niall, sparkled on its gold chain. I wore my hair loose and had added the emerald earrings to my ears.

"You look lovely in your new dress, Lover," Eric complimented.

"Thanks sweetie, you look pretty nice yourself," I said, giving him a quick kiss before we headed out to the conference rooms.

The largest room was set up for a cocktail party with an open bar and areas for refreshments and dancing. The second room held tables that were already filling up with small groups discussing business. The main social event would be on Saturday following the coronation. This get together was more in the business line, arranging new alliances and meeting new business partners. It might have looked like any other business conference except for the SWAT team (excuse me, Royal Guards). Most of the vamps were in ordinary business suits and there were no obvious weapons except for the big honking swords carried by Thalia and Jordun who swooped up behind us the minute we came through the door.

Assorted businessmen, weres and vampires paying their respects or wanting to discuss some proposal soon approached Eric and me. I was introduced to each person, most of whom bowed to me as well as Eric. Some of the vampires I had met before, either at Fangtasia or previously on my earlier trip to New Orleans. The others were strangers, except for Alcide and surprisingly Calvin, who were representing their packs and discussing alliance with the new ruler of the vampires. Since the outing of the weres, there had been quite a bit of harassment from hate groups such as the FOTS, and the vamps and weres were finding it in their own best interest to maintain a closer alliance. I wondered where lone shifters like Sam would fit into this new hierarchy. Thinking of Sam made me miss everyone from Bon Temps. I should call him I thought.

There were human waiters with trays bringing drinks around, and I decided I could afford to have one glass of wine. I had been careful to avoid drinking alcohol while pregnant and I wasn't much of a drinker in any case, but could it be any worse than vampire blood? Eric frowned at me a bit, but I just ignored him. I wondered if he was concerned about the health implications or if he just minded the taste of my blood after I had been drinking. Though one glass of wine isn't a lot, it hit me pretty fast and I thought it best to go sit down or maybe get something to eat. I pulled on Eric's sleeve and he bent down so I could whisper where I'd be into his ear. He kissed the top of my head and continued his discussion with another local politician currying his favor.

I was perusing the refreshment table when my cell phone rang. Fishing out my phone from my little bag, I saw that it was Amelia. "Hey Amelia, how are things in Bon Temps?" I said.

"I'm not in Bon Temps, I'm right outside vampire headquarters with my dad. He wanted me to come along with him. There's a big vamp out here that won't let me in though, since I'm not on the list."

"Oh, okay," I said, thinking. "I'll talk to Eric and see if it's okay. Stay there, it won't be a minute."

Eric was busy with a group of suits so I looked around for Pam instead. "Pam, can you show me where the entrance is?" I still didn't know my way around here. "Amelia's out there with her dad and they won't let her in. You think they will if I say she's my guest?"

"Ah, your pretty little witch is here? Let's go let her in," Pam said.

Pam talked to the guards and Amelia and her father were admitted after the usual weapons check. "Sorry, Amelia," I said. "They are being very careful about security after what happened in Rhodes. And with the weres coming out, the humans are more on edge than ever."

"You say that like you don't count yourself one of them anymore, Sookie," Amelia said in one of her rare moments of perception. Maybe I didn't at that. Pam, who had heard the remark, looked at me to see what I would answer, but I just let the question go by.

"Hello, Mr. Carmichael, how are you?" I greeted Amelia's dad.

"Just fine. You look lovely tonight, Sookie, but call me Cope." He grinned at me, now familiar with the little game we played each time we met. He was thinking I sure had come up fast in the world for a barmaid, and he was glad his little girl had made such an influential friend.

"Thanks, Mr. Carmichael," I answered, still stubbornly refusing to call him Cope. "Have you met Pam, Eric's business partner?"

Introductions completed, Pam took Copley over to Eric and Amelia and I sat down at a table to catch up. We chatted companionably for a bit and I heard the local gossip. Jason hadn't been by the house at all and he was keeping a pretty low profile, for Jason at least. Still mourning Crystal I thought. They had finished the concrete work and were working on the frame of my garage. Portia Bellfleur was pregnant. There were sure going to be a lot of new babies in Bon Temps. But the most important thing Amelia had to relate was that someone named Remy Savoy had called and left several messages, wanting to come by with his son. I really had to address that issue soon.

We were interrupted several times by people coming by to introduce themselves; several pack leaders and a few local big wigs. They were humans or weres, but the vampires stayed away from our table. I wondered if they weren't allowed to talk to me without Eric's permission or if they knew Amelia was a witch and were avoiding her. Eric came by on his way to the court session. "Good evening, Amelia," he said in a more gracious tone than he usually had for Amelia. "I won't be long, Lover. There are only a few cases to be heard. Please eat something while I am gone," he said and kissed the top of my head.

Thinking that was a good suggestion, Amelia and I got up to see what was on the refreshment table. There was a nice array of hors d' oeuvres, meats, cheeses and fruits and some very tasty looking desserts. I loaded up a plate and we made our way back to the table. Mr. Cataliades walked over with his niece Diantha. "Miss Broadway, it is such a pleasure to see you," he said warmly to Amelia, and then turned to me. "You are a treat for the eyes, Miss Stackhouse."

Diantha, who never seemed to take breath between words, rushed out a greeting. "Nicetameetya," and sat down in one of the empty chairs.

"Mr. Cataliades, I was hoping to see you tonight. I have something you might be able to help me with," I said to the demon, and we began to discuss my idea for a surprise for Eric.

An hour later, the band began playing and that seemed to be a signal that business was winding down. People began to wander over to the food and a few couples hit the dance floor. Pam glided over to stand next to Amelia. "Did you go to the court, Pam?" I asked, wondering if it was over and Eric would come back and dance with me.

"It's still going on. No one's been staked or lost any limbs. Eric's in a good mood, he is being merciful."

Amelia and I eye got wide-eyed but were having trouble finding a response to that statement. "Well, that's good then," I said finally.

Pam considered. "Yes, I suppose so, if the idiots don't assume they'll be that lucky the next time." She said this as if the whole subject was too boring to discuss if there weren't any deaths or mutilations. "Would you care to dance?" she said to Amelia, extending her hand.

"I'd love to," replied Amelia, sounding relieved to get off the topic, and they were off to the dance floor. For the first time that evening I realized Amelia hadn't mentioned Bob once, and I wondered what was up with that. I was busy thinking about that and watching a very animated discussion between Copley Carmichael and Alcide Herveaux so I didn't even notice when a vampire slid silently into a chair beside me.

"You look lovely, Sookie," he said softly and I jumped and almost shrieked.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," I said, then smiled. "You look great, Bill. You must be feeling better." He did look good, like his old self. He was pale of course, being dead, but the gray look was gone from his skin and his eyes no longer looked sunken.

"Yes, I have regained most of my strength back. I am back to work and soon I will be able to travel again, I think. And you, are you well? I came by your house to check on you, but Amelia said you were staying in Shreveport." He was staring at me very directly and his nostrils flared a bit as if he was scenting the air around me, assessing my well-being. His posture went very still.

"I'm doing pretty good, Bill. I'm pretty much recovered from…from the attack. I've been staying with Eric, at his house." Yeah, I thought, recovered except for the scars and oh, that little thing about being pregnant. But Bill would know that by now and he would have known I was at Eric's too.

"Will you dance with me, Sookie?" he asked and extended his hand to take mine. I thought about that. I would like to dance with Bill, I thought. I loved to dance, and Bill was graceful and handsome and familiar and I loved him, on some level. He had saved my life, at great cost to himself. He had watched over me. But I also remembered the times Bill had brought Selah Pumphrey to Merlotte's to throw her in my face. And how he must have known she was standing outside the doorway listening while he told me he wanted me back. I wasn't mad about that any more, well, not more than a little bit. But I remembered how I felt at the time. I wouldn't do that to Eric. I pulled my hand away.

"I can't, Bill. I am with Eric now."

Bill leaned forward and his body assumed a more aggressive attitude. "I would have cared for you. I would have provided for you," he said. "I couldn't come at first, but you know I would have come as soon as I could." His voice became low and almost menacing. "You didn't have to go to him," he hissed. "He can never love you as I do." The rage, disappointment and frustration were so visible in his voice and his posture that it startled me for a moment. The calm and controlled demeanor that I had come to expect from Bill was gone, and he truly looked like the dangerous creature that he was.

We were both so wrapped up in the moment that neither of us noticed the much more deadly creature that appeared at the side of the table. Eric, his face stark and immobilized by his anger, eyes glowing and fangs extended, glared daggers at Bill as he held his hand out to me.

"My wife," he said, in a voice so chilling that I shivered. "Dance with me."

I took Eric's hand, and not looking back at Bill, I let him lead me to the dance floor. I leaned into him, my cheek resting against his unyielding chest trying to force back the tears. The rage and jealousy were pouring from him through the bond, along with something else, uncertainty perhaps. He rested his head on my shoulder and wrapping me just a bit too tightly in his arms, he danced with me. Leading me purposefully to the other side of the room, he disengaged my clinging arms and handed me over to Pam, who stepped away from Amelia to take my arm. "Pam, take your mistress to her room," he barked.

I turned my tear streaked face up to look at him and held on. "Eric, please?" I pleaded.

He turned away from me. "Go to bed, Sookie," he said coldly and Pam pulled me away.

Amelia stood white faced and confused, but I couldn't speak to her. I couldn't see Bill and I hoped he had the good sense to run. My mind was clouded with the images of what Eric would do to Bill and the helplessness of not being able to stop him. Pam had her arm firmly wrapped around mine and I allowed her to escort me to my room. There wasn't much I could do to stop her either. "Where's your key?" she asked when we got to the door. I wordlessly handed her my purse and she fished out the key and opened the door.

"Eric will kill him, won't he Pam?"

"He should have killed him years ago," Pam said ruthlessly. "But I think he will let him live for now, for your sake. He'll probably destroy something rare and priceless though, and then regret it tomorrow. Go to bed, Sookie, you are so much trouble." And Pam walked away, leaving me alone and miserable.

Eric came in just before dawn and nestled in beside me. He knew that I was still awake and he sighed against my skin. "Only for you, My Love, only for you."

"I love you, Eric," I whispered and sleep overtook us both.

Waking in the dark is always a little disconcerting, add nausea to that and it is doubly unpleasant. Stumbling into the bathroom I let nature take its course and felt a little better. I managed to find the light switch and blinking from the sudden light, I looked at the time. Eric would be up soon and we had another busy night ahead. Plus, I had phone calls to make. I pinned up my hair and took a quick shower, then threw on some jeans and a shirt, not bothering with a bra and went to the door. Travis and Mark were there as usual. "Good morning, guys. What are the chances of getting breakfast?"

"Afternoon Ma'am. I'm sure they will have something in the kitchen. It's a little late to go out, what with the event tonight and all. Shall I call down for you?" Travis offered.

"Oh, that would be great. Whatever they have, as long as it has coffee with it. Thanks." I used the time waiting for breakfast to phone Amelia and Mr. Cataliades.

Travis knocked about half an hour later, and left the cart right inside the door. The staff had managed a ham and cheese sandwich fruit and a whole pot of coffee. I pounced on the food and was on my second cup of coffee when I heard the sheets rustling. Eric had propped his head up on one elbow and was watching me with smoldering eyes. He was tousled from sleep and the lamplight cast delicate shadows over his skin. He looked gorgeous. I walked over to the bed and stared down at his beautiful body.

"Take off your clothes, Sookie." I pulled the shirt over my head and threw it down. I shimmied out of my jeans and they joined my shirt on the floor. Before I could get to my panties, Eric's arm reached up and pulled me to the bed.

Pressing his mouth over my nipple, he sucked and nipped as his fingers brushed between my legs, stroking me through the thin silky fabric of my panties until I moaned with need. He moved away long enough to pull the panties off, then pushed inside me with one powerful thrust. His mouth found my nipple again and he nipped it with his fang, lapping at the trickle of blood as he rammed harder and faster between my legs. Lost somewhere between pleasure and pain, I moaned again and dug my nails into his back, drawing blood. The sound of my own heartbeat was pounding in my ears and I was sure that my skin was on fire. He slammed his body hard into mine and howled when I bit him savagely on his shoulder. His fangs pierced the skin of my breast and my climax came in long rippling spasms as he shuddered and collapsed on top of me.

Eric cradled me in his arms and I rested my head against his smooth cool skin. "I want you again," he said while I was still recovering my breath. "I can never get enough of you, My Love. But we will be late if we don't leave soon." He gave me a long and tender kiss, then got out of bed and went to start the shower.

After my second shower of the day, I did my hair and make up and took my new gown from the closet. I slipped it over my head and Eric zipped up the back. The gown was of ivory chiffon, strapless with a draped bodice and embroidery adorned with crystals and pearls below the breast. The draping followed the curve of my hips and the skirt flared just below the knee, enough to swirl slightly when I walked. It fit me like a glove. I turned around to face Eric and his gaze drifted from my neck to my toes. His face was void of all expression. "Do I look okay, Eric?" I asked, aware that he didn't know what had prompted the choice of this dress.

He held me at arm's length and looked at me as if considering what to say. "Sometimes," he said very deliberately, "you tell me what your grandmother would have said, if she were still alive. I think at this moment she would say 'I have died and gone to heaven', for you look too beautiful to be of this earth." He pulled me against him and held me close until I backed away abruptly and laughed.

"Well, the died part is certainly correct," I said, grinning like an idiot. Moving away from him and picking up my purse I continued, "but weren't you worried about being late?"

"One more minute will not matter, you are missing something," he said. He reached into the pocket of his tuxedo, and took out a small box. He opened it and pulled out a beautiful teardrop ruby set in platinum and he fastened it around my neck. "Perfect," he said.

The limousine pulled through the gates of the former Monastery not long after. Vampires and weres in black livery, all heavily armed, guarded both the gates and the main door of the two story stone building. Those coming to the coronation would arrive first. The ball, which had a much larger guest list, wouldn't start until midnight in the large hall, which had once been a monk's refectory. We made our way down the long main corridor, through the ballroom and into a room that might have been a chapel at one time. The pews and altar were gone, as were any religious artifacts, but it still held the feel of a house of worship. The myths that vampires couldn't enter a church were obviously not true.

Chairs had been arranged in the main body of the room, and a small dais had been erected. On it were two chairs that had the look of thrones, a podium and a small table. He led me to one of the chairs and then, looking regal and confident, Eric surveyed the group of assembled vampires before he too sat in one of the chairs. I noticed that the table wasn't empty. It held an ornate goblet, carved out of stone, and a small black velvet wrapped bundle that looked very familiar. I knew it! You didn't have a knife ready unless you planned on spilling blood.

Mr. Cataliades came up to the podium and stood before the grave silent gathering. With great gravity in a stentorian voice he read from a parchment he held in his hand. "By decree of the council and by right of tradition, this vampire Eric Northman accedes to the throne of King of the states of Louisiana and Arkansas. All those who desire to reside in this realm must give oath and pledge fealty to the King until he grants release from this oath, or must leave the boundaries of this realm. In return for this oath, the King grants the aide and protection of his kingdom."

With that pronouncement finished, Mr. Cataliades went to the little table and unwrapped the bundle, exposing the ceremonial knife that had married Eric to me, at least by vampire law. He pulled a pen from his pocket and went back to his podium and stood expectantly, the parchment laid out in front of him.

The vampire Jan approached the dais bowing first to Eric and then to me before picking up the knife. With a flick of the blade he nicked the vein in his wrist and carefully squeezed a few drops of blood into the goblet. After going to the podium and entering his name onto the parchment, he went back to his seat. All the Louisiana and Arkansas vampires in the room, the last being Thalia, followed this procedure, one by one. Bill was noticeably absent.

While this ceremony was going on, I was thinking what it had meant when Eric and I exchanged blood in Rhodes. He had bitten me, but he had used the ceremonial knife on his own breast so I could drink from him. I hadn't considered the significance of the knife, and the seriousness of the commitment he was making. I'm not sure that he had thought it through either. He had wanted to protect me from Andre, and there had been no time for an elaborate scheme to keep me from Andre's clutches. I would not have consented to the exchange if I hadn't felt that it truly was the lesser of two evils.

But now, I realized his impulse to shield me had stemmed from love, a love he hadn't yet admitted to himself at the time. He could have had me bite with my teeth, hadn't I done it many times since? But he had used the knife. The spilling of one's blood by the ceremonial knife represented a binding, be it a vampire's oath of fealty or our blood bond. I wanted to demonstrate to him that I was bound to him, but not by chance, force or expediency but by my own free will, with full consent. I got up from my chair, went to the table where Thalia had laid the knife, and picked it up. Before I could think too closely about what I was doing, I nicked my wrist with the tip of the knife and watched my own blood drip into the goblet.

Eric was at my side in an instant, before I could even feel the pain that followed the slice of the knife blade on my flesh. He took the knife from my hand and laid it on the table. Bringing my wrist to his mouth, he licked the blood from the wound, sealing the cut. He looked at me and his face became animated with his smile. He recognized the significance of what I had done, and the happiness he felt was plain on his face. Without removing his gaze from my face, he deftly picked up the knife, sliced his own wrist and mingled his blood with the contents of the goblet.

Wrapping one arm around my waist, pulling me close against his side, he turned us both to face the room of vampires. As if choreographed, the vampires rose and chanted in unison, "The King!" and Eric drank from the goblet. Lowering the cup from his lips, he looked stunned for a moment, and actually blinked, as if he'd just downed a shot glass of Jack Daniel's. He regained his composure almost immediately and extended the cup to me. Another cry rang out from the vampires, this time "The Queen!"

I was a little taken aback. I hadn't thought of my participation in this ceremony as anything more than honorary, as Eric's blood bonded wife. I wasn't sure what it meant for me to drink since I wasn't vampire. But I had put my trust in Eric now, and he and his vampires were looking at me expectantly. I took the goblet from his hand and stared at its contents. I only hesitated a moment, then raised the stone cup to my lips and drank it down.

The blood was viscous and slightly sweet and it held the power of dozens of vampires, some older even than Eric. Even warned by Eric's reaction to this vampire cocktail, I was not prepared for my own response. I swayed a little on my feet. I felt giddy and flushed at first, like I'd had too much to drink. Then an incredible sense of well being washed over me, a sense of strength and confidence bordering on invincibility. No wonder the vampires were so arrogant I thought. My next thought was that maybe the high heels hadn't been such a good idea; I didn't think I would be able to stay on my feet another minute the way the world was spinning.

Eric scooped me up and sat me down on one of the chairs. He was smiling and I think he said something comforting to me, but there was an ocean of sound roaring in my ears and all I understood was his tone of voice. He turned and addressed the vampires in the room, and they must have been dismissed because before I knew it, Eric and I were alone in the room and he was kneeling at my feet. "Are you all right, Lover?" he asked me softly.

"Yes, I think so," I answered. Things were starting to feel normal again, well, not exactly normal but less strange. "I think I'm drunk," I told him.

"Me too," he laughed. "Do you think you are too drunk for our party?"

"No, I'll manage," I said, not entirely sure that that was true. "But listen, Eric, I have a little surprise for you, and Mr. Cataliades has made the arrangements."

Mr. Cataliades had arranged everything, with a little help from Amelia and Bobby Burnham. A judge that was sympathetic to the supernatural world had agreed to come to perform the ceremony. Amelia would stand up with me, Pam with Eric. They would hold the two platinum bands that Bobby had procured and would be our witnesses. The only person from Bon Temps would be my brother Jason, flown in on an Anubis charter.

Jason was waiting for me, in his JC Penney suit and tie, looking a little overwhelmed and a lot excited by the crowd assembled in the hall. "You sure about this, Sis?" he asked after he had hugged me and looked me over. He didn't sound all that happy about the situation, but then I hadn't been happy about his marriage either.

"Yes, Jason, I am more sure about this than anything in my whole life. I love him, Jason."

"If he treats you good and makes you happy, well, then, I'm proud that you asked me to walk you down the aisle," he said and took my arm.

Amelia handed me a bouquet of white roses, squeezed my hand and said, "I'm happy for you, Sookie," and proceeded me through the aisle formed by the waiting guests. I followed on Jason's arm, barely noticing those in attendance, my eyes fixed on my Viking waiting for me at the front of the room. He stood there proud, confident and handsome with his child Pam at his side. Jason handed me over to Eric saying, "You take good care of my baby sister." The men gave each other a brief nod, and Eric and I turned to face the judge.

Addressing Eric, the judge recited the traditional vows of marriage. "Do you Eric, take Sookie to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, honor and cherish, until death do you part?"

"I do," Eric answered without hesitation.

The judge turned to me and recited the same vow and with no second thoughts I answered, "I do."

Pam produced the rings and as I slipped the band over Eric's finger I said, "With this ring, I thee wed. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment."

Eric slipped the ring over my finger and it settled beautifully next to my ruby engagement ring. He repeated my words, "With this ring, I thee wed. Wear it as a symbol of our love and commitment."

The judge looked toward the observers in the hall and pronounced. "In so much as Eric and Sookie have consented to live forever together in wedlock, and have witnessed the same before this company, having given and pledged their troth, each to the other, and having declared same by the giving and receiving of a ring, I pronounce that they are husband and wife."

Looking at Eric, he said, "You may kiss your bride."

Eric didn't waste any time and kissed me like the world was going to end. When the kiss ended, he placed his hands on the sides of my face and said emphatically, "You are mine!"

I returned the gesture, placing my hands on his face and answered him. "Yes, Eric, I am yours." Married by human and vampire law, I well and truly belonged to my vampire in the eyes of all the world.

As we turned to face the audience, the judge announced. "I introduce to you, Mr. and Mrs. Eric Northman."

Everyone in the hall cheered and as Eric and I walked onto the dance floor, the band began to play. "May I have this dance, Mrs. Northman?" Eric asked.

"I would be honored, Mr. Northman," I responded and he waltzed me across the floor. As the song came to a close and Eric was pulling me close for a kiss, I whispered into his ear. "I can hear them now, Eric." He paused and looked down at my face, puzzled.

"The vampires. I can hear them all now."

END OF PART ONE

(Thank you for your kind reviews and encouragement.)

PART TWO CONTINUES WITH CHAPTER 28


	28. Chapter 28

PART TWO

CHAPTER 28

I think it was Mother Teresa who said, "Loneliness is the ultimate poverty", although it might have just been Dear Abby. Well, I never realized how impoverished I had been until I finally had someone that I could call my own. Lying in bed now, watching my Viking as he got ready for work I felt like the richest woman alive.

"What are you thinking, My Love?" Eric finished buttoning his shirt, grabbed the hairbrush and came to sit by me, on the edge of the bed. "Are you coming to work tonight?" I had been going with Eric to his office most nights and was learning some of the ins and outs of running a small empire.

I was thinking how lucky I am to have you," I told him, propping myself up with some pillows. "Give me the brush and I'll do your hair." Eric's beautiful golden hair tumbled about his head in a mass of tangles. He sighed with contentment as I ran the brush through the long strands, almost as long as my own hair. "I'll get up in a minute. I was just enjoying watching you get dressed."

"If you lie there much longer, you will have to watch me undress again," he said with a wicked smile. "You look quite the tempting morsel." Taking the brush out of my hand, he bent over me, nuzzling my bare shoulder.

"You can't still be hungry!" I exclaimed with mock disbelief.

"There is always room for dessert," he replied and ran his tongue down the side of my neck.

"Says the man that has never had to diet!" I teased him. "I'm getting up." We could never seem to get enough of each other. I knew if I didn't get up now, we would be another hour getting out of the room. As tempting as that was, there would be people waiting for Eric and we had a plane to catch later that night. I pushed at him and he obligingly moved over enough that I could get out of bed. "Why don't you go on down to the office, and I will meet you there later. I think I'll finish my packing and then go to the kitchen and find something to eat."

My luggage, that had seemed so roomy when we had come on this trip, was bulging at the seams by the time I packed everything that was going home to Shreveport. In the two months we had been here, I had managed to pick up quite a few new things. The shopping in New Orleans was so much better than home. Some of the clothes could be left here, since we would be coming back and forth on a regular basis. The financial base of the kingdom was still in the Big Easy and Eric would need to spend most of his time here. The practical side of our living arrangements hadn't really been ironed out yet.

When Eric had taken on the position of king, he had also assumed the whole retinue accorded that position. As sheriff of Area Five he had been a lightweight by comparison. As King of Louisiana and Arkansas guards, business managers and financial advisers surrounded him. We weren't yet sure whether we could manage all of this from Shreveport. Eric, in his usual pragmatic manner, was trying to make the best of things but I hated to be so far from home. I was looking forward to being back on my own stomping grounds for a while and seeing what was happening with my house. I was anxious to see Amelia and hopefully I would have time to see my little cousin Hunter soon.

Gathering up the last of the things I planned to take and placing them by the door, I headed out to find some food. I was surprised to see that Rasul was my guard for the evening and he made a quick bow and snapped to attention. "Good evening, My Lady," he said grinning, his teeth showing very white against his brown skin. "Still that delectable smell of fairy," he continued.

"Rasul, how nice to see you! I didn't know you were in New Orleans." I had last seen Rasul when I had come to New Orleans to work for Queen Sophie Anne.

"Oh, I just returned a few days ago. I was keeping a low profile in Arkansas under the last administration." He said Arkansas as if it was the last place in the world a vampire would want to be, and perhaps it was. There were only a few vampires in that whole state after their king's vampires had taken on Sophie Anne's ranks and been virtually wiped out.

"I think I'll like things here again though, especially since I get to guard you. I hear something amusing is always happening wherever you are." Rasul was pretty forthcoming for a vampire.

"Well, we are heading back to Shreveport tonight, so I won't be a source of amusement for long!" I said laughing.

"You will leave me bereft," he said gallantly. "I may have to find an excuse to see Shreveport, perhaps to visit Thalia!" he quipped and burst out laughing. I surmised that visiting Thalia was not something anyone even remotely sane would consider, although she and I got along just fine.

"Well, you are always welcome and I'm sure Thalia would say the same," I said politely and this brought on another hoot of laughter.

"Yes, a great source of amusement, just as I'd heard."

I wondered who was having so much fun at my expense. It had taken a while for me to learn that many of the vamps had a sense of humor. Bill had always been so darned serious, and most of the other vamps donned an aura of power and disdain when they were around humans. It seemed that I was generally accepted now as one of the gang and I was beginning to see a different side of the vampire world. I hoped I didn't end up having to see more of the violent side, which I knew existed but was generally kept hidden from humans.

"So," I said, changing the subject, "you were laying low in Arkansas?"

"Oh yes, I did not care for Mr. Madden at all. Quite the petty bureaucrat! There are bets on how long he will be able to hold Nevada. It's too bad Eric didn't just kill him too; I might have enjoyed working in Sin City for a while. Victor is blaming all his troubles on you, you know."

"On me? How does he figure that? Isn't he happy to be king?" Like I needed to be on any more hit lists. And why would his troubles be my fault?

"Well, yes, no doubt he is, but half of his vampires stayed here in Louisiana and are now pledged to Eric. He won't last long and he probably knows that."

This was interesting. I hadn't thought about Victor Madden at all since he had left the night Felipe de Castro was killed. Rasul was quite the gossip. I wonder what else he could tell me.

"Rasul, do you know what happened to Bill Compton? Is he still in Louisiana?" I hadn't wanted to ask Eric about Bill since that was obviously a sore subject with him. I wasn't worried that he was dead, but I did wonder if Eric had punished him and if he was banned from the kingdom or something.

"I haven't seen him lately," Rasul said dismissively, but he was thinking something else entirely. Something more like, "Poor love sick bastard." I had been trying to stay out of the heads of the vamps, but I probed a little to see if I could find out anything else. He gave me a very puzzled look, so I backed out immediately. It was better for my health that the vampires didn't find out I could read their minds.

"Come on, Rasul, I'm starving. I'm going to head to the kitchen for some food."

The kitchen at the headquarters looked like any industrial kitchen you might find in a church or school. The walls were a dull hospital green and would benefit by a new coat of paint. Two large and sturdy folding tables were located in the center and surrounded by an odd assortment of folding chairs. Several of these were presently occupied by a group of girls wearing what seemed to be the fangbanger uniform: all black clothing, dyed hair trimmed by a weed whacker and blood red lipstick. They all looked young and undernourished, although they supposedly had to be legal to be let inside. If they came into Merlotte's, I would card them.

"How y'all doing?" I greeted them as I headed to the refrigerator to see what was available. The kitchen staff that fed the day guards was usually gone before dark but there was always an assortment of sandwiches, fruit and beverages available at night for the regular donors. It reminded me of a blood bank drive. At least the girls weren't sent out onto the street without getting a chance to recover a bit. Although the oldest vamps like Eric could manage with just a small amount of blood, the young ones needed quite a bit and the policy was to avoid as many "accidents" as possible. Donors passing out on the street outside of the compound gave the lie to the idea that vampires were living on synthetic blood alone and weren't a threat.

"Hey Sookie," everyone responded as I sat down to join them with a sandwich and a glass of milk. There was a flurry of readjustment to hair and outfits as they noticed that Rasul was standing in the doorway, keeping an eye on me. Some of the fangbangers were regular girlfriends to one of the vamps, but those that were unattached seemed eager to catch the attention of any vampire that was available.

"Where's Lauren tonight?" I asked, noticing the usual group was missing one of its regulars. Lauren had been there almost every night for the past few weeks. Lauren was small and pretty and always cheerful, unlike many of the fangbangers that adopted an attitude of mystery or melancholy, thinking that would be attractive to the undead.

"She hasn't been here for a few days," a girl named Erin answered. "She was talking to one of the guys out front a few nights ago, some tourist taking pictures. I think she went home with him".

There was always a group of tourists outside the front door of the compound at night. There were usually spotters for the Fellowship of the Sun too. The new technique of the hate group that called itself a church was to harass humans that worked for the vampires. Preferred methods were to throw animal blood at them or to find out where they lived and spray paint their doors, often with something like "Blood Whore". Because the vampires were good for the tourist industry the city had tried to discourage this by stepping up the police presence, but they couldn't very well keep people from taking pictures and the vandals were proving hard to catch in the act.

"I hope she's okay, do you know where she usually stays?"

"Sometimes she sleeps here, when she has a date, you know?" Erin said, glancing up at Rasul so that I would know having a date meant donating blood. "Sometimes she stays at the shelter, but I don't know where she stays otherwise."

Recruitment of blood donors didn't seem to be a big problem for the vamps. There were prostitutes that specialized in the needs of the undead. There were always thrill seekers that were drawn by the danger of an encounter with a vampire. Some humans hoped that if they attracted a vamps attention, they might convince the vamp to turn them eventually.

Some of the donors were just street kids that lived off the "tips" from the vamps. For them, donating to the vamps was better than the abuse they suffered at home or on the streets. Although most of the vamps didn't spare too much thought for their "food", they were generally not cruel to the donors. At the compound they were welcome to eat in the kitchen, but not provided with beds unless they stayed with one of the vamps.

The thought of these young girls leaving here and walking to the shelter alone on the streets of New Orleans concerned me. I walked out to the hallway and took my phone out of my pocket and speed dialed my vampire. "Hey sweetie," I said to Eric when he answered. "Will you do something for me?"

When I had hung up the phone, telling Eric that I didn't think I'd come over to the office tonight, I went back into the kitchen to finish my sandwich.

"Ladies, if you don't stay the night here, the guards at the front gate will get you a taxi to take you home. No charge for you, okay? It's safer than walking, especially with the FOTS getting so aggressive these days." I thought I would talk to Eric about providing someplace safe for them to sleep too, but that might take a little bit of planning.

The girls had surprised looks on their faces at first and then they were all smiling. "Thanks Sookie," they said. They were soon bubbling over with stories about creepy things they saw on the street at night. What they didn't say out loud was even creepier and I knew that I would have to think about what else could be done for this group. I wasn't without resources and it only seemed right that someone should look out for them. As I so often did, I thanked God that I had had my grandmother to look out for me.

Before long the conversation turned to boys and clothes and general girl talk. I wouldn't have even noticed that Eric had come to get me if the group hadn't gotten quiet all at once and stared open mouthed at the doorway. When I turned to see what they were gaping at, I stared for a moment too. My Viking was definitely an eyeful.

"Good evening, ladies," Eric said politely. "If you will excuse my wife, we have a plane to catch."

"Oh geez! Sorry Sweetie, I wasn't watching the time." Eric walked over to me, kissed the top of my head and extended his hand to help me up. I called my goodbyes to the girls and Eric and I joined our guards and headed for the airport.

We had the two front seats to ourselves on the Anubis flight. Travis and Mark were sitting in the back, along with two vampire guards. Thomas was almost as big as Eric with long red hair, peach fuzz and an adolescent face that made him look about sixteen. His youthful exuberance belied his age, which I thought might approach Eric's. Daniel, although considerably younger, actually appeared more menacing. He was average height, maybe five feet ten but it was solid muscle. His long brown hair framed a face that was classically handsome except for the scar running from his ear to his chin on one side of his face, a sword wound maybe? They all seemed to be watching me as I attempted to get settled into my seat.

"It will be nice to be home," I told Eric as I rummaged around the seat for the other half of my safety belt. I could never understand how the damned buckle parts managed to get jammed so far down between the seats.

"Yes, Lover, it will be. Do you need help with that?" Rather than wait for an answer, Eric just reached over, scooped me up and plopped me on his lap.

The steward came in a moment later and looked askance at this arrangement. "Ma'am, we will be taking off momentarily, if you would care to take your seat," he asked politely.

I began to wriggle off Eric's lap, but he held me tightly. Directing his eyes to the young man Eric said, "My queen would prefer this seat."

The steward looked uncertain and more than a little scared. Deciding that Eric was not one to argue with he said, "Uh, no problem then Sir," and scurried back to the cockpit of the plane.

"We're supposed to be in our seat belts, Eric. You're such a brat!"

"But this is very cozy, don't you think?" Eric asked playfully. His lips pressing against mine stopped any further protestations on my part. I snuggled up against him and enjoyed the feeling of comfort and safety that I only really felt when I was with Eric. Eric was enjoying it too and his hands slid under the hem of my shirt heading for his favorite part of my anatomy. As much as I enjoyed the sensation, I did not enjoy the venue.

"Don't you dare, Buddy!" I whispered, a nod of my head indicating the audience we had. "You can wait until we get home."

"That could be hours," he said with a pitiful look, as if I had taken away a toy from a two year old. Of course he couldn't quite pull off puppy dog eyes with his fangs run out. I just rolled my eyes.

"Be patient," I scolded.

"I waited a thousand years for you to come into my life, My Love. I don't want to ever wait again." This was about the sweetest thing anyone could have said, and I was tempted to just disregard the other passengers and see how far we could get with our clothes on, but that just went against the grain for me. I had become a lot bolder in the last few years, but I drew the line on public sex. My gran would just roll over in her grave. I gave Eric a big kiss though, and settled in on his lap. I barely even noticed the plane taking off. Safe in Eric's arms, I wasn't nervous at all.

Pam and Jordun were waiting for us at the Shreveport airport with two vans. Jordun bowed to Eric and me and greeted us warmly. Pam gave Eric a perfunctory bow muttering "Master" hastily. Focusing on me, she crooked her arm around my elbow and escorted me to the van. "Sookie, my friend, it is good to see you back. Life has been so dull since you left, I don't think we have had to kill anyone!"

"Gee thanks, Pam, I think. How is everything at Fangtasia?"

"Oh the vermin are still thronging to get in. Jan is quite the rage now that our master is not there to enthrall them. He actually seems to like the creatures!" Pam had very little good to say about humans in general, but she considered me a "natural phenomenon" and so she tolerated my human failings.

"Is that delicious roommate of yours still with the cat? I don't know what she sees in him."

"Yeah, she is still with Bob. He hasn't been a cat for months you know, it's not like he's a shape shifter," I replied.

"He does have a beautiful smile I suppose, for a witch, but I liked him better as a cat," Pam said grudgingly as we climbed into our seats.

Pam chatted with me about what new clothes I'd gotten in New Orleans and what I planned to do while I was in Shreveport. Eric and Jordun talked business, catching Eric up on local affairs. It didn't take long to get to the house.

The quiet wooded grounds had changed dramatically. Jordun had arranged accommodations for our security personnel so that guards would be on our property twenty-four hours, vampires at night and weres for daytime. Apparently the grounds were being fenced and a trailer had been installed for the guards' headquarters until a more permanent building could be constructed, or until we bought another property altogether. Travis and Mark would be staying there and coordinating the daytime crew. A light tight bunker had been installed that would provide secure sleeping quarters for vampires. Thalia and Jan would be taking charge of the night security and would be staying with us. They were both waiting to greet us when we got out of the vans.

When everyone had completed their bows and proper salutations to me and Eric, they began to unload the luggage from the back of the vans. I snatched up a box that was prominently marked "Fragile" and addressed Thalia. "Thalia, I brought you something from New Orleans."

I had been shopping in the garden district and had come across a shop that specialized in dolls. Surprisingly there were a group of dolls modeled after characters from the Anne Rice vampire novels and on impulse, I had bought one for Thalia. It was dressed in an ornate blue gown and had a wig of long brown ringlets. What made it really special was that the doll was a vampire, with tiny porcelain fangs in its mouth. I had no idea why I thought Thalia would appreciate something like that, but somehow it had made me think of her.

Thalia was looking expectant as I laid the box on the seat of the van and opened it, took out the doll and handed it to her. She didn't say a word, but her eyes glowed as examined it closely, looking under the skirts at the fancy lace trimmed undergarments and scrutinizing the old fashioned button up boots on the small feet. When she saw the fangs, she broke out in a big smile. The other vampires, curious to see what Thalia and I were up to, came up to peer at what Thalia was holding. Thomas saw that it was a doll and sniggered.

Thalia passed the doll carefully to Eric who had been standing beside her. Looking totally nonplussed, Eric put the doll over his shoulder like a baby and patted its back. Tiny Thalia turned to the ancient vampire Thomas, glared at him, and faster then my eye could catch it, she slapped him across the face with an audible "whack", knocking him several feet into the yard. Turning back to Eric, she took the doll, cradled it in her arms and smiled. "She's beautiful!" she said and without another word carried the doll into the house.

"Well," Pam said. "That was a hit." Literally, I thought.

Pam was eyeing Thomas, who sat on the ground rubbing his cheek. Thomas was wondering if he could take Thalia in a fight, when he wasn't taken by surprise. He was also wondering if she was that feisty in bed. He rose to his feet with typical vampire grace, grinned and said "Women!" in exasperation.

By the time the luggage was brought in and the vampires had all been offered a True Blood, I was yawning with exhaustion and I excused myself to head off to bed. Eric accompanied me down the stairs into his underground retreat. Although I had spent such a short period of time in this house and in Eric's bed here, it felt like coming home to be back in Shreveport. I sighed with contentment as I crawled under the sheets. I rolled to my side and Eric crawled in beside me, his long hard body spooning against my back. "Time for dessert, Lover?" he asked, cupping my breast in his large cool hand.

"Yes, glutton, time for dessert," I laughed as I rolled onto my back and spread my legs in invitation. It wasn't long before both of our appetites were sated and we rested comfortably in each other's arms.

"Better than chocolate," I whispered to my vampire as I drifted off to sleep.


	29. Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

There are some advantages to sleeping with a dead man. The fact that they don't snore might be the biggest one. They don't flop around or steal all the covers either. Not that I'd ever really dealt with those issues with a live man, but when you're a telepath, you know the everyday annoyances of almost everyone you come in contact with. Snoring was a pretty universal cause of sleeplessness.

Eric didn't snore or flop about, but he was over two hundred pounds of unresponsive dead weight when he was sleeping. Lately, he had taken to wrapping himself around my legs with his head on my belly. His ultra-sensitive vampire hearing could hear the baby's fluttering heartbeat, and he liked to fall asleep to its rhythm. I could pull the covers right up over him, since he didn't need to breathe, so I enjoyed the snug, warm quiet in our bed. The problem was getting out.

Eric's long blond tresses were spread in a tangled heap around his head, which was parked squarely over my pregnancy squashed bladder. It didn't do any good to poke or prod him. I'd probably have to knock him over the head with a two-by-four to get a real response out of him. I peeled his arms off first and they plopped down lifelessly. Then I dug my heels in and pushed with my legs and over he went. One of these days I would probably hurtle him to the floor with this procedure, although he wouldn't notice. Vampires!

Since it was daytime and everyone was sleeping, I scurried to the bathroom naked and took care of my human needs. I was too hungry to go back to bed so I decided I would just start my day. Wiping off the steam on the mirror after my shower, I took a good look at myself. Although my tummy had barely begun to puff, my breasts had definitely grown. The rest of me looked trimmer and firmer and extremely pale. It had been ages since I had gotten much sun. Keeping vampire hours and spending most of my time indoors meant that I was almost as white as Eric. Now that the days were getting so sunny and warm, I would have to do something about that. I slicked my hair up into a tight ponytail, slapped on some make up and went to pick out some clothes.

There was a note from Bobby Burnham in the kitchen, next to the coffee pot. "Mrs. Northman, Eric asked me to provide you with food for a suitable breakfast. I am at your disposal if you should need anything else." I bet that chapped his hide! Bobby did not care for me at all. Eric took a perverse pleasure in sending Bobby on errands for my comfort. His reasoning, I thought, was that he could somehow command Bobby into liking me. Sometimes vampires just didn't get it. I was glad to see that there was bread, eggs and milk though. I started the coffee brewing, popped some bread into the toaster and pulled my phone out of my purse. It was Saturday, so Amelia would have the day off. I was hoping to catch her at home.

"Amelia? It's Sookie."

"Sookie, hey, how's everything in New Orleans?"

"I'm back in Shreveport. We got in this morning. I thought I'd come over and see you if you aren't busy."

"Great! I've been missing you! Get your butt over here. You won't believe what they've done with this place." Amelia sounded pretty excited to see me and I realized I was excited to see her too. I had been missing having my friend around.

"Okay, give me an hour or so. See you soon."

I ate my toast and drank some coffee while I thought about my next phone call. Remy Savoy had left several messages about bringing Hunter over to see me. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to drag them into the vampire's lair too soon. Remy wouldn't know that I had married Eric and if his reaction were typical, he wouldn't approve. As much as he wanted advice about Hunter's telepathy, he might not want to expose Hunter to my world. I had a feeling that the supernatural world would find Hunter down the line no matter what, so he would be better off prepared. Remy might not agree. There was only one way to find out. I picked up the phone.

"This is Remy Savoy," the voice on the line said.

"Remy? This is Sookie Stackhouse. Well, actually, it's Sookie Northman now. I got married. Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner. How's Hunter?"

"He's doing okay, I guess," he said hesitantly. "Uh, congratulations on getting married. The woman staying at your house said you were out of town. Honeymoon, I guess?"

"Well, sort of. Actually I am back and forth between New Orleans and Shreveport these days. I'd like to come over and see you and Hunter while I'm in town."

"That would be great." His voice sounded relieved. "I could sure use some advice about this. You free tomorrow?"

"That sounds great. Maybe about two?" I slapped myself on the forehead. What about the guards? Eric would kill me if I tried to go somewhere without them. "Listen, Remy. The guy that I married, he's an important businessman and he's a little over protective. So I have a couple bodyguards that sort of come as part of the package." I tried to keep my voice light as if this was just an everyday concern, mimicking Copley Carmichael's attitude about Marley, his bodyguard and chauffeur.

"I guess that would be alright," he said after a moment's hesitation.

"Great, I'll see you then. Bye." I snapped my phone shut, grabbed my purse and headed to the door. There was a lot to think about before I sat down with Remy and told him my situation. He needed to know what Hunter could potentially face in the world if the child was to have any chance of a normal life. Then there was the question: Normal what? Human or supernatural? I certainly wasn't qualified to be Hunter's mentor if the goal was a normal human life. I was married to a vampire, carrying a psychotic fairy's child and no doubt on the hit list of every supe-hating group out there. But who else was there? I would do the best I could to help Hunter. Just knowing he wasn't the only telepath in the world would be something. I stepped out into the glorious spring sunshine determined to be optimistic and deal with one thing at a time.

The changes outside looked more extensive viewing them in daylight. A section of woods had been cleared and a large trailer had been brought in. An awning sprouted from its side and sheltered a picnic table. A group of armor clad burly looking men sat around the table in folding chairs, talking and drinking coffee. There was a large structure that looked like a shipping container that I assumed housed vampires during the day. A crew was working on the installation of chain-link fencing. Several men patrolled the perimeter of the woods with automatic rifles.

One of the men disengaged himself from the group at the table and walked over. "Good morning, Mrs. Northman."

"Morning Jim, how are you?"

"Just fine, Ma'am. Can I help you with anything? You see the supplies Mr. Burnham brought over?"

"Yes, thanks, he left me a note. I was going to drive over to the house in Bon Temps and see my friend Amelia." I thought about my new car sitting useless in the garage and wondered if I should bother suggesting I could drive myself. I missed the feeling of independence of driving my own car. I hadn't been thinking of accommodating a bunch of guards when I'd made that purchase.

"Let me get some of the boys then," Jim said and he walked back to the trailer to make arrangements. Within a few minutes I was buckled into the seat of an SUV with Jim, Travis and Mark.

"It looks like quite a force you've got here now." I addressed Travis, since he was the head of daytime security here in Shreveport.

"Yes Ma'am. With the king staying here in a less than ideal location security wise and with the additional vamps on site we are an attractive target. But don't you worry your pretty little head about it. I don't think anyone's going to try to take us on." I didn't have much to say about that, so I just enjoyed the ride to Bon Temps, taking in the familiar landscape on the highway and listening to the country western station on the radio.

Amelia came out to the porch as soon as she heard our wheels on the gravel of the driveway. "Sookie!" she said and gave me a big hug as soon as my feet hit the ground. "Let me see." She held me at arm's length and looked at my tummy encased in a pair of jeans that were beginning to feel a little too snug.

"No bump yet," I said laughing. "But these jeans probably won't fit by next week."

"It won't be long and you'll be popping out all over. How are you feeling?"

"Good. Hungry and tired all the time, but I'm used to that from working all those years at Merlotte's."

"Isn't that the truth!" Amelia said. She had taken enough shifts at the bar to know how taxing that work was. "Come on, you can see your new garage and doesn't the place look great with the new paint? Terry will have the back done by next week he thinks." Terry Bellfleur had been putting a new coat of paint on the house and it looked great!

"You know everybody?" I said to Amelia, motioning to the weres.

"Oh sure, I think we've all met before." Everyone exchanged greetings and while the guards scoped out the yard, Amelia and I went to check out the new garage.

"It needs paint still and some of the finish work, but the vamps quarters are all done. They just need some beds and they will be cozy down there. I guess Eric told you he had me ward the whole place, so it's pretty secure. The house could burn down and it would still be safe I gather." Since my house had already partially burned once, that wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

The garage was big enough for two cars and there would be enough space left over for storage or a workbench. It looked ordinary enough, although I could see there was still some work to be done like molding around the windows and doorframe. There was plumbing for a utility sink took, but no sink yet. I was amazed at how fast it had gone up. Mr. Morgan was pretty accurate when he had said three months. It would certainly be done by then.

Amelia had the code for the downstairs space and she punched the numbers into the little keypad over the access door. A heavy metal door slid open and exposed steps down to a spacious underground apartment. There was a bathroom that looked completely finished except for paint and a large bedroom area. The cement walls had been covered with sheet rock and the flooring was in, although covered with tarps still. "Where's the tunnel access?" I asked Amelia.

"Oh, that's this door over here," she said, and opened what looked like a closet door. Inside was another small room with a control panel and what looked like a generator. "I guess all the wiring is underground and it has its own generator to run lights and some kind of ventilation system. I guess that's for you since the vamps don't breathe," she added.

"Yeah, Eric said it was designed as a safe house for humans too, so it has a bathroom and air and I guess it has some kind of satellite feed too, so you can use a computer or a phone down here too." Of course we both had to pop out our phones to see if that worked, but apparently it wasn't hooked up yet.

"The tunnel's pretty small, you have to crawl I guess. I haven't been down that," Amelia said as she opened the access panel. It looked pretty small and dark so we decided not to try that out. "They have the door in the house finished, inside the closet of the spare bedroom. Come on, let's go to the house and have some tea and you can see it."

Walking across the yard and seeing the spring flowers that gran had so lovingly planted over the years made me a little bit homesick. This place had housed Stackhouse's for over a hundred and fifty years. It felt strange to have Amelia give me a tour of what had been my home since my folks died when I was a child. So much had changed in such a short amount of time, just a few short months. Although I guess the real changes had started when Bill Compton walked into Merlotte's. All of a sudden it hit me, that this wasn't really my home anymore and the tears welled up in my eyes.

"Sookie? What's wrong? Let's get you inside." Amelia had taken my arm and was leading me towards the back porch and my feet just didn't want to cooperate. My skin felt flushed and it was hard to catch my breath. I could hear Amelia calling to someone but I couldn't understand what she was saying. It felt like someone was slowly pulling a heavy dark cloak over my head and the world just went black.

"Mrs. Northman? Sookie?" Someone had their hand on my wrist and seemed to be checking my pulse. "I think she's just fainted, I'll carry her inside." It sounded like Mark's voice and I thought that was the most I'd ever heard him say at one time. Big arms were sliding under my knees and shoulders and I was sure I should open my eyes and tell them I would be fine, but by the time I could get my eyelids to cooperate, I was being set down on the couch.

"Ms. Broadway, perhaps you can get her something to drink, something with sugar in it, sweet tea or a coke." That sounded good to me and I managed to mumble out a thank you.

"Sookie? How are you feeling?" It was Travis this time. Hah! He wasn't calling me Ma'am this time! I smiled and then realized I was still feeling a little giddy.

"I think I'm okay. I was a little upset and then I just got a little dizzy. It's just a pregnancy thing, I guess."

"What upset you, hon?" Amelia asked as she handed me a big glass of sweet tea. I took a few swallows and it seemed to make me feel better, my mind began to clear. "What happened to upset you, Sookie?" Amelia asked again.

"Oh Amelia." I looked at her kind and concerned face and the tears just gushed and everything came tumbling out of my mouth. "I miss my grandmother. I'm as white as a vampire and I can't lay in the sun with all those strange men in my yard and I can't drive my own new car because none of then can fit in it and I'm going to have a baby and I don't even know if my vampire husband is going to want to eat it and Bobby Burnham does my grocery shopping and he hates me!" I was sobbing in earnest by then and feeling a little foolish, especially when one of the men pulled out a clean white handkerchief and handed it to me. I looked up and saw that all three of my guards were standing around me looking alarmed at my hysterical outburst. Amelia was sitting there, holding my tea and looking thoughtful. I blew my nose and took a deep breath, which started me hiccupping, and Amelia handed me the tea.

Mark was the first one to speak. "Freakin' vampires!" he said. I guess we could all agree to that and as if on cue, the men each took a seat and started talking.

"We can set up a nice private area for you to sunbathe," Travis offered. "I guess you could go to a tanning booth too, but that might not be good for the baby. Maybe we can put up some of that bamboo screening or something and I can send Luis down to the Home Depot for a nice chaise lounge."

"There's no reason you can't drive with one of the guards in the front seat, Ma'am, and we'll just take a couple of vehicles to flank you, like a caravan," was Jim's suggestion.

"Bobby Burnham is an asshole," Mark said and everyone nodded. "And I don't think Eric would hurt a child, no matter what kind of kid it is."

That seemed to stop the conversation dead and leave a big question hanging in the air. Did they know that this was a fairy child? Or did they think somehow I had managed to conceive a child with Eric and it would be some kind of human/vampire hybrid? Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! I might as well spit it all out, since we were having this group therapy session. They were going to be the one's guarding my child after all.

"She's half fairy, well, actually just a little more than half. She isn't Eric's child. I got caught in the middle of a fairy war, and I was captured." That was about all I could say about it out loud.

"Freakin' fairies!" Mark said and we all nodded in agreement on that too.

Amelia had been quiet while the men had been offering suggestions, but now she put in her two cents worth. "I think you need a personal assistant," she said and a decision was made.

"Okay," Amelia said. "Let's make some lists. First though, you need some food. I bet you just had toast for breakfast and haven't had any lunch. You need to eat you know. Jim, you know where Merlotte's is? Why don't you run over there and pick up some burgers for everyone. That's closest. I've got tea and cokes in the fridge." That sounded like a good plan, so everybody gave Amelia their order and she called down to Sam so he could have the food ready.

"So where's Bob?" I asked Amelia when we were all sitting down to our lunch.

"He's over in Clarice working at the salon. He likes it there. He says the customers think he's exotic since he comes from New Orleans! He makes good tips. He seems to like it out here. He likes to roam in the woods. Sometimes I think he misses being a cat."

Of course that started the questions and Amelia explained to the guys about accidentally turning Bob into a cat. She didn't give too many details, which I was glad of. Since the transformation had happened during some kind of sexual exploration, it was just as well that we all remained ignorant of the circumstances. I could read that all three guys were reevaluating Amelia and were maybe just a little nervous as they realized just how powerful a witch she was.

"Does he remember much from when he was a cat?" I asked.

"He doesn't really talk about it. It's just a feeling I get, that he misses some aspects of it. Like the way he likes his ears scratched," she said with a dreamy smile and then realized maybe she was offering too much information. The guys all sat up in their chairs or made some small adjustments to their weapons. Jim actually blushed. Time to change the subject.

"What do you think we should put on the lists you were talking about, Amelia?" I asked, and Amelia jumped up to get a pad of paper.

"We can assign some of the tasks right now if we set up a priority list. We can make a list of problems to deal with, what the solutions might be and then we can set up future goals."

"Amelia, maybe you could be my assistant. Eric would put you on the payroll. Liz Richards in the New Orleans office could handle the salary stuff. She suggested I get an assistant months ago, sort of like Bobby's job for Eric."

"Well, Sookie, I haven't been getting very many hours at the insurance company. I do pick up some magic handling jobs, like warding. I'd like to keep doing that. But I think we could work something out and you know I just love to organize things and we work well together. You don't think Eric will mind?"

"I think Eric will be very happy about it. He's been worried that I don't have enough daytime hours to keep up with things, but he likes having me around him at the office and I like being with him. I've been learning how to manage some of the business stuff. I have all my own companies too and that's been a real learning curve. Then there's the social and political stuff. I know he's been refusing invitations because he's afraid I'll be too worn out. If I had someone to help, I think I could manage. I'll call Liz and have her get in touch with you. You can work out the details with her and I guess you're hired then!"

"Great," she said, looking truly pleased with the arrangement. "Let's just get started right away, if you feel up to it."

"I think what I need right now is to feel like I am taking control of my life, Amelia. It has been out of control for a long time. Bring on the lists."

After finishing off a pot of coffee and several hours of brainstorming, we had the beginnings of a plan of attack. The first thing Amelia was going to do was order a laptop for me. "I think you need your own computer. You can carry it with you back and forth to New Orleans. You'll have email to keep in touch with people and you can use it to do some of the shopping for the baby stuff. That will save you a lot of time. We can research what things will work out best and then if you want you can go to a store to look at them or you can just place an order. Let's get you an iphone too! Then you can have your music and the Internet when you're traveling. You can keep your appointments on that too."

"Wow, Amelia. You give me a lot of credit. I can barely do email. I have no idea how to set that stuff up."

"That's what you have me for," she said confidently. "I can show you how to do all that stuff. And we can get Bill to set up the connection for you at your house." She must have seen that that comment caused me some distress. "Sookie, is there a problem?"

"I haven't seen Bill in months, Amelia, not since that night before the coronation when Eric got so mad at him. I don't even know where he is."

"He's back at his house, Sookie, the old Compton place. Didn't Eric tell you?"

"I didn't want to ask him. I thought he was going to kill him that night." I explained to Amelia what Bill had said that night.

"I wondered what he had said to piss off the Viking like that," Amelia said. "Well, he was gone after that, for about a month. I don't know where he was; he said he's been traveling a lot, to get information for his database. Do you think Eric punished him and he was recovering? You should ask Eric, Sookie. Do you think Eric will lie about it if you ask?"

"No, Amelia. I don't think Eric will lie to me. I think he will only tell me what he wants to know. Maybe I don't want to know anyway. He didn't kill him, and I guess they've worked it out if Bill is still in Eric's territory. Bill will need to be very careful in the future. Eric is very jealous of him, and Quinn."

"Yeah, vampires are pretty possessive. Bill was out of line though, acting as if you only moved in with Eric because you were pregnant. You could have handled it all on your own if you had to. You didn't need to depend on any man; you are a smart and independent woman. It is nice that you have someone though, even if it is a freaking vampire!"

"I feel very lucky to have Eric, Amelia. I know that he loves me and I guess I don't really think he will eat my baby." We both laughed at that, although somewhere deep inside of me, I still had my doubts.

We sat for a little while longer, making more lists. I started to think of things that I would like to have for the house in Shreveport, like a barbecue and of course the chaise lounge.

"I don't know if we will stay in that house. It's tricky for the security I gather. But it's going to take a while to find a place that will work as a vampire compound. In the meanwhile, I'd like to get it ready for the baby, in case we're still there."

"I think we need to plan for you to have some help there too, for cleaning and cooking," Amelia suggested.

"I don't know about that, Amelia. I would feel funny having a maid."

"Sookie, get real. You are the Vampire Queen of Louisiana now. What are you going to do if Eric decides he wants to entertain? He has a position to maintain, and he will want you by his side, not in the kitchen."

I knew there was a lot of truth in what Amelia was saying. Eric had hinted at all of this, but he hadn't pressed me into it. He was adjusting to all of the changes too. He hadn't wanted to be king; he had done that for me. We were both having to deal with our lives being turned upside down. And when the baby came, it was going to get really crazy really fast.

"You're right, Amelia. Let's put that on the list. I will talk to Eric about it too." Eric must have felt me thinking about him, because my phone rang and it was my vampire. I hadn't even realized it was dark.

"Where are you, My Lover? I missed waking up to you."

"I miss you too sweetie. I'm still at Amelia's."

"Yes, Travis informed of that. Are you planning to return soon or should I send Jordun and Thalia?"

"No, you don't need to send anyone. I'm heading home now."

"Good. I will see you soon, Lover," he said, his voice low and husky in anticipation. Gees Louise! Just the sound of his voice made me want him.

"I have to go Amelia. Thanks for everything. I don't know what I'd do without you." I was already getting out of my chair, in a hurry now to get home to Eric.

Amelia was rolling her eyes. "If you could see your face when you talk to Eric on the phone. You really love him, don't you?"

"Yeah, Amelia, I really do."

I grabbed my purse and headed out to the car. While I was buckling up my seatbelt I noticed Bill standing at the edge of the woods. I looked at him for a minute, but he didn't come over to the car. He just stood there immobile, as only a vampire could be, watching me. He looked bereaved.


	30. Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

"What is this that I hear? You fainted?" Eric looked a little angry and I wasn't sure if it was directed at me or at the universe in general. Through the bond I could also feel his relief, that I was home and apparently well.

"Yes, but I'm fine now, Eric. I think I just needed some food and I was a little upset, but I'm fine now." Eric hadn't wasted any time and began grilling me the minute I got in the door. I bet he had called Amelia the minute that I left Bon Temps and harassed her into telling him about this afternoon's whole embarrassing scene.

"I called Dr. Ludwig," he said, "and I had dinner sent over from your restaurant. Come into the kitchen and eat something. You are not fine if you are fainting, and you don't eat enough."

As much as I appreciated the fuss he was making, I felt a little undeserving. Actually I felt a little disloyal about what I had said that afternoon, in front of the guards, about him being a threat to the baby. I didn't want to believe that he would ever feed from a child, even a fairy child.

There was a wonderful smell filling the kitchen and I realized how hungry I was. Several take out boxes sat next to a plate, utensils and a napkin and of course my usual glass of milk. Eric was convinced that babies had to have milk every day, even before they were born. He was probably right.

"Sit down and eat your supper and tell me about your day," he said and pulled out my chair. He pulled up a chair next to me and as I began to eat, he stroked my hair and my shoulders. I took a few bites of a delicious piece of steak while I thought about what to say.

"I saw the new garage today. It really looks great. It's almost finished. Terry Bellfleur has been painting the house and he's done a great job. We all got lunch from Merlotte's and I was going to go by and see Sam, but Amelia and I got talking and before I knew it, it was dark."

I took a few more bites of my supper and then continued to explain to Eric about the lists we had made and how I had hired Amelia to be my assistant.

"I need to call Liz Richards and arrange for a salary and some way for Amelia to order things. Liz suggested I have an assistant when I talked to her before we went to New Orleans. I'm not sure how to handle the financial stuff. I can pay for it though." Eric waved that away with a movement of his hand as if it were inconsequential.

"I think this is a very good idea, Lover. I will make a few phone calls and it will all be arranged tomorrow. Don't worry about it. We both have much busier lives these days and when our child is born, you will be even busier. Perhaps we will need to engage some domestic help here, to clean and cook. I don't think you eat enough."

"That's what Amelia said too, but I feel a little funny about that."

"Amelia is right. I can't have you stuck here doing everyone's laundry. I would rather have you with me." Eric's phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket, looked to see who was calling and excused himself to take the call. I managed to finish about half of my dinner and was clearing up the table by the time he came back into the room.

"Dr. Ludwig is coming over soon. She wants to check on you today instead of waiting for your appointment."

"Eric, I'm fine, really." He ignored that comment and looked at the leftovers I was putting into the refrigerator.

"You didn't finish your supper," he said disapprovingly.

"I'm full, Eric. I couldn't eat another bite, even though it was delicious."

"Vampires are always hungry," he said.

"I feel like that a lot lately myself. Do you want a True Blood?" I asked him and when he nodded I got out a bottle and warmed it up for him.

"So, Sookie, are you going to tell me what upset you today?"

Maybe he hadn't gotten the whole story from Amelia and the rest of our therapy group today. Or maybe he had and he wanted to talk about what I'd felt so free to tell everyone else.

"It was nothing really. Amelia was showing me all the new changes at the house, like she lived there and I didn't anymore. And of course, she does live there and I don't. We were walking from the garage to the house and I saw the spring flowers coming up in the garden. Gran planted all of those flowers. And I guess I just started missing my grandmother."

"And what else?" The gaze from Eric's eyes was compelling, not glamour exactly, but something intense. The bond between us had become an almost palpable thing. "That's not really what upset you. You are not being truthful with me."

"Do you remember what you told me, Eric? That you might not tell me everything, but what you told me would be the truth?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, that works both ways. Sometimes there are things that I want to tell you, but I can't predict how you will react. Or I want to ask you something, but I don't know if I can handle your answer. I'm not going to lie to you, but sometimes I might not be ready to say everything that's on my mind."

"Don't you trust me?" His voice carried the weight of the world. He turned away from me, waiting for my answer.

"Eric, I trust you with my life."

"But not with your daughter's?"

"Yes…no." He deserved a true answer. "I don't know, Eric. I trust that you would never hurt any child intentionally, but I worry that your intent won't make a difference, and that your true nature will make her fairy blood irresistible."

He turned back to me then and I held up my hand to check his response. "Or maybe it will be like the alcoholics at the bar, where you are always tempted by her blood and your life is a torment. I couldn't stand to do that to you, Eric, but I don't know if I would have the strength to leave you."

It was my turn to look away, but he took my face in his hands. "Look at me, Sookie." I closed my eyes, trying to contain the tears that were welling up. "Look at me," he said again more forcefully, and I looked into his eyes.

"That won't happen. I know this to be true!" Confidence filled his face.

"How can you know that, Eric?"

"Because of the vision."

"But Eric," I protested, "that was just a dream!"

"No. It was not a dream. It was a vision and I know in my heart that it is true. I don't know how, maybe she will have Niall's ability, or maybe because of the angel, but I know that she will be safe."

"Oh, Eric, I want it to be true. I want to believe it." The tears were flowing down my face now, and Eric leaned over and licked my cheeks. "Don't cry, Love."

"Is she leaking again?" I yipped in surprise and Eric snarled as a group of vampires walked in the door. "What have you done now, Sookie?" Pam asked.

"Don't vampires know how to knock?" I asked the world in general. I dabbed at my eyes and sniffled, wishing I had a tissue handy. Eric whipped out a clean white handkerchief. How did he manage to always be ready for anything?

"We've brought the doctor," Pam announced and I saw Dr. Ludwig among the group at the door. Since she was only about three feet tall, she was barely noticeable next to Thalia and Jan.

"Well, little girl, I hear you've been fainting," the doctor said. "Probably not eating," she added and looked accusingly at Eric as if it were his fault. Eric looked abashed and didn't say anything. I could never understand why he was so intimidated by the admonitions of this tiny woman. "Is there a bed somewhere?" she asked and Eric nodded. I led the way to my bedroom and the doctor and the vampires followed, Jan carrying a little stool that the doctor would use to be able to reach me I guessed. I was going to protest about them all joining in on the exam, but figured they would just ignore me anyway.

"Just remove your pants, you don't need to undress." Standing on her little stool, Dr. Ludwig put her bag on the bed and took out a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. Since so many of her methods were non traditional to say the least, I was always surprised to see her use ordinary medical equipment. She checked my blood pressure and nodded in approval, then took out a syringe and needle. She looked around to see if anyone was going to draw their swords this time, and when it appeared that no one was, she drew several vials of blood. Eric must have warned them. The vampires kept their distance while the doctor was dealing with my blood, although their fangs were out, even Eric's.

When she had put the blood kit away, the doctor pulled out a fetal heartbeat monitor. I had read about these in my book on pregnancy, but I doubted the vampires knew what it was for. They looked intrigued and crowded around. Dr. Ludwig smeared some very cold and slippery clear gel on my belly and began to slide the wand over my skin. Before long we could all hear the steady whoosh whoosh of the baby's heart. I was amazed. The beat was very strong and even, although faster than an adult's. The doctor assured me that that was normal. It was like the baby was real in a different way now that I could actually hear her.

Everyone in the room was smiling. Eric's face held a smug and proud look as if this was his own personal accomplishment. Pam's face took on a reverent demeanor and she was staring at me as if she saw me in a whole new light. Thalia looked slightly teary eyed and Jan put his arm around her.

Jordun must have come into the room at some point and I heard his voice ask, "What's going on? Is that our baby?" Everyone turned at once and shushed him, but made room for him around the bed. His jaw dropped and he stood there gaping like a fish out of water. I couldn't help it. I started to laugh.

Dr. Ludwig flipped the switch on the monitor and the room went suddenly quiet. "Well, everything looks perfectly normal," she said. "You won't need to come in for a month, unless something shows up in the blood work." She put her equipment back in the bag and handed me some tissues to wipe the gel off my belly.

As she and Pam left the room, Dr. Ludwig turned to Eric. "She needs to gain weight. It is your responsibility to see that she eats and rests." Eric, looking properly chastened, gave the doctor a bow and came to sit on the side of the bed with me.

"Can we get some privacy here?" I said to Eric. He emitted a low growl and everyone left the room, closing the door behind them. Eric grabbed a few more tissues from the box on the nightstand and wiped the rest of the gel from my tummy. He handed me my pants and that surprised me, since we were already on the bed and Eric rarely missed such a good opportunity to get up close and personal. I must admit I was a little disappointed.

"Do you have to go to work?" I asked him.

"Yes, I should. There is a business meeting for Area Five. Until I appoint someone else, I am still the sheriff. I will reschedule if you want me to stay." He still had his hand on my belly and I was very tempted to say, to hell with business, come to bed. But that could wait.

"No, you go on ahead. You promise to wake me when you get home?"

"Yes, Lover, I will look forward to that all evening. Jan would like to work on your portrait if you are not too tired."

"Okay. Eric, can I ask you something before you go?"

"Of course, Lover."

"Don't you think it's funny that Jordun said 'our' baby?"

"No, Lover. We are a nest now, a family. The baby will be loved by all of us." Now that was something I would have to give a lot of thought to. This wasn't going to be like having a nosy mother-in-law. And why did they call them nests? Nests made me think of snakes or birds. I wanted to ask Eric if that meant we were going to line our bed with feathers.

"She's going to be spoiled rotten!" I said, not wanting to start that conversation right before Eric had to leave.

"Of course, as she should be." Eric said. After giving me a tender and lingering kiss that left me wishing I had asked him to stay, Eric reluctantly left for work. I climbed off the bed, put my jeans on and headed to the living room.

Jan had set up an easel and a small worktable in one corner of the room. I was glad to see he had put a piece of canvas material under everything. I assumed it would be a messy business to paint. He had mounted a fairly large canvas and it looked very blank with just a few lines sketched in. His preliminary sketches were taped to the wall next to him.

"I'm going to make some tea. Can I get you anything?"

"Thank you, a True Blood would be nice."

I headed into the kitchen where I found Thalia sitting with her elbows on the table looking bored. "What's wrong, Thalia?" I asked her. "Do you want a blood? I'm heating up one for Jan."

"Okay," she said. I filled the teakettle with water and put it on the stove to heat, then got out two bloods for the vamps.

"So what's on your mind?" I could see that she had something to say and wasn't going to volunteer what it was.

"What do you think of Thomas?" she said. It took me a minute to think of who Thomas was.

"Thomas the vampire?" She nodded.

"I hardly even know him, Thalia. He's pretty new here in the states isn't he? Where's he from?"

"He's a highlander. They are all crazy." Thalia liked to make sweeping generalizations. Maybe I did too, since I wondered if he played the bagpipes. That would be something to hear. I tried to picture Thomas in a kilt and found myself giggling. Thalia looked at me suspiciously.

"Sorry. Just wondering what they wear under those kilts." I handed Thalia her blood and got out a mug and a teabag. I really needed a sugar bowl. I should put that on my ever-growing list.

"Woolen drawers in the winter," Thalia informed me. "In good weather, they just let it all hang out."

"You've been to Scotland?" I couldn't imagine what it must be like in Scotland, cold I would guess. I had rarely left Louisiana.

"In the seventeen hundreds. There was always plenty of blood on the battlefields. The English were such butchers then."

"Humans are always killing each other," Jan said from the doorway. I set his blood on the table and he came over to join us. I was very curious now why Thalia was asking about Thomas and hoped Jan's presence in the room wouldn't discourage her from talking.

"Is Thomas guarding Eric tonight?" I asked, trying to keep the subject focused on the new vamp.

"Yes, he wanted to see Fangtasia. He will be a new curiosity for the humans. It is good for business. Do you think he is handsome?"

I thought about that while I poured the boiling water into my mug and settled into a chair. "Yes. He has beautiful hair. He's a little young though, in human years I mean. He looks like a kid." He was probably close to a thousand years old, but he would always look like a kid.

"Eric thinks it's perverse to date another vampire," Thalia said.

"He dated Pam, didn't he?" Well, he'd had sex with her anyway and Bill had definitely 'dated' Lorena.

"Pam is his child," Thalia said as if that explained everything.

"So Eric thinks it's perverse for two vampires to have sex unless they're related?" How twisted was that? I was sure I would never understand vampires. Eric had told me once that one of the reasons vampires didn't have sex with each other often was because the exchange of blood gave them too much knowledge of each other. Sex and blood were very closely tied for vampires.

"Yes," Thalia said. It was going to be like pulling teeth to get her to the point.

"So what's the bottom line here, Thalia? Did Thomas ask you out? You don't need Eric's permission do you?"

"No," she answered. Did that mean no, he hadn't asked her out or no, Eric didn't need to give permission?

I was opening my mouth to ask her when she got up from the table. "I don't want to talk about it anymore," she said dismissively and walked out.

Jan looked at me and rolled his eyes. "Will you sit for me tonight?" he asked.

"Okay," I said and we followed Thalia into the living room. "It's too bad I didn't think to pick up a movie."

"I have a book." Thalia handed me the book, then settled herself into one of the easy chairs. Jan went over to the easel and picked up his pencil. I put my tea on the coffee table and sat down on the couch. The vampires looked at me expectantly. I guess I was expected to read so I opened the book to the first page.

"Interview With the Vampire," I read aloud. "Chapter One."

Eric woke me up sometime later. The book was lying on the coffee table and I had a pillow under my head and was covered up with a blanket. I hoped I hadn't fallen asleep in the middle of a sentence.

"Come to bed, My Love," Eric said. He helped me up off the couch, and taking my hand, he led me downstairs.

I was still in that middling state between waking and dreaming and our lovemaking was slow and tender. He laid on his side behind me and pulled me tight against him. His long cool fingers brushed softly against my skin and my body responded, thrumming like a harp string. When we were both spent, Eric covered us with the quilts and stroked my hair as I fell asleep.

I was woken abruptly by the ringing of my phone. I fished around on the floor in the dark until I found my jeans and pulled my cell out of the pocket. "Hello?"

"Sookie? Is that you?"

"Who the hell else would it be on my phone, Jason? What time is it?"

"It's nine o'clock. Listen, sis, I'm coming over. I wanna talk to you. Give me your address, I've got GPS in my new truck."

"It's early, Jason. Can't this wait 'til tomorrow?"

"I'm already halfway to Shreveport, put some coffee on. What's the address?" Obviously there was going to be no arguing with him. I gave him the address and he hung up the phone.

Stumbling into the bathroom I took the quickest shower I could and threw on some clothes. I popped my head out the door to warn the guards that my brother was on his way, and then started the coffee. My hair was still wet and I didn't have any make up on, but sausage was sizzling in the pan by the time Jason showed up at the door. "Nice truck," I said, looking outside. "Come on in, I got breakfast going."

Jason looked around as we headed to the kitchen. "Nice place," he said. "Everything looks new. I thought he'd have some kind of mansion or something though."

"We may get a bigger place down the line," I said. "I like this house though. How do you want your eggs?" I set a cup of coffee in front of Jason and poured one for myself.

"Scrambled is fine. You got biscuits?"

"No, Jason, since I had about twenty minutes warning and I barely know how to use the oven here yet even if I had a bag of flour, which I don't. You'll have to have toast."

"That's okay then," he said. I didn't even bother to ask Jason why he was in such a hell-fired frenzy to see me so early. It was always better to talk to Jason when he had a full stomach, and I thought I knew what he was going to say anyway. I asked him about his truck instead and that kept him talking until I had breakfast served out on the plates. We both ate our meal and drank our coffee quietly. He didn't broach the subject until I was washing up the dishes.

"So is it true?"

I was tempted to ask him what he was talking about, but I already knew. "Yes," I said.

"And you don't tell your brother? I have to hear it at the fucking bar?"

"Jason! You watch your language!"

"You're fucking a vampire and I'm supposed to watch my language?" Jason sprang out of his chair and paced the room. I flinched as he came towards me.

"What? You think I'm going to hit my pregnant sister?" I wasn't going to remind him that if he hit me, it wouldn't be the first time.

"I don't know what to think about you, Jason. You're being so mean. But I'm thinking it's time for you to get the hell out of my house!" I was holding on to the skillet I'd been washing and I felt like hitting him over the head with it.

Jason sat back down at the table and put his head in his hands. "When did our life get so out of control, Sookie?"

I relaxed as I saw the fight just drain out of him. "I've been asking myself that a lot lately, brother."

"So is that why you married the vampire?"

"His name is Eric, Jason, and no, that's not why I married him. I would have raised this baby on my own before I'd marry someone I didn't love."

"It's not like you've had a lot of guys around, and I know it can't be the vampire's." I was surprised Jason knew even that much about vampires. It seemed like Jason was one sandwich short of a picnic most of the time. "Is it that Quinn's then? Where is the son of a bitch?" I had to sit down for the rest of this conversation.

"It wasn't Quinn, Jason. I was raped when the fairies took me. Niall killed the one that did it. I'm glad that he's dead." Jason couldn't have looked more stunned if I'd zapped him with a Taser gun.

"The one that killed my baby? And he killed Crystal too." Jason began to cry. "I can't believe they're gone, Sook, and Mel too. I thought we were doin the right thing when we killed Mel, but now I don't know. Too many people have died. I shoulda been the one to kill that fucking fairy for what he did to my baby and to you."

I wasn't going to chastise Jason for his language this time. "We have to let it go, Jason. We can't change what happened and we can't bring back the dead." I got up to get him a tissue and he wiped his eyes and blew his nose.

"You're right, sis. It's just hard, that's all." I poured us both some more coffee and gave Jason a minute to collect himself.

"So, you feelin alright? When are you due?"

"I guess in September sometime. The doctor says fairy babies come earlier, so maybe August. I've been seeing that Dr. Ludwig, remember her?"

"The little dwarf lady? Yeah, I remember her. She took good care of Crystal when she had that miscarriage. And your man is okay with all of this?"

"I think he's pretty excited, Jason. It's funny, cause you wouldn't ever think about a vampire with a baby. But I think he's going to be a good father."

"Well then, I guess maybe it will all work out all right. And I'm gonna be an uncle, I like that!" That was more like the old Jason. He didn't brood over things. I wondered if that was because he was too shallow to really care unless it hurt him personally, or if he was too stupid to really look far enough down the road to see possible trouble. Maybe he was just an optimist.

"So who told you I was pregnant, Jason?" I was kind of curious, since I had never announced it.

"That guy Bob, that lives with Amelia. He was asking about you. I guess all the supes know. Bob's some kind of witch or something I guess. Anyway, he said he heard I was going to be an uncle. I almost punched him for saying that, but I couldn't hit a guy that wears glasses, well, not unless he went after me first."

I wondered why Bob was asking Jason about me, but figured he was probably just making conversation. "Listen, Jason, I got to get ready to go out. I have an appointment today and I haven't even put on my make up."

"Yeah, you're looking a little pale these days. I guess that's why. I gotta go anyway. Me and Hoyt are goin' fishing. We already missed all the good bites, but maybe we'll catch something for dinner. You take care of yourself."

"Okay, brother, you too." He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and headed out. I watched him drive away in his brand new truck. It looked pretty much like the old one, only the flames painted on the side were a different color.


	31. Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

Since it was still fairly early and a Sunday morning, I was tempted to ask the guards if they knew where the closest Methodist church was. It had been a long time since I had stepped into a house of worship. The thought of the Reverend Jimmy Fullenwilder's face if I walked in surrounded by burly armed guards brought a smile to my face. I had a feeling that being Mrs. King of the Vampires would not go over well in the small town churches of Northern Louisiana, and my baby would probably be considered the Child of Satan.

My rock solid Christian foundation had developed quite a few cracks in the last two years. Maybe killing someone, or more than one someone, and justifying it to yourself, would shake anyone to the core. Maybe it was watching so-called churches like the Fellowship of the Sun develop such a foothold with their message of hate and intolerance.

My personal relationship with God was suffering from a lack of dialogue these days, but I didn't think having a conversation with the almighty in my local house of worship was going to answer the questions I asked myself. About demons for example. I had met a demon and he was managing my finances. And of course there was the whole angel question. In any case, the debate of whether or not to spend my morning in church was put on hold when my phone rang again.

"Hello?" I answered, in a less than gracious tone.

"Mrs. Northman? This is Liz Richards."

"Oh, hi Liz. How are you this morning?"

"Just fine, thanks. The king left instructions about hiring Miss Broadway as a personal assistant for you. I wanted to touch bases with you about that and let you know that it's all arranged. I spoke with her this morning."

"That's great. Thanks Liz. So I don't have to do anything?"

"No, Miss Broadway will be billing our office directly and we will handle any ordering that she does on your behalf. She mentioned hiring some domestic staff and of course we can manage that too. You will want to be involved in the process of course, to assure you can work with whomever we hire. Miss Broadway should be able to coordinate that with you and we will deal with the background checks and paperwork."

That all sounded fine to me and I said so. "Thanks for taking care of all of this, Liz. Was there anything else?"

"No, I think that's it. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you."

So now I had a personal assistant and soon a housekeeper. What would gran say about all of this I wondered. She'd probably say that the housekeeper hadn't started yet and if I didn't get my butt busy doing laundry, there would be no clean underwear for tomorrow. With that in mind, I went to gather up the dirty clothes. I had made a meaningful dent in the pile by the time I had to leave for Red Ditch.

Alcide Herveaux called while I was on the way to see Hunter. "Sookie, I had something I wanted to talk to you about. Maybe you could meet me for some coffee or I could come by the house?"

"What's up Alcide? I'm on the way to an appointment right now and won't be back 'til this evening. If you want to come by Fangtasia I could meet you there later." Eric would probably not be pleased if I invited the were to the house.

"I was hoping to have a private word with you." I knew that meant he wouldn't want Eric around. "You're staying at Eric's now, right?" He always said 'Eric' like he was talking about gum on his shoe.

"That's right, Alcide, since Eric's my husband. You want to tell me what's going on?"

His whole attitude about my relationship with Eric pretty much put me on the defensive. I wondered if it was residual jealousy, since I had rejected his offer to live with him, or if he just didn't like a "friend of the pack" hanging out with the vampires. The two natured and vampires had a history of animosity. Even though they were being outwardly supportive during the "coming out" of the weres, vampires in general looked at weres as being beneath them. My guards didn't seem to have a problem with the vamps though, and considered Eric a fair and generous employer.

"Could you just meet me tomorrow then?" Alcide continued, obviously not wanting to talk about whatever it was over the phone. "We could have some lunch over at the Applebee's by my office. How about I meet you there around noon?"

"Okay, twelve o'clock, but I don't want to get involved in any more of the pack's political shit, Alcide."

I had been in more than one skirmish involving the Longtooth Pack. Alcide had a habit of sucking me into the pack's business without telling me the whole story up front. You'd think that being a telepath, I'd end up with too much information. The truth was that I often ended up with just enough information to get myself into more trouble. I liked to think I might have made better choices if I'd had better information, but maybe I would have chosen the same paths. Sometimes it seemed like fate had a direction it was going in and I was just along for the ride.

We arrived at Remy Savoy's house just before two o'clock. The boxy little house with its one car garage complete with the expected pickup truck and tidy, trimmed yard looked just the same. Somehow I had expected that it would be different. It was like time had stood still here while my life had been going at warp speed.

"This the place, Ma'am?" Jim asked. Jim had insisted on driving up and down the road before we stopped, looking for escape routes I guess.

The little black dog in the back yard was barking, but not like he meant it. This was a child's pet, not a watchdog. He was doing his job and letting the family know they had visitors but his bark was less of a warning and more of an invitation to come play. "Yes, this is the place," I answered. "There's a child here, I hope we don't frighten him."

"Oh, I think we can manage a child." The guards had managed to keep the hardware they carried out of sight, but just their demeanor could be pretty menacing. Remy would know to take them seriously, which was the point, but I hoped Hunter wouldn't be scared. "Kids and dogs together are a natural," Travis added, and the three weres all laughed at his little joke.

Remy met us at the front door, looking slightly wary, and extended a hand to each of the weres in turn as I introduced Travis, Mark and Jim. "I'm Remy Savoy. Come on in. This is my boy, Hunter. You going to say hello to your Aunt Sookie, son?" Remy said, glancing down at the boy hanging onto his leg. Hunter had his face buried against his dad, but was peeking out curiously at the three big men. Hunter shook his head in a no motion, but in my head I could hear his greeting, "_Hi,__Aunt__Sookie_."

"_Hi Hunter_," I sent right back.

"If I might just check the house, then we can wait outside," Travis offered. Looking down at the little boy with a friendly smile he added, "Your big old dog won't bite our legs off, will he?"

Hunter giggled and shook his head no. Hunter was looking at the weres curiously, as if he found them particularly interesting. He may not have been around many weres and he might have noticed how cloudy their brains were, to a telepath at least. "What's your dog's name, Hunter?" Travis continued.

"Sam," Hunter said, and I laughed out loud.

"One of my best friends is named Sam," I told Hunter. "He just loves dogs." All of the weres laughed a bit at that. Remy didn't understand why this was so funny, but seeing us laughing seemed to break the ice and he waved us all in.

The living room of the small house was just as I remembered it. There was a scattering of toys on the floor where Hunter had been playing, but the room was otherwise neat and tidy, with a television, a shelf of books and DVD's, a couch and recliner. "Can I get anyone a Coke or some tea?" Remy offered politely. Everyone declined and with the conventions of hospitality dispensed with, Travis asked if he might check the house. Hunter seemed eager to show off his room so he reached for my hand, and boldly led us through the house.

Remy's discomfort with the situation was coming off him in waves, but he accompanied Travis, Hunter and myself as the little boy proudly showed off his bed, closet and toy shelf, pointing out his favorite trucks. His room was small, clean and comfortable, painted a sunny yellow with posters of brightly colored trucks and airplanes. The small bathroom and Remy's bedroom were crowded but tidy and I noticed that there were no signs of a female in residence. I guessed that Remy's girlfriend had left permanently.

After the brief tour of the house, and a nod from Travis, Remy led us out to meet Sam. The little dog barked furiously, running in circles around our little group. After giving each of us a good sniff, he must have made a decision on who was the 'alpha' dog because he stopped in front of Travis, rolled onto his back and exposed his tummy for petting. "He won't bite you," Hunter informed our group, and we each took a turn scratching the dog's belly and having our face licked.

The survey of house and yard completed, my guards took up their stances in strategic places around the yard and Remy indicated a small patio table and chairs. "Would you like to sit outside?" he offered. "It's a beautiful day and I can bring out some tea." Hunter had apparently not been afraid of the weres and was now showing off the dog's tricks for Jim. I didn't think Remy would want to leave the boy outside alone with strangers, and it was a warm sunny day after all.

"That would be nice. Can I help with anything?"

"No, I'll get it. He okay with them for a minute?" He nodded at his son and Jim. I nodded back that everything was fine and he went into the kitchen.

"_Look, Aunt Sookie_," Hunter thought at me as he threw a little ball and the dog went running after it.

"_I see him, Hunter. He's very fast_," I sent back.

When Remy had returned, setting out a pitcher of tea and some glasses on the table, I waited as he collected his thoughts, trying to prioritize the multitude of questions he had for me. "So do you want to tell me why you have to have three guards?" This was a legitimate query about someone that might potentially be an important person in his son's life.

"There are quite a few things I should tell you about myself," I began and gave him the briefest summary I could of my situation and how I got to it. The story took a while, especially with the interruptions of a four year old that wanted attention. Hunter had gone in for some trucks and was busy running them over bumps in the ground and filling their beds with dirt. Travis, seeing that I was in earnest conversation with Remy, had assumed the roll of playmate and Hunter seemed content to show his new buddy every toy he had outside.

Remy was trying to digest everything I had to tell him and the visible strain on his handsome face would have keyed me into his worry, even if his brain hadn't. He had no idea how to keep Hunter safe from the outside world, and as much as he wanted my help, he wondered if that wasn't tantamount to leading Hunter straight into the lion's den. "So you were found through Hadley?" Remy asked. I nodded. "And now through Hadley you ended up here." He was processing all of the information I had given him and he was concerned that now the vampires would find Hunter and take the boy from him.

"Actually, Hadley didn't mention the child. The divorce papers were with her personal affects, but nothing about Hunter. I found him by accident. Copley Carmichael asked me if I knew you and your son. When I heard Hadley had a child, I looked for you." I didn't tell him that Niall had actually done the looking. I had left out the whole aspect of the fairies. That was a story for another day.

"So, how do you know Copley? I used to work for him," Remy said.

"That's what he said. His daughter Amelia is a good friend of mine. You talked to her. She's the one staying in my house in Bon Temps. Hadley lived upstairs from Amelia, in New Orleans. When Copley heard I was Hadley's cousin, he asked about you. He was hoping to find you after Katrina. He said you were a great carpenter and he'd like to hire you again."

"That's good to know, if I decide to go back to the city," Remy said.

Hunter came running up to us at the table. "Daddy, I'm hungry," he said. His jeans and striped shirt were looking a little the worse for wear after his time in the yard. He was smiling and happy and looking at him was like looking at Hadley as a young girl. I wondered if my daughter would resemble me as much as Hunter resembled his mother.

"You gonna have a baby?" Hunter asked out loud. Remy looked taken aback and didn't know who to look at first, Hunter or me.

"Yes Hunter, I am," I said, also out loud, but in my mind I sent something else. "_When you hear something in your head, Hunter, it isn't nice to talk about it out loud_," I told him. "_It's important to only talk about what you hear with your ears, unless your daddy tells you different_."

"_Okay, Aunt Sookie. Daddy can't talk to me like you do_," he said.

"_I know, Hunter. Other people can't hear like you and I can. They have to use their ears_." Hunter thought about this for a minute before he said, "_I like talking to you, Aunt Sookie_." Then he turned to his dad and asked if he could have one of the cookies they'd gotten for their company.

"You can help put them on the table," Remy told Hunter and the boy ran off to the kitchen.

"Can the two of you hear each other? Is that how it works?" Remy asked.

"Yes. We can hold a conversation of sorts. It doesn't work like that with other people though. I can only talk in my head to another person with telepathy." That wasn't strictly true, since I seemed to be able to communicate with Eric in our dreams, but I didn't even have a handle on how that all worked yet, and it was better to keep things simple at this point. The whole concept of telepathy was complicated enough.

"Is that what you call it – telepathy? When you give it a name like that, it sounds like a disease," he said in a disheartened voice. I wanted to say that at least I didn't break out in spots or something, but I knew he would not see the humor in that.

"I thought of it as a disability for most of my life," I told him. "I try to think of it as a gift, but it's a mixed blessing. It is only in the last few years that I have learned to control it, and to use it."

"Can you teach him that, how to control it?"

"I think so," I said. "It will mean spending some time with him."

"I have to think about all of this," he said and I nodded.

"Daddy, come on!" Hunter called, trying to carry out a plate of cookies and unable to open the screen door with his hands full. Remy smiled and went to help his son bring out the snack. Hunter cheerfully played the host, calling the men to come to the table for tea and cookies. We all laughed at the little dog Sam's antics as he begged for his own snack.

Before we left to head back to Shreveport, I handed Remy the envelope Mr. Cataliades had prepared for him. "This is for Hunter, to help when he gets old enough for college. My cell number is inside. Call me after you think about all of this. I can help him and Eric can protect him."

Remy took the envelope and extended his hand. As we shook, he said, "I'll call soon."

I crouched down in front of Hunter and he let me give him a big hug. "I hope I see you again soon, Hunter."

"_Bye, Aunt Sookie_," he said.

Red Ditch was well over an hour from home. Eric wouldn't be up until a little after seven, so we planned to have supper in Shreveport on the way home. Since I'd been so rudely awakened by my brother early this morning, I was more than ready for a nap. I got as comfortable as I could, leaned my head against the door of the car and closed my eyes, settling in for the long drive.

I squirmed a bit in my seat. Cars were just not made for sleeping, but I was so tired. What I really needed was one of those little travel pillows for the car. I could put one on my list. Maybe I should make a trip to Wal-Mart and start addressing that list. It was about a mile long now. "Duh!" I thought, and I would have smacked myself upside the head if I'd had the energy. I had a personal assistant now, wasn't I supposed to pass the list on to Amelia? That just seemed so bourgeois to me though. I bet Mrs. Caroline Holliday Bellfleur wouldn't think twice about sending someone to do her shopping! Of course she wouldn't shop at Wal-Mart either.

As exhausted as my body felt, my mind was not ready to relax. I was second-guessing myself about the whole Remy/Hunter visit. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to involve myself in their lives at all. I might just bring the whole supernatural world right to their doorstep. Could I just walk away from that little boy though, when I knew how hard it would be for him to grow up with telepathy? I would talk it out with Eric; he would know what to do. He always knew what to do. It was time to tell my vampire about Hunter.

My vampire was home now, sleeping peacefully in our bed. Just thinking about him made me feel more relaxed. His long golden hair spread in disarray on our pillow. His absolute stillness. The weight of his leg draped over mine. The soft blond curls of his chest hair against my cheek. My fingers tracing a line through those curls down his belly to other more delightful things. The sweet and tangy taste of his blood against my tongue.

"Bite me, Min Elskede, bite me."

"Like this?" I asked, nipping at the smooth skin of his shoulder. "Or like this?" biting a little harder at the base of his neck.

"Like this, Min Elsker," Eric said as he pricked the skin of my breast with his sharp fang.

"Oh! Is that what you want?" I teased, moving my mouth to his nipple, licking and nipping.

"Yes," he crooned as he pulled me tighter against him, his hardness pressing against my belly, and then "Shoo! Shoo!"

"Shoo?" I asked, a little surprised, and pushed him back. "Shoo?"

"Claudine has let in the cat again," he said impatiently. "He is on the bed. Shoo!" He swatted at the big black and white ball of fur as it rubbed against his glorious backside. The cat darted away and jumped to the floor. "I really must speak to her about the cat."

"But not now, sweetie," I coaxed. "Not when we could be doing this." I trailed my fingers down the hard muscle of his arm and then onto the cool length of his thigh.

His hand cupped the fullness of my breast and his lips followed, kissing and sucking. "You are so delicious," he whispered. "Oh blast that stupid cat!" he bellowed, pulling away from me and rolling onto his back, the cat hissing as Eric's massive body threatened to crush him.

"Damn it! Claudine is gonna get it for letting that cat in," I sighed.

"Mrs. Northman? We're here. Mrs. Northman?" The stupid cat was pawing at my shoulder.

"Geez Louise! Can't we have any privacy?" I shrieked.

"Sorry to wake you, Mrs. Northman, but we're at the restaurant," Mark said calmly.

"Oh!" I opened my eyes and looked down at a big jean clad thigh, which apparently I had been clasping. "Oh sorry, I must have fallen asleep," I sputtered and removed my head quickly from Mark's lap, wondering how the hell I had managed to end up there. "Sorry." I sat up and rubbed my eyes, a little disoriented and more than a little embarrassed.

"My pleasure Ma'am. Would you like to go in now?" Mark sounded almost as embarrassed as I was.

"Yes, thank you. I'm starving," I said and got out of the car. We were in the parking lot of an unprepossessing (a good word-of-the-day calendar word) road house that sported several neon beer signs in the window and what looked like a stuffed alligator mounted over the door. As we walked in I was hit by the sound of Garth Brooks on the radio and the delicious smell of barbecue coming from the kitchen. My stomach growled in response.

"This okay, Ma'am? The food is great here," Travis informed me.

"It smells heavenly," I responded enthusiastically. "I'm hungry enough to eat a horse."

I didn't quite manage a horse but after a big helping of ribs, slaw and sweet potato fries I managed to finish off most of the best slice of key lime pie I'd had since Gran died. As I finished the last of my tea, a warm wash of contentment spilled over me and I realized that night must have fallen. Eric was up and I was anxious to be home.

It seemed to take forever to drive those last few miles from the restaurant home. Eric must have been impatient for me to arrive because he had the door open and had scooped me out of the car before Travis had turned off the engine. Before I could say a word in protest his lips found mine and he kissed me like a house on fire all the way from the yard to the bedroom door.

He set me down beside the bed and his clothes were off before I could shimmy out of my jeans. His hands were behind my back flicking open my bra hook before you could say Jack Robinson and his mouth found my nipple before my shirt hit the floor.

We tumbled back onto the bed and his strong hand ripped through the thin fabric of my panties to find me wet and open and ready for him. His long cool fingers stroked and teased, smooth and slick with my fluids. My body ached with need and I moved my hips with the rhythm of his hand, barely able to breathe as the pleasure intensified.

"Bite me," he growled as he positioned himself above me and that was all the invitation I needed.

My teeth ripped into the flesh around his nipple as he thrust himself deep inside me. He made an incoherent sound, almost a growl. As I drew his sweet tasting blood from the wound, I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him in as far as he could go. The animal noises he made excited me and I sucked harder, relishing the taste of him and quivering at the feel of him pounding against my very center.

He pushed harder and his pace quickened until it almost met the rapid beating of my heart. My head fell back from his nipple and as the first wave of the orgasm washed over me, I cried out. "Oh God, Eric!"

His fangs punctured the flushed and feverishly hot skin of my breast and my muscles convulsed around him as he had his own good moment.

We lay together unmoving for a few moments until I pushed against Eric's weight, trying to get a deep breath. Coming to his senses, he shifted his weight onto his elbows and licked the puncture wound on my breast, savoring the taste of the blood that had dripped onto my skin. "Delicious, Kjære," he said.

"What does that mean, Eric?" I hadn't opened my eyes yet. Eric shifted himself to his preferred position, his head on my belly, listening to the baby's heartbeat. As he answered me, his voice seemed to reverberate through me in an oddly comforting way.

"It means 'Dear One'. It is Norwegian. Not the Old Norse that I spoke as a child, that language is dead, like me." He didn't sound regretful, just matter-of-fact, as if everyone had lived through the death of a whole civilization. "In Iceland, they speak a language that is very close to my native language. There I would say 'yndið mitt'. But hardly anyone here understands Icelandic."

"Hardly anyone here understands Norwegian either, Eric," I said, laughing at the absurdity of his statements.

"Yes, you are probably right," he answered off-handedly.

"That might be the only time you admit I might be right about something, Eric. Shall I note it in my diary?" I said mockingly.

"You are often right, Lover, just not as right as I am. Where is this diary? I would love to read it." I imagined that he was waggling his eyebrows at the moment, although I couldn't see his face.

I was tempted to open my eyes, just so I could roll them at him. "You'll be the first one I share it with, if I ever start one, Eric."

"I assume you didn't come home with a cat, Lover?" he said, changing subjects. "We will have to be clear with Claudine about letting the cat into our bedroom."

"We might have to wait until she is born to have that conversation, Eric," I said, touched by the way he could speak about the baby as if she were here already. "We can hardly blame her for something that happened in a dream in any case," I added. "And no, to answer your question, I didn't come home with a cat." I thought about my poor murdered cat Tina. It would be nice to have a cat in the house, now that things seemed to be peaceful again. And now that Bubba wasn't roaming in my woods. Or was he?

"Speaking of cats, Eric, where's Bubba? I haven't seen him since we came back from New Orleans."

"He is in Mississippi, with Russell and his pretty boys. They asked if he might pay a visit. They quite enjoyed him the last time he was there. Don't worry. I am sure there is someone there to do his laundry." He made a sound that I could only describe as a guffaw!

"So who is Remy Savoy?" Eric asked, taking me totally by surprise. Of course he would know where I had been today. The guards were probably under orders to call about anywhere they took me. He would have looked at his messages the minute he woke and saw that I wasn't home. I had planned to tell him about Remy and Hunter but hadn't quite worked out what to tell him yet. I could easily just say I was visiting my cousin's child, but I might have averted disaster more than once if I had listened to Eric or if we had both had a complete picture of a situation. I was not so proud that I couldn't learn from my mistakes, especially when a mistake could cost the future or the life of someone as precious as little Hunter.

"Remy Savoy is my cousin Hadley's ex husband," I began. Then I proceeded to tell him everything I knew about Hunter, from the time I heard of him through Copley, until my visit with him today. Eric didn't interrupt or ask questions, but listened intently to my monologue.

"So his gift is the same as yours?" he said, almost more a statement than a question.

"It appears to be, although he is so young, and I haven't had enough time with him to explore it."

"And you can speak with him, in your mind, as you did with Barry in Rhodes?"

"Yes," I answered. "And he can speak back to me. Sometimes he responds to something someone is thinking, as if he can't always tell that they haven't spoken aloud. It was the same for me when I was young. Actually, that still happens on rare occasion, when I am stressed or distracted."

"And that will lead to his discovery, eventually," Eric said.

"Yes. I don't want him to fall into the hands of a vampire, Eric. They would not all treat him as well as you treat me."

"No, Lover, they would not, although he would be a valuable asset. His father would be considered an impediment by some, I am afraid. Being in my territory will afford him some protection if I declare him to be mine, but I think it best that we keep this quiet as long as we can so that he might enjoy his childhood. Since he has value to you, I will do whatever I can to keep him safe."

"Thank you, Eric," I said and kissed the top of his head. "Do you need to go to work tonight?"

"Yes, but I can go later, when you sleep. Let's have our shower and then we can see what came for you today. You have a package."

It wasn't often I got packages, so I was anxious to see what it contained. Nothing was going to compete with the gift that Eric had to offer under the streaming hot water of our shower together, however. The package could wait.


	32. Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

"Where is everyone tonight, Eric?" I asked my vampire when we had finally emerged from the bedroom.

"They are giving us a little time to ourselves, Kjære."

"So, they are just hanging about in the yard or something?" Since there were several vampires apparently in residence, at least when we were here, it was rare to have the house to ourselves. It didn't seem right to just kick them out to the yard though.

"Something," he replied. That was a pretty vague answer, but Eric was good at not answering questions.

Pam had her own house, and only stayed occasionally, when she was on guard duty or it was deemed safer to keep everyone together in our more heavily guarded house. I assumed Thalia had her own house, since she must have been staying somewhere before she became a fixture at our place. Jan and Jordan had come over from Europe a few months before, and seemed to mostly stay with us or Pam. I didn't think they had homes yet, although who knew. That wasn't the kind of information vampires shared with anyone, even other vampires.

"Well, they can't be very comfortable hanging out in that cargo container in our yard. We really need to start thinking about what to do with them, Eric. You called us a "nest". What does that entail exactly?"

At Stan's in Texas, and in Mississippi at Russell Edgington's, both established nests, everyone seemed to be staying together in one place. They had pretty big houses though. Russell had what amounted to a mansion. And they had donors in and out for "meals". Ewww!

I cringed a little at the thought that we might need to have fangbangers hanging around the place to feed our vampires, like we had in New Orleans. I wasn't so naïve anymore as to believe the propaganda the vampires spread to the media. Most of the vampires were not happy for long with just synthetic blood, although they could apparently survive on it. I suppose they could get their donors at Fangtasia though. Kind of like going out to dinner.

Eric still seemed to be contemplating the answer to my question. I could tell he was puzzled at my concern for the other's welfare. "They are vampires, Sookie. They have hidden from humanity in caves and graveyards and slept in the dirt for centuries. Do you think a little time in the yard will bother them? In any case, they are on guard duty."

"What about when it rains or it's cold outside? And what about their – food?" Geez Louise! When I had thought about all the details of setting up a new house, I had been worried about dishtowels and potholders. I never envisioned I would be considering a walking blood bank in my kitchen.

Eric was looking amused now and I didn't like that one bit. "Don't laugh at me, Eric. I'm serious!"

"Are you hungry, Lover? Maybe you should have some milk. Babies like milk." Mr. King of Changing the Subject, that was Eric.

"I had my supper, Eric. I think I'll make some tea though. Do you want a blood?" He nodded and I got a bottle out of the fridge, popped it in the microwave and started the water to boil on the stove. Eric sat down at the kitchen table and watched me.

"Bobby Burnham is looking around for a bigger house," he said, out of the blue. He didn't sound happy about it.

I handed Eric his blood, fetched a mug out of the cupboard and stuck in a teabag. "And you were going to tell me this when?" I asked.

"Nothing is decided," he backtracked. "And I am telling you now."

The teakettle screeched and I jumped. I poured the hot water into my cup and took it to the table to sit with Eric. I didn't want to pick a fight with Eric tonight, so I moved on to another topic. "Have you been in a nest before, Eric?"

"With my maker and Jordun. But we did not have a home, Sookie, not as you understand it. We moved from place to place, always hiding. Too many vampires in one place would attract attention. Fangtasia is the closest thing I have had to a home in a thousand years."

I tried to conceive of what that would be like. Perhaps the homeless that lived in cities all over the country experienced something like that. But even they were not usually hunted down. It made me think about the young girls in New Orleans, offering themselves as donors and living in shelters when they could. I needed to see what I could do about that.

"Do you feel like 'home' here, Eric?"

Eric took my hands and held them for a moment, examining them as if he would memorize every line. "Where you are is my home now, Kjære."

I wanted to ask more questions about nests, and what he anticipated in terms of living arrangements if we got a bigger house. There were so many questions that I wasn't sure where to begin. What would I do with his answers, anyway, since I hadn't formulated my own expectations?

"Well, we will see what Bobby comes up with, and we can talk about this more," I said and he looked relieved that I wasn't going to press the subject.

"So where is the package? I wasn't expecting anything, maybe Amelia ordered something."

"It is from Al Cumberland," Eric said as he went to get the package from the living room.

"Oh! Our wedding pictures!" I exclaimed. Al Cumberland, a heavyset middle-aged werewolf, was the "photographer of the weird" in our part of the world. He had done the photo shoot when my cousin Claude had posed with me for a romance novel cover contest. He had also done the photos for our wedding. I was very anxious to see them.

Eric set the brown paper wrapped parcel down on the table and I wasted no time opening it up. There appeared to be an album, a DVD, a set of proofs and a note from Al. Of course I went for the album first. Eric scooted his chair next to me so we could see the pictures together.

The first picture was of me and Eric kissing, our first kiss as man and wife. I was struck by how perfect we looked together. He towered over me at just under six and a half feet tall. He had had to bend to kiss me, even with me on my tippy toes. His muscular frame wrapped itself around my smaller one, my arms clasping his waist. The golden strands of our hair mingled, almost exactly the same color. I could still remember the feel of that kiss, the love I had seen in Eric's eyes as his lips approached mine. The fire and passion that sparked through the bond as our lips touched. His joy and satisfaction that I was well and truly "his". I couldn't help it. I burst into tears.

"Sookie! What's wrong? Are you okay?" Eric sounded alarmed and slightly flustered, and he dug in his pocket for his ever-ready white handkerchief. "Don't cry, Lover, tell me what's wrong."

Pulling me onto his lap, he hesitated, holding the handkerchief inches away from my face. His fangs had partially run out. I knew he hated to waste perfectly tasty tears by mopping them up, but he felt he must do something. My tears always disconcerted him.

I had to laugh at his dilemma, and moved my cheek next to his lips, inviting him by my proximity to lick my tear streaked face. His tongue darted across my face and I could hear a low rumble in his throat, which I recognized as a sound of appreciation. As much as Eric hated to see a woman cry, tears were a delicacy to the vampires, a frightening thought if I cared to explore it, which I didn't.

"Is she leaking again? What have you done now, Eric?" a voice behind me said and I shrieked in surprise, then took the proffered hankie, wiping my eyes and blowing my nose. Pam had come in wearing her usual black Fangtasia garb. She also sported a light jacket liberally sprinkled with raindrops, so we must be having a spring shower. She inhaled and her nostrils flared, taking in the whiff of fragrance in the air – Essence de Tears.

"I don't know," Eric said seriously. "I think she doesn't like the photos," he continued before I had a chance to speak. Pam instantly pulled up a chair and began to peruse the album.

"It isn't that," I explained. "Just seeing us in the picture made me remember our wedding, and I was so happy." Both of the vampires stared at me incomprehensibly.

Since I couldn't explain why I cried so easily even to myself, I just ignored them. It was probably hormones anyway. Being pregnant was worse then PMS some days, at least where mood swings were concerned. I had always been a crier, though. When Pam and Eric saw that I wasn't offering any further explanation of my outburst, they turned their attention back to the photos.

The pictures in the album were all of the actual ceremony, since we hadn't scheduled any formal photo shoot. Since the crowd was primarily vampires (it had been the coronation after all) there were no pictures of the "audience". Some vampires still objected to having their photos taken, even though the reason for avoiding photos was no longer relevant. The vampires themselves had spread the myth that vampires wouldn't show up in a photo. A photograph could place a face in a certain time period, and that face wouldn't change over time. That could lead to uncomfortable and usually dangerous questions.

Thalia came in a few minutes after Pam, dripping a bit from the rain. She shook herself off in an inhumanly graceful movement and walked over to the table, bowing to me as usual. "Mistress," she said, then turning to Eric, "Master." She didn't bother to greet Pam, but looked around the table to see what had our attention before she sat down. Pam passed the album to Thalia. Since it was obvious that the vampires weren't going to give me a chance to really look at the album until their curiosity had been satisfied, I decided I might as well be hospitable and got up to warm up some blood for everyone. It occurred to me that vampires were a lot like cats: arrogant and often aloof, graceful, stealthy, having at least nine lives and filled with curiosity. I hoped it wasn't true what they said about curiosity and cats.

As I came back to the table and passed around the bottles, I noticed Thalia and Pam looking at each other strangely, their eyes engaging in what I could only describe as a silent exchange. Pam then looked at Eric, who rolled his eyes and nodded his head slightly. I wondered what was going on. Secret vampire shit of one kind or another probably.

I set the bottle of True Blood in front of Thalia. "Thank you, Mistress," she said politely, then looked at Pam expectantly, almost making a throat clearing sound.

"Thalia wants to know if Thomas can come in." Pam said, obviously addressing me.

I looked at Thalia, wondering why she hadn't just asked me herself, then back at Pam, wondering why anyone bothered to ask me at all. Finally I turned to Eric who was looking at the proofs that had been in the box from Al Cumberland. He looked as puzzled as I felt, although he obviously was puzzling over something with the pictures.

"Eric?" I said, "Thomas wants to come in. Is that okay?"

Eric passed the sheet of proofs to Pam, turned his attention to me and shrugged. "I have no objection," he answered.

"Fine with me" I said, getting up to warm up another True Blood for Thomas. While I waited for the microwave to beep, I could feel the eyes of three vampires boring a hole in my back. "What?" I asked, turning to them.

"You must invite him in, Lover. This is your home now. Apparently he is at the door." I hadn't heard him at the door of course, but once I focused on it, I could feel him there waiting. I was surprised that he couldn't just walk in. Vampire houses didn't have the protection of needing an invitation like human homes did. Did that mean that Eric couldn't let other vampires into his own home now? That would be inconvenient to say the least, although it might make the place safer. I would have to ask Eric about that.

Opening the door to the yard, I was greeted by Thomas's flaming red hair hanging down as he bowed to me from the waist. Good Lord! "Hi Thomas," I said to what I could see of him. "You are welcome to come in."

"Thank you, Mistress," he said and he straightened to his full height of over six feet. He greeted me with a big, childish grin that made me think of the class clowns in high school. Letting him step past me into the kitchen, I looked into the yard for Daniel. I could feel him out there, wet and miserable and maybe feeling a little left out.

"Daniel, you are welcome to come in," I called into the dark. "I'll warm a blood for you." I barely had the words out of my mouth and Daniel was standing before me. It was so creepy the way they could do that!

"Thank you, Mistress," Daniel said in a deep and resonant voice. I wondered if he could sing. I bet he was a wonderful baritone. We had enough vampires to make a darned choir now, and most of them were in my kitchen. I couldn't picture this group going Christmas caroling though.

"Come on in," I said and shut the door behind him. "You better bring some more True Blood home from the bar tonight, Eric," I called from the fridge as I got out two more bottles. It was a good thing I wasn't cooking for all of them. I'd never leave the kitchen! I'd better add a throw rug for the back door to my list, I thought, staring at all the wet footprints trailing across the floor.

I resumed my seat at the table next to Eric and he leaned over and kissed the top of my head. He was dressed for the bar in a Fangtasia tank top and very nicely fitting jeans. There wasn't much left to the imagination about what Eric had to offer in that outfit. I didn't like to think about all of the other women at the bar that would be enjoying the view of his award winning derriere, or his gracious plenty. Sensing where my thoughts were focused, Eric patted his lap in invitation and I climbed aboard. I was determined to stay put, too, until I got a chance at seeing all the photos. Eric buried his face in my neck and nuzzled a bit.

"Get a room," Pam chided and passed me the letter from Al Cumberland, which apparently had been making the rounds of the table.

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Northman," it read.

I hope you enjoy the selection of photos that I have chosen to enlarge for your wedding album. I have enclosed proof sheets of the other available photos as well as a DVD. I apologize for the unexplained reflections on some of the photographs. As you can see, I have corrected that in the album pictures. The photographs on the DVD have also been retouched. I have attached an order form that explains availability and pricing for any additional prints you would like. Of course any custom alteration can be arranged with a phone call.

It has been a pleasure to do business with you, and hope you will consider us again for any of your photographic needs.

Al Cumberland

I wondered what reflections he was talking about, then noticed them right away when I looked at the proof sheets. Each sheet had four pictures on it and on every one there was a bright spot right above my left shoulder, no matter where I was in the scene. Obviously it wasn't something on the camera lens. It did look a lot like a reflection of the flash, although somewhat softer and more muted.

"It's like something from 'Ghost Hunter'," I said to Eric. He looked blank, so I explained that 'Ghost Hunter' was a television show where the hosts investigated reported paranormal activity.

"It's probably your angel," volunteered Daniel. Now how would Daniel know about the supposed angel? It never ceased to amaze me how vampires always seemed to know everything about me, often before even I did. They must be incredible gossips, I thought, at least where others were concerned. They always seemed quite secretive about themselves. What was that calendar word that described that situation? A dichotomy: something with contradictory qualities.

While I was considering my vocabulary, Pam whipped out her cell phone, snapped a picture of me and passed the phone around. Sure enough, there was the same bright spot, right above my shoulder. Huh!

"What do you guys know about angels?" I asked.

"They are very rare, some kind of evolved fairy," offered Thalia.

"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings," Thomas added. Only Thomas and I laughed at that, so I guessed that we were the only ones that got the modern reference to the movie. Modern in terms of vampire's lives, that is.

"There'd be a million of them in that case," I said to Thomas. The rest of the vampires looked blank, as only a vampire can, and ignored our interchange.

"The Christians stole the concept and used it for their own propaganda, as they did with demons," offered Daniel.

So Daniel hadn't been a Christian either, like Eric. I wanted to ask him where he was from, but remembered my grandmother's strictures about nosy questions. Not that gran couldn't gossip with the best of them, but she called it "catching up", a pretty fine distinction as far as I was concerned.

"If we catch that fairy, we can ask him about it," said Eric, as if he would stop to ask questions when he had a fairy within reach, even a half and half as Jason called Dermott.

"If we catch that fairy, we will be too busy draining him to ask questions," Pam replied, voicing my thoughts.

"Yuck!" I said, and Pam responded, "Yum!"

I was wishing I could talk to Niall and ask him about angels. He probably wouldn't answer me even if he were still around. Talk about secretive! Fairies were way worse than vamps. There weren't many left now though. Maybe there would be a way to ask Dermott. I should ask Jason if he was still hanging around Bon Temps.

"I don't think you should catch the fairy," I said. There were so few of them left, it didn't seem right to kill him. He had come to warn Jason about Crystal's killer after all. He had been on the side of my enemies, true, but now he had been left behind, cut off from others of his kind. He had lived a life between two races, fairy and human, neither fish nor fowl, as gran would have said. I sort of felt sorry for him.

"Why not?" Eric exclaimed, turning me around in his lap to face him. "Didn't he help to kill your parents? Didn't he attack your brother? He sided with those that would have killed you. If he crosses my path, or yours, I will show him no mercy! He will die a slow and painful death!" Eric was looking positively pissed off now, and when he was pissed off, he was scary.

"Eric, please!" I said, pulling away from him a bit. His anger was roiling through our bond and the force of it overwhelmed me. I instinctively covered my face and my body began to shake. I had that horrid feeling of imminent attack, like I had when the nightmares came. "Please, Eric, stop!" I pleaded.

"Hush, Kjære, hush. Calm yourself," he said, stroking my arms. "We will speak no more of it. Hush." His anger abruptly abated and cool comfort swept through our bond again as I leaned into his strong embrace.

"Thalia!" Eric barked. "Your mistress needs a glass of milk." What I really needed was a stiff gin and tonic, but I wasn't drinking these days. Milk was Eric's cure-all for pregnant women and it would have to do.

Thalia jumped up from the table and went to the cupboard to fetch a glass. She filled it with milk from the carton in the fridge and brought it over to me. Eric stared at me unblinking until I had drunk half the glass. "Good," he said, as if now all was right with the world. I set the half full glass of milk on the table and snuggled back against Eric's chest and yawned.

"You should sleep, Lover."

"In a little while, I thought we would read for a bit. Do you want to join us tonight?" The idea of reading aloud seemed a nice thing to do on a rainy night. Jan would miss a few chapters, since he was at the bar tonight, but he could catch up.

"For a little while," Eric agreed and we all got up and moved to the living room.

"Thalia and I are reading aloud," I informed the newcomers and then had an idea. "Would you like to read, Daniel? You have a very beautiful voice." I didn't know how long I could keep my eyes open. It seemed the better part of valor to let someone else be the reader. Daniel nodded, looking surprised and pleased to be asked, so I handed him the book, pointing out where we had left off. Eric and I snuggled up on the couch and I noticed Thomas and Thalia eyeing each other speculatively before they sat next to each other on the floor. Pam, obviously amused by the whole routine curled her beautiful body into one of the chairs, looking disdainful, but for once not voicing a comment. Daniel took the other chair.

"Interview With the Vampire, Chapter Four," Daniel began, taking up where we had left off. His voice was deep and melodious, lulling me into a place between wakefulness and sleeping. A soft thrumming seemed to be coming from Eric in the place where my head rested against his chest. Not a sound exactly, it certainly wasn't a heartbeat. It was more like a harmonic vibration. I thought it might be our bond. Whatever it was, it made me feel happy and content and it wasn't long before I fell asleep in Eric's arms.


	33. Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33

I have never considered myself a deep thinker. I'd garnered most of my philosophy (and history) of the world from reading romance novels. I was about as scientific as a saltine, although I did pick up quite a bit from the Discovery Channel. Theology came mostly from Sunday school and the local Methodist preacher with a sprinkling of Bible verses that gran used when she wanted to make a point about something. I could count the non-Christians I had met on one hand probably, and those were all within the last year or so. I still didn't think I'd ever met a Jew.

If somebody in Bon Temps had brought up the subject of angels and demons, they'd almost certainly be talking about the latest Dan Brown novel or movie. Sitting at the table enjoying my first cup of coffee for the day, I pondered everything I thought I'd known about angels. Were the fairy angels that Claudine had aspired to something different from the Christian angels? Or was Daniel correct and had Christianity co-opted the concept?

Certainly "fairy" tales were turning out to be something different than just stories to amuse or frighten children with. Kind of like the way tales of vampires and werewolves were not just stories anymore. There was probably a real Sasquatch out there too! I was being forced to reevaluate everything I'd grown up to think was true and right. Were the ancient gods of myth and legends a reality too?

Dermott was probably my best source of information, but I didn't quite trust him and wasn't sure how to approach him safely. I wasn't going to just go barreling into a potentially hazardous situation like I might have in the past. I'd learned that much at least. Maybe Amelia could find something out through her contacts with the witches.

As if my mind had reached out over the airwaves, the phone rang. It was Amelia.

"Hey, I was just thinking about you Amelia," I greeted her.

"Oh, good, you're up," she said. "I didn't want to call too early."

"Yeah, I'm up, still having my coffee. I have an appointment at noon today to get ready for."

"I want to come over. I've got a bunch of stuff for you, and I thought we'd make some plans, you know, about what I'll be doing? When are you getting home? Will the guards let me in?" Amelia sounded excited and I realized how much I'd missed her enthusiasm.

"Come on by anytime after one. I'm just meeting Alcide for lunch over at Applebee's and that will give me an excuse to get out of there if he's being a jerk or something. I'll tell the guards to let you in if I'm not back. It'll be good to see you Amelia."

"Yeah, I've missed you," she said and that sure made me feel good. "Okay, see you around one."

Looking at the clock, I realized I better get ready to go, since I was still in my bathrobe and slippers. It looked like a beautiful day and I was determined to wear a dress and get some sun on my legs, scars or no scars. Anyway, my jeans were getting too tight around my belly. Everything was a little tight on my bosom too, maybe time for some shopping? I thought I'd better throw some clothes in the washer too before I left for lunch.

I managed to get to the Applebee's just a few minutes after twelve, and Alcide had already gotten us a booth. I had told the guards that I had pack business to discuss and wanted privacy, so they took a table a little ways away, but close enough to keep an eye on things.

Alcide got up from the table when I arrived and gave me a big hug. I wasn't sure if I was comfortable with that anymore, but decided not to protest and start off with some kind of 'issue'.

"You look great, Sookie," Alcide said, glancing down at my outfit. I had picked out a belted, white summer dress with big blue flowers, white strappy sandals and some blue glass bead earrings. The dress had a full skirt and came just to my knees, so the worst of my scars were covered. I had noticed when I was getting dressed that the scars were fading a bit. Maybe all the vampire blood was helping?

"Thanks Alcide, you're looking pretty good yourself." Alcide was a big man, and handsome. At one time he had been the stuff of my daydreams, but between his psycho girlfriend Debby, and his habit of getting me into life threatening situations, I was glad nothing had ever come of the attraction.

The waitress came by with menus and Alcide asked for a pot of coffee. "I'm starving!" I said, as I looked at what they had to offer. I hadn't bothered with breakfast, since I had gotten up so close to lunchtime. I needed to come up with a better routine, so I wouldn't be skipping so many meals.

Alcide and I engaged in small talk for a few minutes while the waitress brought our coffee and took our orders. "So how are things with the pack since the Big Reveal?" I asked Alcide. The two-natured had only revealed their existence to the public a few months before.

"On the whole, I would say very well here in Louisiana. We've had a few so-called hunting accidents, some harassment by the FOTS, but nothing too bad so far. There will be a lot of legal wrangling before it all gets ironed out though."

"There are still issues about the vampires in court and they've been out for years now," I said. "I'm glad no one's been killed though. It hasn't affected your business?"

"No. If anything, I think its been free advertising. A were in construction seems okay to people. It's a little different when they get someone two-natured teaching their kids. We get some of our people from the air base, and the military hasn't made a ruling on the situation. Maybe they'll try 'don't ask, don't tell' like they do with the gays."

Since the waitress brought our orders to the table, I didn't get a chance to voice my opinion on how stupid the whole 'don't ask, don't tell' policy was. You'd think someone willing to risk their lives for their country could enjoy the freedom they fought for and sleep with whomever they chose. Hell, I was sleeping with a vampire!

We both enjoyed our lunch for a few minutes before Alcide got around to what he really wanted to talk about. I'd known he had an agenda, and I guessed I wasn't going to like it.

"Sookie, you know Quinn's been banned from the whole of Eric's territory, right?"

"I don't know any such thing, Alcide. I don't get involved in supernatural politics." I had known that Quinn wasn't welcome in Area 5, when Eric was the sheriff, but I hadn't thought about the implications of Eric now being in charge of the whole state.

"You are involved, Sookie, whether you like it or not. You're a friend of the pack and you're married to the king of the fucking vampires." I gave Alcide a disapproving look for his language and he looked momentarily abashed.

"Since when is Quinn pack business, Alcide? He's a tiger, not a wolf."

"Since the weres have formed alliances with the rest of the two-natured. It's the only way this whole revelation is going to work out, Sookie, if everyone sticks together. Quinn's been doing ceremonies for the weres for a long time and some of us think it shouldn't be up to the vampires who comes and goes here." Alcide was looking pretty pissed off and had that 'energy' thing going that the two-natured seemed to put out when they were going to change.

"You know if you take on the vamps, everyone will lose, Alcide. It's a lose-lose proposition. It'll just fuel the fire for groups like the FOTS to say what a threat you all are. And I'm not going to get caught in the middle of some war like I did with the fairies. Not going to happen, Alcide!" I brought my hand down a little forcefully on the top of the table, rattling the dishes.

Although I hadn't been shouting, it was clear that I was getting agitated and Travis left his seat to come over to the table. "Everything okay here, Mrs. Northman?" he asked quietly, looking at Alcide.

"We're fine, Travis, nothing to worry about," I reassured him. He looked at me then, and deciding that I was okay, he went back to his seat. Alcide looked about ready to spit that Travis had interfered, but he though better of making an issue of it in such a public place, so he didn't say a word. Maybe the fact that they looked pretty much evenly matched had something to do with it. Actually I'd put my money on Travis with his military training, if push came to shove.

"Listen, Sookie, I'm not saying we're going to war or any such thing. Eric's been pretty supportive about the weres coming out and he's been a good employer for our pack. I know it's a personal thing with him and Quinn. I just thought you could talk to him about it. He might listen to you. It was one thing when he was just barred from Shreveport, but now it's the whole state, Arkansas too. I know you guys had something together in the past, but being your ex shouldn't threaten his livelihood."

"He betrayed the vampires of Louisiana, Alcide. He works for Victor Madden." I put my hand up to forestall Alcide's comments until I'd had my say. "I know he had a good reason for ending up with the vamps of Las Vegas. He had to, for his mom and his sister. But he never warned me, Alcide, until Victor was just about at my door. I didn't hear from him for months, even though he said he cared for me. And I ended up smack in the middle of that with my house surrounded by vampires. I don't know if I can forgive him for that, and I don't think Eric can either."

I had lost my appetite by this time and was ready to pick up my purse and go. I had rehashed the whole thing with Quinn over and over in my head and I didn't want to revisit the subject. I hadn't felt good about some of the reasons for my decision about Quinn, but I knew that I had made the right one.

"So you won't talk to Eric about this?" Alcide pressed the point even though I could hear in his head that he didn't think Quinn stood a chance in hell of being allowed back in Louisiana whether I spoke up for him or not. He had felt it was his obligation to speak up for Quinn.

"I'll talk to him Alcide, since you are asking, although I doubt it will make a difference. And I think if he comes anywhere near me, Eric will kill him."

"And you're okay with that?" Alcide asked. He was thinking I sure had gotten hard, just what my brother had said too. Maybe I had, but I was being realistic.

"No, I don't want that, Alcide. I just don't want him knocking on my door again. Other than that, I don't care what he does." I was so done with this whole meeting with Alcide, so I played the next appointment card.

"Alcide, I have to get going. Amelia is heading over from Bon Temps and I don't want to keep her waiting too long. It was good to see you, and I'll talk to Eric about Quinn tonight." I grabbed my purse and slid out of the booth. Alcide stood too, and looked me over again, his gaze resting on my belly this time. I shut my shields down tight. I didn't want his opinion on that.

"Thanks for coming, Sookie. You take care of yourself." The guards were standing too and Jim was putting some money on the table for their lunch. I figured I'd let Alcide buy my lunch, what little I'd eaten of it anyway. The were put his arms out to give me a hug and my irritation abated a bit as I hugged him back. He was very warm, as all were animals were and his hug felt good. Alcide was a good man with a lot on his plate and I think he meant well.

"Thanks for lunch, Alcide," I said and walked out of the restaurant.

Amelia got to the house not long after I did and she enlisted Jim and Louis to help her unload her car. "What'd you do, Amelia, buy out the store?" I asked as I carried in a bag full of groceries.

"I got you everything you need for baking. This way you can make biscuits or cookies or something. I figured if Bobby was doing the grocery shopping he wouldn't think about things like flour and baking soda. I thought we could put all the food away and work on the shopping list, then go out and look at furniture."

"Furniture?" Both of my houses were pretty well furnished, so I wasn't sure why I would need furniture.

"For the lair. That's what I'm calling the vampire bomb shelter under the garage. I thought we'd get an extra long mattress for Eric since he is so huge!" Amelia smiled and rolled her eyes at that and I joined her in the sentiment. "We'll need sheets and towels and pillows and all of that kind of thing. They are finishing the painting today, so we can set it up later in the week. This way, if you want to come stay at night, the vamps have somewhere to go to ground in the morning. Then there's the nurseries to think about. I measured the room in Bon Temps and I brought my tape measure to measure the room here too."

Amelia started digging in her bags and brought out a tape measure, pad and pencil, a few mail order catalogues and a laptop computer. She was a veritable Mary Poppins, all she needed was an umbrella.

"You had lunch, right?" Amelia asked.

"Well, actually, I didn't eat much. I got a little annoyed with Alcide and I just lost my appetite."

Amelia looked at me disapprovingly. "Well, lunch first then. I brought all kinds of food. I can make us some sandwiches while you tell me what Alcide was on about."

While I told Amelia what Alcide had had to say, we started unpacking bags and Amelia rummaged through drawers and cupboards until she was familiar enough with the kitchen to make us some lunch. Before long we were sitting with turkey sandwiches and cokes at the kitchen table.

"I think you're right," Amelia said. "Eric will kill Quinn if he comes back here."

"Yeah, well, I'll tell Eric what Alcide said and then I'm staying out of it. I've had enough trouble."

"That's settled then. Have you been making a list of what you need? Maybe we can pick some of it up today. Everything else, I can order for you online. Your computer will be here today or tomorrow, I got next day shipping. Then you can just order whatever you need, or email me and I'll deal with it." I couldn't believe Amelia had already ordered the computer. She was like a whirlwind, wasting no time on getting things done.

Before long we were on our way to the mall, list in hand. I decided to drive my car, so Amelia and I could gossip privately and the guys flanked us with two vehicles. A little excessive maybe, but I was learning to just enjoy the safety.

"I have the schedule for the spring ball," Amelia informed me. Sophie Anne had started the tradition of a spring ball and Eric was continuing it. It was only two weeks away. "We can look at dresses today if we have time, or we can pick one up in New Orleans. They have a nice maternity shop there, A Pea in the Pod, where we can get clothes for you, too. You'll be in New Orleans for a few days before the ball won't you?"

"I think so. I'll pin Eric down on when we are leaving. I am going to need to get some everyday stuff soon. None of my jeans are fitting anymore, but my dresses still fit. The ball is going to be the big thing though." Most of the vampires from Louisiana and Arkansas would be there, as would some visiting dignitaries from other states. Since a summit wouldn't be scheduled this year, high court would be scheduled the same week, while the vamps had more than one monarch in the same place. Personally, after the Rhodes disaster, I thought they were crazy to put so many vampires in one place at the same time, but I didn't make the plan.

Amelia and I had a good time shopping. We hit a mattress place and ordered three beds for the "lair", then to the department store for all the bedding. We picked out sheets, comforters and pillows, all good quality. Vamps could sleep just about anywhere, they didn't really have a choice once the sun was up, but I wanted my vampires to be as comfortable as possible.

We arranged for the beds to be delivered to Bon Temps. Everything else got crammed into the cars. After a stop at the kitchen store, where we managed to get almost everything on the list, we headed for Babies R Us.

"We don't have to get anything today, we have lots of time," I said, overwhelmed at how much stuff was out there for babies.

"You need to start looking at what is available so you can choose," Amelia said. "We can look online too, but it's nice to actually see what you're going to buy." Amelia was taking notes as we walked through the store, and snapping pictures on her phone whenever I liked something.

"I want to go up in the attic in the Bon Temps house and see if the cradle is still there," I said. "I'm sure gran would have kept it. It was mine and Jason's. I used it for my dolls after I moved to gran's house. It's probably a little beat up, but maybe we could paint it or have it refinished?" The thought of using something from my childhood appealed to me.

"Oh sure. That would be nice. You want me to look for it?"

"No, I want to get up there anyway and see what else gran squirreled away," I told Amelia. "Maybe I'll come over later this week. We can make up the beds and Eric can try out the 'lair' and I can deal with the attic."

As soon as I said it, I knew that's what I really wanted to do. I had planned on going through that stuff after gran died, but had always put it off, thinking it would be too sad. I'd sort of wondered if there would be any thing up there that would give me information about my grandfather Fintan. It wasn't likely that she would have left a diary or pictures or anything, though, where her husband could have found them.

As we headed down the crib aisle, without warning, Amelia shrieked, "Oh my god! Fairies, Sookie!" I jumped and then instinctively ducked, pulling Amelia down with me.

The guards surrounded us in an instant, weapons drawn, their massive bodies forming a shield. Jim pulled out what appeared to be a radio to call in backup or something. I opened my mind to hear what might be coming at us. And Amelia started laughing!

"What happened, Ma'am?" Travis said, and Amelia laughed harder. The guards were looking around to identify the threat, but apparently there wasn't one. After a few moments, they stowed their weapons away and looked at Amelia for explanation. Amelia was sitting on the floor and was clutching a bundle of what looked like bedding in her hands.

"Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! What's going on, Amelia?" I said, shaking still from the adrenaline pumping in my veins. "You about scared me to death!"

"You gotta see this, Sookie! We are definitely buying this!" She handed me the bundle.

It was a beautiful pink crib set with soft cotton, yards of silk ribbon and the most adorable fairies you ever saw, complete with wings and wands. "Jessica McClintock Fairy Dust Crib Bedding Set," I read on the package. Good Lord! And here I had thought she was shrieking because fairies were about to snatch us up.

"Sorry, I just got excited. Isn't it the most perfect thing you ever saw? And then everyone freaked out and it just struck me as funny." She started laughing again. I couldn't help but smile at her amusement, even if it had been at my expense.

"Yes, I guess it is just about perfect. Thalia and Pam are gonna love it!" I said.

The men were looking at us like we had lost our minds. Jim stepped to the side to get back on his radio. I had no idea what the other customers were thinking about our show of force, especially in a place with kids. Fortunately it seemed like we were the only people on that aisle. I figured we better just leave as soon as possible before security showed up and we had to explain ourselves. Amelia, undaunted as always, took the bedding up to the cash register and told me to pull out my credit card.

"I'll come over tomorrow and we can set up your computer and get you started," Amelia told me on the way home. "I've talked to Liz and we have someone we think will work to help out at the house too. She's worked for supes before, so she won't be freaked out by the vampires. She's looking for part time and can come in two or three days a week to cook and clean and do the laundry."

"Have you met her?" I asked.

"No, but she comes highly recommended. Mr. Cataliades knows her. I don't think she's completely human. Her name is Grace."

"Not like Diantha I hope." I liked Diantha, but I couldn't see spending that much time around her.

"I know what you mean about Diantha, a little intense, isn't she? I'm not sure what Grace is, but I wouldn't be surprised if she's part demon or something. I think we'll just have to meet this woman. Do you want me to interview her first?"

I thought about that for a minute, but realized that even if Amelia thought she would be perfect, I might not. Better to just talk to her myself. "No, let's see her together."

"Good, I'll see if she can come tomorrow."

"Eric is having Bobby look at bigger houses," I said, "since we seem to have quite an entourage these days."

"I think that's a good idea," Amelia commented.

"I was a little annoyed at the idea at first, especially because Eric just set Bobby to looking without saying anything. But I think it's a good idea too. I like our little house, but it's getting a little crowded. It'll be a while before we can move though, if we find a place. We'll have to get it vampire proofed."

We got back to the house a little before nightfall. Amelia and I decided to put everything away the next day, since she wanted to get home to have supper with Bob, and I wanted to spend some time with Eric before he headed off to work. Then I was going to make myself a nice supper and maybe bake some cookies for the guards. I needed to be eating more, and they needed a reward for spending the afternoon shopping with two crazy women.

I snacked on a banana and a glass of milk then headed downstairs to the bedroom. Eric was splayed out on the bed in the exact position I'd left him in that morning. His glorious butt was on display along with his finely muscled back and wonderfully broad shoulders. He looked good enough to eat.

I stripped off my clothes and climbed onto the bed next to him, snuggling up against him and pulling the quilt over us. I stroked the side of his face and enjoyed the feeling of the energy that hummed between us and bound us together. As the sun sunk below the horizon, my vampire opened his beautiful blue eyes.

"My lover," he said softly and he inhaled as he took in my scent.

"Are you hungry, sweetie?"

He made a low noise that was almost a growl, and I took that for assent. It sent shivers right down to my toes. I brushed my hair back with my hand, baring my neck for him.

"Breakfast in bed?" I offered.

Note: Thanks again to Charlaine Harris for creating most of the characters in this story, and thank you to all of you have written such kind reviews. It has motivated me to keep going. I hope you are enjoying reading this as much as I am enjoying the writing. Wishing you all Happy Holidays.


	34. Chapter 34

CHAPTER 34

"You smell particularly tasty tonight, Lover."

Eric seemed to be enjoying himself sniffing and licking my neck, like I was a new flavor of Popsicle or something. Vampires were funny that way. I often found myself thinking how very like cats they were. No matter how often you fed them, they always seemed to be hungry and would fix their eyes on their prey like a cat staring at an empty food dish. They were always quick to pounce on anything that moved and didn't seem to mind batting their meal around a bit before they took a bite.

"Are you going to play with your food all night or are you going to eat, big guy?" I asked, sliding my fingers down his back and over the curve of his gorgeous butt, pulling him in a little closer.

"In a hurry tonight, are we?" His fingers trailed lightly along the path of my collarbone, almost tickling.

"Or are you practicing for motherhood, correcting my table manners?" I squirmed a bit as he traced a circle around my breast.

"Will you suckle me like a babe when these beautiful breasts fill with milk?" His big cool hands cupped my breast and he lowered his head to run his tongue over my nipple.

"Shush, Eric," I whispered.

"Yes, Mom."

Not knowing whether to giggle or moan, I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him deep inside me. His lips closed around my nipple, his fangs grazing the tender flesh as he sucked and he began to move inside me.

I responded in a very non-maternal way and it wasn't long before I was left breathless and content at Eric's side. He purred and licked lazily at the puncture marks as I ran my fingers aimlessly through his golden hair.

"Eric?"

"Yes, Kjære?"

"That's the first time anyone called me mom." There was something exhilarating about the title and at the same time it signified a responsibility that was pretty frightening. Amazing how much weight a single word could carry.

"It will certainly not be the last, Lover. I expect you will get tired of hearing it after a while."

"I can't imagine that I could ever get tired of it, Eric."

"Perhaps not," he said as he laid his hand on my belly.

The little bump seemed to be growing a bit every day now. Before long I wouldn't be able to see my toes. I wondered how it would affect our sex life a few months down the road. Eric was nothing if not creative however and no doubt we would manage just fine.

"I found something for the baby today."

I told Eric about our adventures in Babies R Us and the cute fairy bedding set Amelia and I had purchased. I thought he would be amused at my overreaction but his reaction was more concern than amusement.

"I am glad that you had your guards so close even if there was no actual threat. You should always call for them if anything disturbs you. It is good practice for them if nothing else. But I am sorry that you were alarmed, Lover. I can send more men out with you next time."

"No, Eric! It is already a whole stage production for me to go out as it is. It is one thing to feel guarded and another to feel like I'm a prisoner."

"As you wish. What else did you do today? I hope you ate well."

This was always the best part of my day, talking with Eric. It wasn't like I usually had anything very exciting to relate. He was a guy after all, and a vampire at that, so the little details of my human life probably weren't very riveting to him. But he showed interest in everything that happened while I was away from him, no matter how trivial. Maybe he was just pretending interest to humor me, but I didn't care. Today, however, I had something to talk about that would certainly hold his attention.

"I had lunch with Alcide this afternoon. He wanted me to talk to you about Quinn."

Yes, that got his attention! He sat up, leaning his head on one elbow and directed his gaze at me. His body went very still in the way only vampires could, waiting for me to continue. I proceeded to tell him about my conversation with Alcide, leaving out how upset I had gotten. He'd hear about that from Travis anyway, no doubt, and he wouldn't like it.

"And he expects you will intercede on behalf of the tiger and I will not be able to refuse you? Because I let Compton live, for your sake? Is that why the cowardly dog goes through my wife instead of bringing this issue to me as he should?"

Eric was pissed now and I could feel the anger building up and flowing through our bond as he turned away from me. Instead of shrinking from it this time though, I pushed back. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back, not that I could restrain him if he didn't choose to allow it.

"Don't be angry at Alcide, Eric," I soothed, stroking his arm. "Quinn is respected by the were community, and I am part of that community too, whether I want to be or not. Because of that, Alcide was right to bring this to me, especially if my past is the reason that Quinn is barred from Louisiana."

Eric's muscles tensed each time I spoke Quinn's name, and I already knew there was nothing I could say that would influence him. I wasn't going to debate the decision with Eric.

Eric took a long moment to reflect on what he would say next. I could feel that he was trying to leash his anger, to keep it from me. He was waiting for me to take up Quinn's cause, as I might have done not too long ago, and he was dreading having to refuse me something that I asked for.

"It is not just about you, My Lover, although that is reason enough," he said. He looked at me to see if I would argue the point, looking relieved when I remained silent.

"The respect of the weres may have been earned by the tiger," he conceded, "but there is the issue of Andre's death. I hold the tiger partially responsible for the fall of Sophie Anne."

That was unexpected. So Eric had divined that it was Quinn that had killed Andre. Quinn had done it for my sake. I had not even tried to prevent the murder, so I was at least partially culpable. I felt compelled to speak up then, but Eric held his finger to my lips, forestalling my explanation.

"Even that, I might have forgiven, since I know he was thinking of your well being. But when he worked with de Castro against us, that I cannot forgive," he said with conviction.

"You can argue that he had his reasons for working with the Nevada vampires," he continued, anticipating what most certainly would have been my argument. "But he left you vulnerable when he should have warned you, knowing that you were an asset that de Castro would use ruthlessly." He paused and considered his next words. "Or was he promised you as a reward for his treachery? For that I would enjoy tearing him into small pieces, slowly, with my bare hands!" he hissed.

I shuddered at the thought of what Eric was capable of. I had seen the results of his fury when he and Bill had slaughtered five men in my living room after they had attacked me in Bon Temps. And he not bothered to take his time then. Bile rose in my throat at the thought. As if he could feel my revulsion, Eric calmed himself and began to stroke my hair.

"Do not distress yourself, Kjære. The tiger is safe enough under the tender care of Victor Madden. I will leave him be if he is wise enough to stay out of my grasp. I cannot trust him and I will never grant him permission to enter my territory." With that, I could see that Eric was finished with the topic of Quinn and he moved on as if we had been discussing the weather.

"Come, Lover," Eric said, giving me a quick kiss and getting out of bed. "I will wash you and then we must find you some supper. We must keep our child well fed if she is to grow up as beautiful and strong as her mother."

My other vampires were sitting around the table drinking their meal when we emerged from the bedroom. I joined them at the table after I made myself a sandwich and cut up some fruit for my dinner. Eric placed the obligatory glass of milk in front of me.

"Don't you prefer a hot meal, Lover?" Eric asked, looking askance at my menu choice.

"Generally I do, Eric, but I didn't feel like making anything. I'm going to bake cookies tonight, for the guards, and that is all the cooking I want to do tonight."

"I can have something sent over from the restaurant and why are you cooking for the guards?" His look of disapproval was going to spoil my appetite.

"I'm baking them cookies because I want to and no thanks, I'm fine with this. Drink your blood and stop fussing, Eric."

Jan and Thalia seemed to be enjoying Eric's discomfiture at being told to butt out and Pam was very definitely smirking. Eric growled and everyone's face snapped back to their usual inscrutable vampire guise.

"Tomorrow I'm going to interview a housekeeper, and if that works out, she can cook when I don't feel like it. I'm hoping she can grocery shop too."

I didn't mind grocery shopping, but it really was a production going out with the troops that accompanied me. And when the baby came into the picture, that would add a whole other level of complexity to going out.

Eric nodded approval and everyone settled in to watch me eat. It had taken me a while to be used to eating with an audience but it no longer made me uncomfortable. Since all of my vampires were up there on the longevity charts, they seemed quite comfortable with the situation too. Just one big happy family!

"Hey Pam," I said, when it appeared that no one else was going to share. "Check out the bag on the counter, I got something for the baby today."

"Oh, is it baby clothes?" Pam jumped up eagerly to retrieve the bag. Pam just loved clothes, it didn't matter who was getting outfitted. I hated to disappoint her when she saw that it was just bedding.

"These are beautiful," Pam said as she held up the fancy crib set. "I love the fairies, so appropriate! Eric, have you seen this?"

Pam passed each item to Eric who handled everything as if he were being passed poisonous snakes.

"I am not sure that I can identify what I am looking at," he said and passed the items to Jordun who looked equally confounded.

"They are for the crib, Eric," I informed him. "You know, the baby's bed?"

"Oh, she will not sleep with us? That can hardly be safe."

"Sookie, you really must buy Eric a book about baby care," Pam said. "He is no doubt quite ignorant on modern methods of child rearing. Although surely even in your day, Eric, there were crates or something where you stowed the children while their nannies were busy. We had cradles of course." Pam said this as if her era was the epitome of modern living and Eric was an ancient artifact.

Eric, at a loss for words for once, seemed unsure how to answer. He hated not being an authority on everything for a change.

"Well, yes of course there was some method for storing the children while they were under their mother's care. Usually a cradle of some sort, carved from wood. They were constructed much like we might build a small boat. But generally the children slept in bed with their parents, to keep them warm."

Of course ancient vampires probably paid very little attention to what happened with babies nowadays. It appeared that babies were generally not considered an acceptable menu item, but beyond that, they were just not considered at all. Seeing as vampires were all sterile, that wasn't surprising.

"Speaking of cradles," I interjected, "I wanted to go through the attic in Bon Temps. I think the cradle that Jason and I used might be up there still. We could use it for the baby. Three beds are being delivered for the new vampire room and Amelia and I bought sheets and stuff. I thought maybe we could spend a night there and you could try out the new room and I could spend some time going through things at the house. It should be all ready in the next few days."

"Yes, that would be okay," Eric said. "I will arrange it with Travis, to make sure there are guards at both houses those days. I can join you there after work. It would be nice for you to have something from your childhood for the baby."

"I should be getting my new computer tomorrow too, and maybe Amelia can show me how to order a book for you, Eric. I'm sure there are lots of good books about taking care of babies."

"That will be quite edifying, I'm sure," Eric said, looking mortified at the thought of childcare.

Not wanting to admit that I had no idea of what edifying meant, I just agreed. I would need to add a dictionary to my list of needed items for the house. Maybe I could get one online!

I could see that the idea of men caring for children was a foreign concept to someone as old as Eric. Well, he would just have to get over himself. After he got used to the idea I was sure that Eric could change a diaper with as much skill as he did everything else. He was certainly not fazed by stuff that would gross most humans out. How bad could a baby be?

Thalia came in before long and oohed and ahhed over the baby things. The men took their manly, too big and bad for baby stuff selves off to Fangtasia and left the ladies in charge of the household for the evening. Pam and Thalia and I talked baby clothes and nursery design while I busied myself with the chore of baking cookies and packing them away for the next day. I managed to enjoy a few of them with the last of my milk before I hauled my weary body to bed.

By the time I got ready for the day and came up for breakfast the next day, Amelia had the coffee going and was typing away on my new Mac laptop. It wasn't long before she had me set up with email and we were googling away.

"Amelia, do you think we can find any real information on the supernatural on this?"

Computers were one of the things I had never had time or money for in what I thought of as "my old life". I'd seen dead men walking and ectoplasmic reconstructions, but if you asked me, this was the real magic. The whole world of shopping at your fingertips. It was better than QVC!

We had managed to kill half the morning looking at the comparisons and reviews of everything we'd seen in the stores the day before. My mind was whirling with information. How could anyone make a decision when there were so many choices? Gran and I had sure had a simple life in our old farmhouse with just enough to live on. Bon Temps had thought itself real lucky to have a Wal-Mart. My world was sure expanding.

"There are some networks that the Wiccans use, to keep in touch mostly. They don't actually publish spells and such though. Not on any site open to the public. It's too dangerous if it gets in the wrong hands."

"But you can get on some of those, can't you?" I asked. Amelia was a pretty powerful witch, but her coven had mostly been dispersed after Katrina. I had no idea if she kept up with other covens around the world.

"Yeah, I can. I've already sent out some queries to see what the witches know about angels. It seems like there just isn't much reliable information about fairies though. Maybe someone will respond who's had personal interaction with an angel. That's where we will get something useful. You have to be patient."

"Have you seen Dermott around the Bon Temps house? He might be the best source. I should call my brother and see if he's still hanging around Jason's house. I'll talk to Mr. Cataliades when we go to New Orleans, too."

"That's probably your best bet, Sook. He's part demon after all, and didn't Claudine say they were some kind of fairy too?"

I sure was missing Claudine. If she was the angel (and I felt that surely it must be Claudine) she didn't seem to be communicating with me at all. Maybe she wasn't here because of me but for the baby? Eric thought she was the baby's guardian angel, not mine.

"I haven't seen Dermott around since you left," Amelia continued. "But I think he's too dangerous to approach. I'm going to meet up with Octavia in New Orleans. She will see what she can find out. And there's her guy Louis, he's been around the supe community a long time. Maybe we can talk with him, although he's kind of scary, don't you think? With all those tattoos."

"They're all scary, Amelia."

We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto, I thought to myself. A picture of the trailer Bill had dropped onto the Rattrays popped into my head. Denise fit the bill for the Wicked Witch of the West. Then there was Dr. Ludwig. She would fit right in with the Munchkins. I was just skipping down the Yellow Brick Road, picking up strange companions along the way.

"We're off to see the Wizard," I mumbled.

"Speaking of scary, where is that gorgeous hunk of vampire, Jordun? Is he planning to stay in Shreveport?" Amelia asked wistfully. She hadn't thought he was so scary when she'd first met him.

"Yeah, he's pretty much Eric's second in command now. He always asks about you."

Amelia started to move about the room, wiping off the already clean counter and refolding the dishtowel, usually a clear sign that she was anxious. Although generally a clear broadcaster, at that point her mind was just a string of disjointed thoughts. Most of them centered on Bob.

"What's going on? Aren't things working out with Bob?" Maybe it was none of my business, but Amelia was my friend.

"Nothing really," she said, busying herself refilling our coffee cups. "It's just that I'm not sure what he's doing here."

I wasn't sure what to say in response to that, so I just sat quietly, figuring Amelia would probably spit out what was on her mind when she was ready. She wasn't one to keep things bottled up. Sure enough, it all came tumbling out.

"I feel like I owe him, you know? Since he spent all that time as a cat, even though it was an accident! I tried to change him back. Octavia could have changed him back when she first saw him and chose not to, so it wasn't all my fault." The indignant sound of Amelia's voice clashed with the guilty look on her face.

"You'd think if he still held that against you that he wouldn't have moved in with you," I suggested.

"Yeah, I guess. But I hardly knew him before the whole cat thing. We get along okay and the sex is great, but I still don't feel like I know him very well. He goes back and forth to New Orleans or he hangs out at Merlotte's. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like he's waiting for something and he's just killing time with me until it happens."

"Do you really care for him, Amelia?"

I didn't get an answer to my question since just as Amelia opened her mouth to answer, the doorbell rang.

"Oh Lord, the housekeeper. I almost forgot she was coming," Amelia said as she glanced at her watch, then pulled herself together and hustled to the front door.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't Grace Maclaren. Barely five feet tall and very trim, she was dressed conservatively in a black slack suit and a white button down blouse. Her face was as brown and wrinkled as a walnut and at first impression I would have guessed her age at upwards of sixty. When she smiled in greeting, I was less sure. Her guise took on a more youthful aspect and the sparkle in her eyes gave her the look of someone not much older than forty.

"Ms. Maclaren, won't you come in and sit down?" I asked her politely after a brief introduction, gesturing toward the sofa. "Can I get you something to drink, coffee or tea?"

Amelia and I had laid out a plate of cookies on the coffee table and had planned to sit with the housekeeper and do a proper interview. Of course I had no idea how to interview a housekeeper, but it couldn't be much different than hiring a waitress and I had helped Sam do that more than once. Grace Maclaren had a different idea.

With a take-charge manner that seemed surprising for such a small person, my prospective maid reached into a bag that I hadn't noticed was hanging from her shoulder and took out a manila folder which she handed to me.

"Please show me the kitchen," she said, still smiling. After a brief hesitation, I directed her that way. Amelia was staring open-mouthed and although I could guess that she was on the verge of saying something, curiosity got the better of her and she followed behind.

Grace directed us to sit and nodded at the envelope while she proceeded to inspect each cupboard, carefully surveying its contents. Somewhat nonplussed I decided to go with the flow and see what she had brought. Inside were two letters of recommendation, one from Mr. Cataliades and one from Dr. Ludwig.

Mr. Cataliades's very polite letter explained that Ms. Maclaren was a rare find and that she had worked for the Crane family previously. He personally guaranteed that she would give good service if she agreed to take the job. It took me a moment to recognize the name Crane as the one used by my cousins, Claude and Claudine.

Dr. Ludwig's letter was less formally cloaked and basically said I would be a damned fool if I did not treat Grace Maclaren with the utmost respect and that I would be lucky if Grace agreed to work for me. I was beginning to feel like I was the one that was going to be interviewed.

From behind the open refrigerator door came a series of "tsk tsks" that drew my attention away from the recommendations in front of me. I passed them to Amelia who looked as surprised as I was after she read them.

"I will have that coffee now. You may call me Grace." Grace made herself comfortable at the kitchen table, setting her bag down on the empty chair next to her. She looked at Amelia who got up from the table and set about pouring the coffee and bringing the cookies to the kitchen.

"How many vampires live here?" she asked me.

"Well," I began, but hesitated, not really sure myself. "There is Eric, my husband, of course. Then Jordun, he's Eric's second. He stays with Pam sometimes though. Pam is Eric's child. Jan stays here primarily, although sometimes he goes home with Thalia. She has her own house somewhere. She is part of the family though I guess. That's mostly it, although we have Thomas and Daniel, I guess they've been staying. I don't know if they're going to get their own place. I sort of think Thomas is interested in Thalia, or maybe it's the other way around. They seem to like being here. So that's how many, seven? There's the day guards too, but they're weres of course. Amelia's here a lot, but she lives in my other house, in Bon Temps."

"And there is a baby coming?"

"Yes, in August or September. We're not sure really. She's part fairy you see."

"Yes, I see," Grace said taking a cookie and giving it a preliminary small taste before she took a full bite and gave me a nod of approval.

I was finding myself surprisingly comfortable with the small woman. Although her physical appearance was nothing like my grandmother's, she reminded me of gran somehow. Maybe it was her direct manner or it might have just been the appreciative way she enjoyed her cookie, but I kind of hoped she decided to stay. She certainly came well recommended.

"We are in New Orleans sometimes," I volunteered. "We stay at the residence there, and they have a pretty big staff. We wouldn't need you then, but of course we would pay you anyway. Amelia will be keeping our schedule and can let you know when we'll be home. Or I can email you? I just got a computer. Amelia is teaching me how to use it."

I pointed out my new shiny computer and then felt like an idiot, acting like a kid with a new toy. I was supposed to be asking the questions and discussing her references and qualifications. This was a business transaction after all and what I really felt like doing was to tell her my whole life story.

Amelia probably had a list of things to discuss too, she always had a list, but she hadn't said a word. The woman was obviously not quite human; maybe she was using some kind of glamour? I sent out a little probe in her direction and encountered absolute silence.

Her eyebrows raised, and although she didn't comment, I could tell that she had felt my little intrusion.

"Sorry," I apologized sheepishly, realizing that reading her mind was probably some breach of etiquette.

"If you have questions, you may ask, Mrs. Northman. Or you, Miss Broadway," she added as an afterthought.

"Oh, call me Sookie," I said. "Amelia, do you have any questions?"

"No, I guess not," Amelia sputtered out, her mouth full of cookie.

"Well then, that's settled. I will talk to Ms. Richards regarding the financial arrangements. If you will inform the guards to let me pass, I will start tomorrow. I'll pick up groceries. I assume the vampires supply their own nourishment?" I nodded.

"You can email me if you have something specific you would like. I'll leave my card. It has my particulars. I can show myself out."

"Thank you Grace," I said and watched as she picked up her bag and walked out the door.

"Well, that was interesting," Amelia said as she stuffed another cookie into her mouth. "What just happened?"

"I think I just hired a housekeeper," I replied, "and I think she will be just perfect. I'm going to go out and tell Travis and maybe I should take the guys some of these cookies before we've eaten them all."


	35. Chapter 35

CHAPTER 35

Eric and I were lazing in bed as we usually did after he woke up, enjoying the little time that we seemed to have alone together. A little breathless (on my part) and feeling satisfied after our lovemaking, we were having our usual evening conversation. My vampire was in his now favorite position, his head resting on my belly, enjoying the fluttering sound of the baby's heartbeat.

"Would you like to come to Fangtasia tonight, My Love? You can have your dinner in my office. I find that I miss having you by my side when we are apart."

I couldn't see his face, but his voice betrayed the surprise he felt at this idea. For someone who had spent hundreds of years alone, it must be a new sensation to have such close companionship. I had had only a small taste of loneliness in comparison but the comfort I felt when we were together had become addictive. The doubt that this desire was anything more than the blood bond had given way to a confidence that it was something much more. It didn't matter in any case, whatever the reason, we were happy when we were together. As happy as two people of such disparate backgrounds could be.

"Yes, I'll come," I answered, then had a thought. "Let's leave Thomas and Thalia to guard the house while we're gone."

"Humph!" was his reply.

"Humph? What's that supposed to mean, Eric? What do you have against the two of them getting together. I think Thomas is quite taken with Thalia, and I don't think she'd kick him out of bed for eating crackers either!"

Eric raised his head up and plopped it on his elbow. He looked at me, his brows furrowed in puzzlement.

"I'm afraid I am completely befuddled by that statement, Lover. Would you care to explain?"

"You know, crackers? They leave crumbs?" But of course he wouldn't need to consider crumbs from his meals, bloodstains maybe. He didn't seem enlightened by my explanation.

"Never mind. The crackers aren't important. Why does it bother you that those two might be a couple? King and Queens get married; look at Russell Edgington. He married someone he is in love with. They have conjugal visits. It is part of their contract. And you had sex with Pam, she told me so."

"Yes, well, Pam is my child." This was said as if that was a perfectly obvious explanation.

"And the Kings?"

"That is a political alliance," he said, looking annoyed.

"I think you need to check your bullshit meter, Eric," I told him. "What is the real reason?"

Eric's long cool fingers began to stroke my thigh. His head nuzzled my belly a bit before he gave me a little nip. Surprisingly his fangs were not out. I popped him on top of the head.

"Stop that, Eric. You're not going to get out of this discussion that way!" I told him, although he probably would if his hand kept going.

He sighed with exasperation. He knew that I could be quite stubborn when I had a mind to be.

"Thalia has never kept a human for any length of time that anyone knows of. Nor has she created a child. And she has lived longer than almost any vampire still existent."

I tried to distill these facts into a reason she should not take a lover. I could only come to one conclusion.

"So, what you're saying is that it will weaken her somehow? That she stays alive because she distances herself from emotion? You think she is in love with Thomas."

"Exactly!" he said, sounding relieved that I had surmised his thought and that he didn't have to say it himself.

"And if Thomas hurts her or betrays her, she will give up and meet the sun. Is that what you are thinking?" I hesitated a moment before adding, "You're worried about Thalia. You care about her."

"Yes," he said as he moved his head back to my belly, hiding his face from me.

"But you fell in love with me. Does that weaken you?" I already knew the answer to that. I was a vulnerability to him. Because of me he had taken on de Castro, and things might have gone differently if he hadn't planned so carefully.

"I would not survive your loss, Kjære," he said softly. "I would not want to."

He moved quickly then, and was kissing me for all he was worth. I think he didn't want to hear any reply I might make. He didn't want to know that I might not survive if he was gone, but maybe he also didn't want to think that I might.

When I began sputtering, needing to come up for air, he sat up quickly and began to climb out of bed. The discussion was over.

"Come Lover. Unfortunately it is time to go to work. The vermin will need to be enthralled and Pam will be unpleasant if I do not go in and sign things."

God forbid that Pam should be unpleasant! It was funny how she could sway Eric with her caustic tongue and biting wit. If any other vampire spoke to Eric the way Pam did, Eric would just rip his throat out. But Pam was no fool, and I knew that Eric allowed her to be so disrespectful because of the deep respect he held for her. That, and a good dose of affection.

"Tell me about your interview with the housekeeper," Eric said as I was brushing out his hair.

I had to think about that for a long moment. The interview with Grace Maclaren had been nagging at me ever since her departure that afternoon. Amelia hadn't really wanted to talk about it. I had the feeling that the whole process had embarrassed her. Maybe Amelia thought she had fallen down on the job as my assistant by not asking questions. I tried to explain the strangeness of the meeting to Eric but found it difficult to put my feelings into words.

"Are you unhappy with the situation? It can easily be rectified with a phone call," he assured me. There wasn't much these days that Eric couldn't take care of with a phone call.

"Not at all! I'm really happy that she'll be coming," I said, as I secured Eric's braid with an elastic band. "I'll be glad of the help, especially when we have the baby. And she had good references, Mr. Cataliades and Dr. Ludwig. She worked for Claudine and Claude according to Mr. Cataliades."

"Did she? And what did you say she looked like?" I hadn't said a word about what she looked like, but Eric was looking very interested. I described her as well as I could.

"Ah," he said, looking pleased. "That explains it. It is a great honor to you that she would consider working for our little family, especially with so many vampires around."

"That explains what, Eric?" I said, not knowing what he was talking about. "And our family is hardly 'little' anymore," I threw in.

"I suspect she is a brownie, or part brownie more likely. If she was pure blood she would have stayed with Claude and gone back through the portal. A part blood might not be able to stay in the fae world."

"A brownie always chooses the family they will work for. They are very loyal. They must be treated with great respect as they do their work well and willingly. Of course the family they work for assumes the responsibility for the brownie's livelihood. We will of course do that for Ms. Maclaren."

"A brownie? I thought they were just fairy tales." I rummaged through my brain trying to remember anything I might have heard about brownies. A picture of little girls in brown dresses and sashes came to the forefront of my mind. He wouldn't be talking about girl scouts of course.

"And you thought vampires were just horror stories at one time too, no doubt," he said, grinning. "You might still think that!" he added menacingly and flashed his fangs as he grabbed me around the waist, pulling me to him.

"Oh please, big bad scary vampire, don't eat me!" I shrieked with mock fear.

"You might want to rethink that, Lover," his voice turned seductive as he slid his hand under my skirt.

"Yes, I might at that," I said, rubbing myself against his big strong fingers.

"We will be late for work, My Love, if you keep that up," he said as he slid my panties down to the floor.

"They can't fire you for being late, Eric. You're the boss."

If he had a response to that, he didn't voice it, since his mouth was busy with other things.

"We're really late now, Pam will be livid," Eric said when we were both spent and I was climbing off Eric's lap.

"I'll tell her it's my fault," I offered.

"It is your fault, Kjære. You are a temptress and I can't resist you."

"Put your pants on, Eric. She is formulating ways to get back at you as we speak." I stepped over to the mirror to check my dress.

"I hope you haven't gotten any blood on my dress," I admonished as I checked my neckline carefully. "Then I'll have to change"

"There you are, correcting my table manners again. Our poor child," he bemoaned unconvincingly. "Her mother will be such a strict disciplinarian."

"I'll show you strict if you don't head upstairs right now, Mister," I told Eric, taking his hand and leading him out of the bedroom.

"I hope that's a promise," Eric said and waggled his eyebrows at me. He really was such a brat!

Four vampires were waiting for us in the kitchen when we emerged. As if their movements had been choreographed they all raised their heads, sniffed the air and grinned at me at the same time.

"I see why we are late. Pam will be pissed," Jordun said, not looking worried at all.

I had noticed Pam never said anything even vaguely bitchy to Jordun. I didn't want to hear what Eric thought of that, if he even noticed. Well, of course he would notice. Not much escaped Eric's experienced eyes.

"Thalia and Thomas will stay here and guard the house," Eric snapped in his Mr. High and Mighty voice. I had to smile at this concession on Eric's part.

If vampires could blush, Thalia would have turned red as a beet, by the look on her face. Thomas grinned rather cockily, I thought, and then I laughed out loud at my own pun, causing the vampires to look at me quizzically.

Eric headed straight out the door to the yard where Daniel was waiting with the car and we all piled in.

Pam was in the office, knee-deep in paperwork when we arrived. She popped out of Eric's desk chair, ignoring him completely and approached me, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Wait until you see my new idea, Sookie," she said conspiratorially. "Let's leave the King to take care of his realm, shall we? Since he bothered to show up."

Although Pam was smiling sweetly at me, her words dripped venom and there was no doubt she was very annoyed with Eric. She continued to ignore him, and took my arm to lead me out front, past several people that appeared to be waiting to meet with Eric.

"It's my fault we are so late, Pam," I volunteered.

"We'll have Felicia order you some dinner, " she said, ignoring my statement and steering me out of the office. I glanced back at Eric who was looking relieved at not being scolded. He was already digging into the stack of papers on his desk.

Felicia was getting used to the idea that I might not be a curse on the bartenders of Fangtasia. She still bowed, but not quite so deep or for so long. It was more than a nod, but not a lot more.

"Good evening, Mistress," she said as she set a ginger ale onto a napkin in front of me. If Eric had been in the room, it would have been milk. She placed a True Blood in front of Pam who spoke up at once.

"Tell Felicia what you will have for your dinner, Sookie, and she will call in the order. I think you should have a steak. You look a little pale. And Sookie will have milk with her dinner, Felicia."

Not wanting to brook Pam when she was in such an imperious mood, I told Felicia I would have a steak and would leave the choice of side dishes to the chef. The food from my restaurant was always delicious, no matter what I ordered. I thanked Felicia and Pam waved her away with a dismissive gesture. Felicia scurried off to make the call.

I felt bad for Felicia. She was obviously the lowest man on the totem pole in this establishment and somewhat timid, in terms of vampires at least. Anything I'd said about it to Pam in the past had fallen on deaf ears though, so I decided not to remark on how Felicia was treated. Not tonight at least. I would just continue to treat her courteously and hope that might influence the other vampires. Fat chance.

"So what is your new idea, Pam?" I asked, thinking it might be a new prank to pull on Eric. I was finding out that the vampires were not quite so stuffy as they let themselves appear to humans. Many of them were quite playful when they were with their own kind. They must now consider me one of their own. If I got any paler, I would start looking like one of them, I thought. And I had my own constant glow too, since vampire blood was a regular part of my diet. As long as I didn't start growing fangs! That was too weird to contemplate.

"Hold on," Pam said and popped over to one of the shelves behind the bar. She brought back a small shipping box and laid it before me on the table.

I opened the package and found a folded stack of what seemed to be baby clothes. Pulling out a black onesie, I looked up at Pam, wondering why she would pick out such a color for a baby girl.

"Turn it around," Pam directed, making an impatient circular motion with her hand. I did as she directed.

"Oh my god!" I shrieked and broke out in laughter. "You must be kidding me, Pam."

"Do you think they'll sell?" she asked eagerly. "Those are just samples. There's a tee shirt too, and we could get little jackets and..." She hesitated, trying to pick a word. "Well, I'm sure we could get whatever babies wear these days. I suppose they don't hang out in gowns anymore."

The front of the shirt, which I was now looking at, was very nicely embroidered with the Fangtasia logo: white vampire fangs with a drop of red blood dripping from one of the points. "The baby with a bite," said the script below in white thread. "Fangtasia" was done in red on the hem of one sleeve.

"Well, it could be worse," I said. "It could say, 'My grandma went to Fangtasia and all she got me was this bloody shirt!'"

"Oh, what a good idea!" Pam said. "I can get a sample made. I wonder what font to use."

"I was kidding, Pam." What had I just been thinking about vampires having a sense of humor? Surely she couldn't be serious.

"Hmm, you don't like the shirt?" Pam asked very seriously, looking crestfallen. "I was going to have them made in pink too, and Eric will want one for Baby Claudine I'm sure."

I laughed again at that. "Oh, he probably will," I said. "Free advertising." To assuage Pam's disappointment I added, "They are very cute, Pam."

While we had been having our discussion about the shirt, a woman who was obviously a tourist had been standing a few feet away from our table. I hadn't paid her much attention, since we were often stared at rudely when in the bar. Of course the whole point of the bar was to give the humans an opportunity to see real life vampires, so I couldn't object. This woman looked middle aged and though she was frumpily dressed, you could see that she had taken some pains with her appearance. She appeared reticent to approach us, but her eyes were eagerly looking at the onesie that I still held up in my hands.

"Well, human, go ahead and ask your question," Pam barked out rudely, showing a bit of fang as she turned to face the gawking tourist. Pam was under the firm belief that the more rudely she treated the visitors to the bar, the more likely they were to return. I thought she was probably right.

The woman backed up a step or two and looked even more unsure of herself for a moment. Then she steeled herself and showing more courage than I would have given her credit for, she took a step forward and asked her question.

"Are those for sale?" she asked. "I'd love one to take home for my grandson."

"Ha!" Pam said in triumph, nudging my shin under the table with the toe of her boot.

"Geez Louise!" I coughed out, wishing that Pam would consider just how strong she was compared to us frail humans. I rubbed the front of my leg hoping I wouldn't have a bruise and heard Pam inform the woman that the onesie was for sale, for only twelve dollars. The woman opened her purse and began to dig for her wallet.

"I am ordering five hundred, in assorted colors." Pam looked very pleased with herself as she texted something into her iPhone. "These will sell as well as the thongs." I rolled my eyes at the thought of the thongs, also in assorted colors, which said "Bite me."

Eric came out of the office soon after, causing a ripple of excitement in the room. All eyes were on my Viking as he walked over to our table, glancing at Felicia as he passed the bar. She hurriedly got out a glass and filled it with milk. Eric appeared to be carrying a take out box.

"Your dinner is here, Lover. May I join you ladies?" I scooted over to make room for Eric and opened the box, realizing how starving I was when the aroma of the food hit my nose. I started eating at once.

Pam, excited about her success with the baby clothes, seemed to have gotten over her snit about Eric's late arrival and pulled out another onesie from the box. This one was blue. Eric's large hands made the small outfit look so tiny. I imagined those hands holding Baby Claudine and a warm feeling rushed over me. Eric reached down and patted my belly as if surmising my thoughts.

"For Baby Claudine?" he asked. "Very appropriate. Although Sookie tells me that baby girls' garments are usually pink." He said this smugly, as if he'd caught Pam out in a mistake.

Pam snatched the onesie from Eric's hands and digging into the box, she pulled out a pink one.

Seeing that Pam was one step ahead of him, Eric looked at me. "I think we could sell these. What do you think, Lover?"

"Ha!" Pam said again, nudging me with her boot for the second time. I jumped and almost choked on my bite of steak. I gave Pam a dirty look. She was not impressed.

"I have already sold one, for twelve dollars," Pam said to Eric. "I am ordering five hundred, in assorted colors." It was Pam's turn to look smug.

The vampires discussed marketing and then went on to plans for security for our excursion to Bon Temps the next day. I would go during the afternoon with my regular guards, and Jordun and Jan would be my evening guards. Eric would join us later in the evening and the three vampires would stay in the "lair" under the garage. I would have the whole of the next day to go through the attic. Maybe Amelia and I could go see Sam over at Merlotte's. It had been a long time since I'd seen Sam.

When everything was settled and I had finished my dinner, I joined Eric in the office. I sat next to him at his desk for a while and he explained some of the organization of his realm as he went through requests to enter his territory, to meet with him for business, to attend fundraisers in places like Baton Rouge and New Orleans. As interesting as it was, it wasn't long before I was yawning.

I grabbed the quilt and pillow that Eric kept in a cupboard, and made myself comfortable on the couch. For a while I watched Eric work, listened to him on the phone and just enjoyed the nearness of him. It wasn't long before I fell asleep.


	36. Chapter 36

CHAPTER 36

Since I had been at Fangtasia most of the night before, I didn't emerge from my bedroom downstairs until almost noon. Today was the day to go to Bon Temps, so I got ready quickly. I gathered together what clothes and make up I thought I'd need for an overnight, and packed a bag for Eric. Being optimistic, I packed some tanning oil and my roomiest bikini. I was tired of being vampire pale. Even if it meant being a little self conscious in front of the guards, tomorrow I was going to sunbathe!

As I hauled my bags up and opened the door, the most wonderful aroma hit me and my mouth started watering. I would just about trade my soul for fresh baked corn muffins I thought. Then I slapped myself and asked God to forgive me that last thought. I might trade a body part though.

I stepped into the kitchen and was greeted by Grace. "Good morning, dear, I made you some breakfast," she said.

"Good morning, Grace. This smells wonderful and I'm starving," I said as I plopped myself in front of a plate teeming with food. A cheese omelet, fresh fruit salad and yummy corn muffins, hot and just waiting for the butter and honey must have been what the doctor ordered because I wasted no time in finishing it all off. Washing everything down with a second cup of coffee, I decided I had died and gone to heaven.

Grace busied herself with the washing up and with packing up a large picnic basket. Did we even have a picnic basket? Picnicking was not a vampire's idea of fun I was sure. Amelia must have let Grace know that I was going out today and she must have brought a basket with her.

"You and your men may want something for the afternoon," Grace said as she added a thermos of iced tea, no lemon. I had strictly been avoiding lemons since I found out that I was pregnant. There was no way to know how lemons might affect Baby Claudine. I had seen what they could do to full blown fairies, and it wasn't pretty. I shivered and tried to put that memory back away.

"You must have been sent by an angel," I said to Grace and on impulse, I gave her a hug. Her body was petite, but she felt strong and warm as I wrapped my arms around her. She smelled like fresh cut grass.

"Perhaps I was," she said and putting her hands on my shoulders she moved me back just a bit. "May I?" she asked, looking at my belly.

I smiled and nodded. I knew this was part of being pregnant. I felt the same urge whenever I was in a room with a pregnant woman. Everyone wanted to feel the promise of life; it was such a wondrous thing, a hopeful thing. I didn't mind. It made me feel proud and special that I could be part of that miracle. And Eric wasn't around to have some kind of fit because someone touched me. Delicately placing the palm of her small hand against my belly, Grace closed her eyes and stood very still.

"The prince's blood will be strong in this one," she stated surely. "The Viking will have his hands full." Then she laughed merrily and went about the business of cleaning up the kitchen.

It was like setting out on an expedition just going to my house in Bon Temps. The weres would be staying at Bill's tonight, so they had odds and ends of things packed in the back of the Escalade for their comfort and of course, they carried an assortment of weapons. I guess Bill's house had been volunteered by Mr. High and Mighty. I probably wouldn't find out what Bill thought of that, since I didn't plan on seeing him. There was too much potential for trouble in that direction.

I had my small suitcase, Eric's bag and my computer. I hadn't gotten a carrying case for it yet, but the computer and charger were snug in one of my zip-up totes. I planned to do some ordering with Amelia today.

The picnic basket was sitting on the back seat between Mark and me. The weres had noticed the smell of the muffins right away and Mark began eyeing the basket before we had hit the highway. I had just had breakfast and I was eyeing the basket too. It smelled so good. I didn't have to ask twice before I was handing out food to everyone. We all thought the muffins were the best ever. Did life get any better than this? As I had that thought, I wondered if it wasn't always a mistake to think things like that.

Amelia threw her arms around me in a big hug as soon as I'd climbed out of the car, even though I'd seen her only the day before. Maybe she was getting a little lonely out here in the country. What the hell was up with her and Bob? I hadn't managed to get to the bottom of it yet, but maybe we could talk about it today.

"Hi hon," Amelia said. "Terry finished the painting, what do you think?" Amelia had a pleased look on her face as if it was her own personal accomplishment that the place was looking so good.

I took a good look around while the guys unloaded the car. It really did look nice. The construction equipment was all gone and the yard had been graded and cleaned up. The fresh coat of paint, now on all sides of the building took one hundred years off the house!

"Oh Amelia, it looks so nice." It did look nice and I wished that Gran had lived to see it. She had been so proud of her home, its long history and the care she took to keep it clean and ready for company. But the house had gotten old along with Gran and she hadn't had the strength or money to keep the deterioration at bay.

It was bittersweet to see the house transformed, much like it had been when the new kitchen had been built over the ruins of the old after the fire – or like the way the floor had gleamed so brightly after I had scrubbed away my grandmother's blood.

"What shall we do first?" Amelia's question pulled me out of my reverie, and I tried to refocus as she began rattling off all the things that were planned. We would set up the lair for the vamps, get on the computer and shop, go see Sam, and of course go through the attic.

"Let's work on the lair since we will need it tonight," I suggested. I was glad that Eric had agreed to stay at the Bon Temps house for the night. I was missing my vampire already and wishing it was closer to sunset. Shreveport wasn't that far from Bon Temps, but I could feel the distance between us even while he was sleeping.

"I have all the stuff in the house. I stopped at Wal-Mart on the way home yesterday and got all the toiletries they'll need. Have you had lunch?"

Amelia was already heading into the house, animated with the excitement of a new project. She was wearing an outfit that cried out to be paired with a minivan, and she looked every inch the soccer mom. Her energy was infectious and before long we were chattering away like a bunch of magpies as we started hauling sheets and towels under the garage and into the vampire's lair.

After we had made up the three beds and stocked the bathroom with supplies for bathing, I looked around to see what else we should do.

"We should have gotten some little bedside tables and lamps," Amelia said, voicing my own thoughts. "You think there's anything up in the attic we could use?"

"I doubt it," I said. "The furniture from my folk's house all ended up with Jason, and he's hardly changed a thing over at his place. I don't think Gran ever changed the house here much, at least not since Jason and I came to live. We could look though. Anything like lamps would have old wiring, wouldn't it? It might not be safe. There might be some little tables though."

"Oh let's go look. It will be fun to see what's squirreled away. I don't want to wait for tomorrow. I bet it's filthy up there. Maybe we should take up some cleaning supplies."

"It's an attic, Amelia, of course it will be dusty. Even Gran wasn't that good of a housekeeper." Actually I was a little surprised that Amelia hadn't gotten up there already, since she cleaned pretty obsessively. Maybe she thought it would be intruding, although that didn't usually stop her. Or she might just be afraid of spiders, although knowing Amelia, she would just hex them or something. Amelia was pretty intrepid (a good calendar word!).

The attic was reached by a stairway at the end of the upstairs hall. We had grabbed a bucket filled with rags for dusting things off and two flashlights for any dark corners. There should be a light up there that still worked, if I remembered correctly, but it would just be a single bulb hanging on a wire in the middle of the room. After the fire I'd opened the door when I'd aired out the house from the smoke, but I hadn't really looked around. I went up first and sure enough, the light was working.

"You can still smell the faintest hint of smoke up here," I said as I walked in. Only part of the house was two-story, so the attic wasn't that big. It was tall enough for me to stand in under the central beam, but just barely. The sides were low and very dark. Amelia had been right. It was very dusty. It was also crammed to the gills with stuff.

"Gads! What is all this stuff?" I said, as I moved a pair of old rotten waders aside, my grandfather's probably. I recognized an old bicycle of Jason's and a few broken fishing poles.

"A treasure hunt! I bet there's something good up here," Amelia said. "You know how people find stuff in their attics and take it to Antiques Roadshow? Maybe there's some civil war stuff."

"Gran would have had that out and shown it at the Descendents of the Glorious Dead meetings. It looks more like everything that ever broke and no one wanted to fix."

Thinking of the Glorious Dead meeting brought the night of Gran's death to the forefront of my mind again. And Bill. He would be sleeping just across the cemetery from here, in his old house. Maybe he could feel me here, the way I could feel Eric when he was close. This place held too many memories, and though not all of them were bad, I was strangely disquieted.

"Aren't you creeped out up here, Amelia?" I said through the cloud of dust she was making. She had taken a rag to the top of an old cardboard box.

"This is full of books, Sook. We can look at those later," she answered, ignoring my remark as she flicked on a flashlight. "Is that a trunk in the back there? We have to see what's in there."

Figuring there weren't any ghosts up here or I would have heard them rattling around years ago, I flicked on my light and started moving things around. Amelia was the one to find the cradle.

"It's a little beat up, but it's a beauty, Sook, so old fashioned. If I can just get to it without falling through the ceiling or something. Yuck! There's still an old blanket in it and it is really gross. Hand me that bucket."

I grabbed the bucket and began to clear a path. The cradle was beautiful, with spindled wood and thick wooden rockers. It would definitely need some cleaning, maybe even refinishing. We would have to get it downstairs into better light.

"The trunk is locked. Do you think there are keys for this stuff anywhere?" Amelia had burrowed further into the back and was fiddling with the latch of an old footlocker.

"We had a drawer full of keys in the kitchen, before the fire. Most of them were melted. Maybe we can break it open with a pry bar or something. There might be one in the shed."

"I'm going to get one of the guys to carry the cradle down. You shouldn't be lifting stuff in your condition. Keep looking for some lamps while I go down." Amelia said.

I was about to answer that I was pregnant, not disabled, but decided it wasn't worth arguing about. While Amelia went to fetch one of the weres, I worked my way back to the other side of the attic. It really was mostly just old rotting junk. One box was filled with old clothes, long since mildewed and no doubt moth ridden. I spied a lamp in the farthest corner, and even with the flashlight, I could see that the shade was stained and torn. I wasn't going to put that next to Eric's bed. Better to make a trip to Wal-Mart.

"You need some help up here, Ma'am?" Mark called, and startled, I straightened up and whacked my head against a beam.

"Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! That hurt!" Rubbing my head where I would no doubt have a lump the size of an egg, I sat down on the dirty floor. "Low clearance, be careful Mark," I called out.

"Yes, Ma'am, you okay?" Again with the Ma'am thing, what was with these guys!

"Maybe a minor concussion, but otherwise fine. We have a cradle that needs to be carried down, and if I can find a pry bar, we wanted to break into a trunk."

"Let me take a look," Mark said.

Amelia came in behind Mark and showed him the cradle and the trunk. Taking the flashlight, and pulling a small case from his pants pocket, he sat down in front of the trunk and started poking things into the lock. In less than a minute he had it opened. Wow! I wonder what his background was. Maybe I didn't want to know.

"It looks like old pictures and paperwork," he said. "You want me to bring it down?"

After whacking my head once, it seemed like it might be a good idea to have a little more room to go through things downstairs, so I told him to go ahead. He picked up the cradle effortlessly and headed down with that, returning a short while later with Jim. The two men, almost bent double with the low ceiling, managed to haul the trunk to the door and down the stairs. It looked heavy.

"The only lamp I found is pretty nasty, Amelia, and there's just a bunch of old rotting stuff back here. Oh, here's some horseshoes, pretty rusty though."

"I think it will take hours and hours to go through all of this stuff, Sook. Let's leave it for another day. We have the cradle and the vamps will be fine with just the ceiling fixture in the lair. They're only here one night. We can be better prepared next time. I want to see what's in the trunk."

"I could use some coffee," I said as I headed downstairs and into the kitchen, leaving dusty footprints. "And I wanted to order that book for Eric, but we can do that tomorrow. Do you want to make something for dinner here or go to Merlotte's? When does Bob get home from work?"

Amelia went a little still at the mention of Bob, but then busied herself with making the coffee.

"Okay, spill!" I said. "What's going on?"

"I guess he's gone, Sook. There wasn't much point in him hanging around here. I told him he could stay in my place in New Orleans until he gets settled, but he says he has something lined up. He packed up his stuff this morning, he didn't have much stuff anyway."

"Oh Amelia, I'm sorry." I threw my arms around her and for a moment she accepted what comfort I could give and then she bustled over to the cradle and started wiping it down.

"It was just a rebound thing I think. I missed Trey and Bob was having trouble adjusting after the 'incident'. He's still angry about that I think and he's played on my guilt long enough. He's not really a very nice person, Sookie. He was much better as a cat! I don't want to talk about it."

Since Amelia usually wanted to talk about everything, even stuff better left unsaid, I figured she was pretty upset. I had only known Bob as a cat, except for a few hours after he was turned back. I had cooked him dinner and taken him to Wal-Mart to buy clothes. I had no idea what kind of person he was. He'd thrown up hairballs on Amelia's bed when she'd gone out with another guy, but I didn't think you could hold that against him now.

"Let's stay in tonight then," I offered. "We can go see Sam for lunch tomorrow. I'll send one of the guys out for something and then you can get yourself drunk and we won't have to worry about getting you home!"

"Yeah, I guess you can't join me in that, but that might be a good plan, and maybe Mr. Drop Dead Gorgeous will come with Eric." Amelia was trying to put her best face on, and while I knew it would do her good to talk it all out, now was not the time.

"Okay, then, that's settled," I said and poured us each a cup of coffee. Amelia was still polishing. She had gotten out the Pledge and was rubbing each spindle of the cradle until it shone. It really looked pretty good now that it was clean. I thought we might be able to use it just the way it was.

"I can't wait for the baby," Amelia said. "We'll need to get a little mattress made for this. We can match the fabric with the crib bedding. Eric's going to go crazy with all the pink in the house."

"I don't think he will care," I said. "But Pam and Thalia will love it if he does. Especially Pam, she is such a brat when it comes to Eric."

I told her all about the onesies at Fangtasia and all about Thomas and Thalia's little romance. Before long the sorrow had left her countenance and she was my cheerful Amelia once again.

"So aren't you dying to see what's in the trunk?" Amelia said when we had finished our coffee. "Let's look at some of the pictures."

Opening the trunk entailed another bout of dusting and polishing. We were both going to need showers by the time we'd finished handling all of this old stuff. While Amelia busied herself with that, I went out and arranged to have the guards pick up some supper for all of us. They could leave after supper when the vampires arrived to take over.

The inside of the trunk was not quite as dusty as the outside, but a musty smell of old paper poured out of it and overwhelmed the smell of coffee in the kitchen. I wondered if it had even been opened in my lifetime. The inside had originally been lined in fabric, which was now coming unglued and hung slightly in tatters. The top compartment was like a tray, divided into two sections, each one filled to overflowing with photographs and documents.

"Look at this, Amelia," I exclaimed, pulling out a newspaper clipping from the top. "It looks like an obituary notice, my grandfather."

Amelia already was pulling out photos and handed one to me. "Is this your Gran? She looks so young. She was beautiful, Sookie."

I set down the news clipping and took up the picture. Yes, it was definitely Gran, and she was beautiful. It was a posed picture, and her hair was swept up off her face in a chignon. She looked young, maybe my age. She looked a lot like me.

"There's some pictures of you and Jason as kids here, too. Lots of old bills and receipts. We should sort those by date I suppose." Amelia was in her element, and I knew that she would have the whole trunk sorted and categorized and no doubt filed with sticky notes if I didn't stop her.

"What's in the bottom part, Amelia, more photos?"

"I'll get a box and we can move some of the pile on top, then we can pick up the tray."

While Amelia went to find a box, I sifted through some of the stuff on top. One picture caught my eye.

"Look at this!" I said as Amelia came in with a box. "It's Gran again, when she was pregnant, with my dad or my aunt. Do you see it?"

"Wow, Sook, it's just like yours. What do you think it means?"

"I don't know." Above her left shoulder was the same reflection that had been in my pictures. We had thought it meant there was an angel. My dad and my gran had both been murdered. So what did having an angel mean for them?

"I think we need to sort these, Amelia. Maybe we can see when the reflection starts appearing and when it leaves. It isn't in any of the photos Gran had up in the house. Help me lift the tray."

The bottom of the trunk was in a little better shape, but the smell here was even mustier. Mottled gray and black spots peppered the surface of notebooks of different sizes and styles. There were stacks of paper, darkened to a pale russet color around the edges, tied with fraying ribbon. Antiques Roadshow might not agree, but I thought we had found our treasure.

Picking up one that looked like an old school composition book, I opened the cover.

"It's like a diary, but it isn't dated. Oh wait, some of the entries are," I told Amelia as I flipped through a few of the pages. "There's no names either, just initials. It looks like Gran's writing, but different, stronger and finer."

"Well, it would have been different when she was younger. What year is it?"

"No year, just dates. Here's Sunday, March 15." I read aloud the short entry for some March in my grandmother's past, my past too I supposed."

March 15

B for supper last night. Fried chicken. He brought L some blue ribbon and she's in heaven. A penny for C. The Rev. harped on the collection plate again. C wouldn't stop kicking the seat and I made him put his penny in the plate. God grant me patience. B, M and C went fishing. Catfish for supper tonight.

"So who do you think B. is? C. and L. are kids, your dad and his sister? So when was your dad born, the forties? Okay, so late forties maybe."

I couldn't even answer as Amelia speculated, probably pretty accurately, on who and when. I could guess who B was, Uncle Bartlett, my gran's brother. Coming to supper and bringing ribbons for my Aunt Linda. Uncle Bartlett liked little girls. A lot. I felt sick.

"Amelia, I don't feel so good. Let's just put this away for now." I put the old journal back into the trunk and Amelia, looking worried, helped me put everything back on top. Except the picture of Gran, with her angel. I wanted to show that to Eric.

"I bet you're just hungry. Come on, hon, why don't you go lay down on the couch and I'll see if the guys have left to get supper. You look pale."

"I'm fine. I think you're right and I just need to eat. And you'd look pale too if you lived with a vampire. Tomorrow is sunbathing for sure!"

I took Amelia's suggestion, though and lay down on the couch for the short time that it took Jim to go to Merlotte's and pick up chicken baskets for all of us. The familiar food and Amelia's cheerful bustle made me put things in perspective. If Amelia could smile when she had just had a break up, I could certainly smile and let go of something that happened twenty years ago, at least for tonight.

I felt Bill in the yard soon after dark, watching. I didn't go out. Within an hour, my vampires arrived. I felt him approaching and he was as eager as I to close the distance between us. He was driving his red corvette, with Jordun in the seat beside him and I ran out to meet him when he pulled up behind the house.

Without a word, he flung his arms around me and his mouth was on mine, greedy and harsh. I wrapped my arms around him and he held me close.

Jordun opened the trunk and pulled out his luggage. He passed us on the way into the house. "Get a room," he said, smiling and handed a bundle to Eric.

"Will you put this on, Kjære?" he asked as he unfolded a blanket and revealed my cranberry red coat. "It may be a little cool for you." He was smiling, the mischievous little boy smile he had when he wanted to surprise me. He held the coat out and I slipped it on.

"Stand still and close your eyes," he said and I complied, wondering what he was up to. He squatted down and wrapped my arms around his neck. Then, taking me by the waist he called, "Hold on," and he shot up into the air. I gasped and wrapped my legs around him as the ground disappeared below my feet.

"Open your eyes, Lover."

I could hear the slight strain in his voice and grabbed tighter, hoping my weight was not too much for him. But I opened my eyes and could see the roof of my house as we circled above it and then over the path towards Bill's. We were gliding it seemed, since his body seemed to have nothing to do with the process. He didn't whirl his arms, or kick his legs or sprout wings. It was sheer unadulterated magic and it felt wonderful.

We landed in the cemetery. He let out an audible "Whoomp!" sound as his legs hit the dirt, as if the air had been knocked out of his lungs, even though he didn't breathe. I think I had been holding my breath and I gasped, inflating my lungs with as much of the cool spring air as they would accommodate. I loosened my death grip from his neck and he lowered me gently to the ground.

"I thought it would be nice to have a little time to ourselves."

Glancing around at the tombstones, I figured that we would be undisturbed here. Although with the way my life was going, you could never tell what might pop up from one of the graves.

Eric spread out the blanket, which he had carried along with us, and beckoned for me to join him as he sat. I was glad he had thought of bringing my coat, as the air was cool and the ground lightly moist. I settled myself onto his lap and he wrapped the ends of the blanket around my legs, giving a sigh of relief. I echoed it.

"You were too far away from me today, My Love."

"Yes," I murmured against his chest.

"We are not two people anymore."

I thought about that for a moment. "No, I guess we are three."

He chuckled a bit and patted my belly. "Yes, we are that, but what I meant to say is, we are like one now."

"Does that bother you, Eric?"

"You might well ask if it bothers me that my leg is attached, Lover. It would bother me if it were missing, but while it is there, it is where it belongs. It is mine and it is part of me."

Now the fly in that ointment was that Eric could chop off his own leg and it would grow back, so it wouldn't bother him for long. Okay, that wasn't fair. It would be painful and maybe for a long time. And while it was missing, he would be vulnerable. I think I knew what he was saying though, since I had been feeling the same thing.

"We're attached at the hip, is that what you're saying? Like Siamese Twins?" I was sure that wasn't the politically correct term, but I'd be damned if I could think of what the correct term was. Oh, conjoined, that was it!

Eric was looking at me as if I'd grown an extra person out of the left side of my hip. He looked both baffled and amused.

"You have the most interesting way of expressing things."

"That's because I'm very well read," I countered. Yeah, I'd read most of the romance section at the library. I read some serious books too, just not very often. Eric's face was no longer baffled, just amused.

"Are you laughing at me?" I teased. "It's true, and I have a very good vocabulary."

"I'm not doubting your literary prowess, Love, I'm still thinking about your reference to twins," he said, his grin growing even larger. "The possibilities are endless."

Reaching down to my waist, he moved his hand slowly down my hip. "And hips, you said something about hips?"

Moving down from my hips, he cupped my bottom and moved me very deliberately over his lap. I squirmed against him in response. The hard bulge straining under the fabric of his pants pressed tightly against the silky fabric of my panties, bringing a moan to my lips.

"Bite me, Lover," he whispered into my ear as he opened the front of his shirt. He rocked me rhythmically against his lap and closed his eyes as I licked the smooth skin of his chest, then positioned my mouth over his nipple.

My teeth came down hard against his cool skin, breaking the surface and releasing his sweet, thick blood. I sucked hard and a low growl came from deep inside him as he pulled the weight of my body harder against him, rocking and moaning. I felt his body tense the moment before his release and when he bent his head down and bit my neck, my body spasmed in response.

We remained clutched in each other's arms, licking each other's wounds and I truly felt that we were one person. His blood in me, and mine in his, we were truly conjoined.


	37. Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37

Jan and Daniel were patrolling the yard when we walked back from the cemetery to the house. I blushed a little at the thought of Eric strolling in with a big wet stain on the front of his pants, but I was beginning to get used to the idea that the other vampires pretty much always knew what were up to. Their sense of smell was so acute, they would know without the stain. Even so, I was glad he was holding the blanket. It might spare me any winks or nods from Amelia.

My witch was in the kitchen and was already healing her wounds with what looked like a bloody Mary. How appropriate I thought! Jordun looked comfortably ensconced at the table, a True Blood in front of him and a big honking sword leaning against his leg in a scabbard.

"I thought I'd just start on organizing some of these," Amelia said brightly. She had already just about filled the top of the table with little stacks of documents and photos. "I don't know who a lot of these people are, but there's a lot of the same faces. You'll probably recognize them."

"I think we're going to take a shower first," I said. "Then I want to show that picture of Gran to Eric."

Eric had come in behind me and Jordun was already sniffing the air. Best to get my Viking cleaned up and changed before anything else.

"What picture?" Eric asked after he had greeted Amelia, looking intently at all the stuff on the table.

"I'll explain in the shower."

Taking him by the hand, I pulled him in the direction of my room, but his attention was caught by the cradle, still sitting next to the trunk in what little space was left in the room.

"This is the child's bed you mentioned?" he asked disbelievingly. The tone of his voice was not what I had expected. I had been hoping he would like the cradle. I nodded and explained.

"Yes. This was mine when I was a baby. We'll have a crib too, in the baby's room, but we can keep the cradle in our room, next to the bed."

His brows furrowed a bit, then he pulled out a chair, sat down and went still. "It is very small," he said and he seemed to look a shade paler, if that was even possible.

"Well, babies aren't very big, Eric," I said uncertainly. Amelia and Jordun were looking at Eric with curiosity, waiting to see what his point was.

"I had forgotten," he said, and a wave of sorrow washed over him and into me.

"Eric?" I said uncertainly.

"It is a fine cradle," he said, shaking himself, and I realized he had been thinking of his own children that he had had to leave behind centuries before. I patted him on the shoulder, not knowing what else to do. How do you comfort a wound like that?

The ringing of Eric's cell phone from his pocket broke the silence at the table, and after looking at the caller ID, Eric gestured for Jordun to follow him and went back outside without a word.

"Well, I'm going to take a shower," I said and headed to the bathroom. Eric joined me soon after, looking more than a little annoyed as he ducked under the shower spray.

"Is everything okay, Eric?" I asked, watching his gorgeous and very large body as he used up all the hot water.

"Yes, just some business that needed attending to. Jan will see to it."

I wondered what kind of business needed Jan the Assassin to take care of it. I could have asked, and Eric might even have told me, but I didn't want to know. I knew that violence was part of the supernatural world. I had been its victim more than once. Maybe God would judge me for it, but I was beginning to think that some people (be they vampire, were or fairy) needed killing. Anyway, maybe Eric was just sending Jan out to help Pam at the bar. Fat chance, I knew.

"I wonder what you are thinking about, Lover. The expressions on your face are changing so rapidly, I am unable to decipher them." Eric pulled me back under the showerhead so I could rinse off the last of the soap.

Not wanting to try to explain what I had been thinking, even if I even fully understood it myself, I ignored his question and began to tell him about the "angel spot" on my grandmother's picture. He agreed that it was a good idea to see if we could find a pattern of when the reflections occurred.

"The more I think about it though, I wonder if it really matters," I said. "Would it tell us anything if we knew that Gran had an angel?"

"Probably not, but it never hurts to acquire knowledge, although you may not realize any benefit from it until you need it."

"I suppose that's true," I agreed, turning off the water and climbing out of the tub.

Eric seemed fascinated by all of the pictures of my family, especially the ones that included me as a child. His ability to read facial expression, acquired from years of watching and preying on humanity, came in handy when Amelia and I couldn't decide who someone in a particular picture might be. Most of them weren't labeled, or only labeled with a location and date.

I told Eric about each member of my family that I could recognize. He looked especially closely at a picture of my Aunt Linda and her daughter Hadley, since he had known Hadley after she had become vampire. He scrutinized my face carefully when I brushed by the picture of my Uncle Bartlett with no information on our relationship beyond a terse identification. He lingered over the pictures of a younger Gran, weighing the similarities of features with me and Jason.

I regretted that I had never had the chance to sit down with Gran and look at all of this. Gran had been a big buff of family history, but she had kept most of what she knew in her own head. Maybe she meant to organize it and set it all down on paper some day and life just got in the way. She had managed only a list of names and dates and relationships. Now, much of what could have been interesting, if we knew the story, was just a sea of faces with no stories to tell. Some of the stories, her stories, she might have been unwilling to tell anyway. I hoped that some of it would be found in the journals.

"There don't seem to be any other reflections. Maybe that one was just some kind of artifact from the light after all and doesn't mean anything," Jordun said, when we had finally gone through all the photographs.

"That's what I'm thinking too," I agreed. "But there is only the one picture of her during pregnancy, so maybe the angels only watch over pregnant women."

Eric was not convinced, since he insisted that our dream of the angel watching over Baby Claudine was a true vision. "But we may never know," he conceded.

Amelia was on what I thought was her fourth drink and it had been a while since she had contributed to the conversation. It seemed the better part of valor to put her to bed. She could sleep in late in the morning, and would no doubt brew one of her very nasty hangover concoctions when she got up.

Coming back downstairs after making sure Amelia was tucked in, I heard Jan talking in hushed tones with Eric and wondered again what was going on as I went into the bedroom to get myself ready for bed. When my vampire came in, he was so solicitous about making sure I was tucked in properly, that I forgot to ask.

I thought it must be the noise of someone opening the door to the kitchen that woke me up, although it seemed as if someone was in the room. No, I was alone. It was light out, so it must be morning. Squinting at the clock on the bedside table, I could see that it was barely seven o'clock. Amelia must be up early, I thought, maybe she was making the coffee or brewing something for her hangover.

Even though I didn't need to get up this early, my human needs, as the vampires called them, were urging me to come out of the warm cocoon of the bedclothes. I nuzzled the pillow for a moment, enjoying the lingering dry sweet smell of my vampire before I stumbled into the bathroom.

I took care of business, then wondered if I shouldn't just crawl back into bed. But as I splashed a little water on my face, an ominous feeling of dread came over me, as if a cold finger was tapping insistently on my shoulder.

"Claudine?" I whispered and looked into the mirror. The strange glow that had been in the wedding photos was hovering there, right behind me, and I had a feeling that it was trying to tell me something. I closed my eyes, opened my shields and let my consciousness probe the house.

It wasn't Amelia in the kitchen. I could hear the hum of her sleeping brain from the bedroom upstairs. She wasn't even dreaming. Who was here then, one of the guards? No. I couldn't feel them at all, or maybe…. Yes! They were outside. Three brains, but not awake. Were brains were hard to read, but these were dimmed, as if they were hiding behind a curtain. That wasn't good. I could read two more signals, one in the kitchen and one in the yard. Bob and someone else. Oh my God, Quinn! What was he doing here? Eric would kill him. And why hadn't the guards stopped Bob? They probably didn't even know that Bob had moved out.

Throwing on a robe, and not even bothering with slippers, I creeped out of my room and opened the door, being as silent as a mouse, careful of any loose floorboards in this creaky old house. Bob was looking for something, opening the drawer by the phone.

"She wrote it down in her little book," I could hear Bob thinking. "She writes everything down."

I saw it all clearly then, as if I was in Bob's head. It was like I had Amelia's daybook right in front of me. Addresses, bits of spells and shopping lists. And codes. Her ATM number and the codes for the alarm at her house in New Orleans. And the code for the lair, where Eric was sleeping! My heart stopped.

Bob had sold Eric out to Victor. He hadn't been here for Amelia; he hated Amelia. He had been spying, reporting to Quinn, and making good money doing it. He would pass on everything he heard in Bon Temps or from Amelia. The news about Eric and me, the baby, the guards, the housekeeper and even what Jason was doing. And now, the fact that Eric was staying at the house and Amelia had the codes.

The sound of the kitchen door. Bob was going out to the yard, to Quinn. He would give him the code. Quinn hated Eric, and Quinn worked for Victor now. Quinn wasn't here to see me; he was here to kill Eric. For a moment, all I could feel was panic. Bile rose in my throat as the world began to spin. Eric, helpless in his bed. Eric, my husband, my lover, the love of my life.

"Snap out of it, Sookie." It might have been my own voice, prodding me to get myself together. Now was not the time to faint or fall apart. Stackhouse women had more grit than that. I could almost hear Gran saying, "Any woman worth her salt can do whatever needs doing to defend her family". And with that thought, my panic turned to rage.

I had to stop him, but what could I do against a were? Not just any were, either. Quinn was one of the last remaining male were tigers. He had fought and survived three years in the pits, battling for his life against other weres while the vampires bet on his survival. And he had survived, because he was one of the fiercest and strongest weres that walked the earth.

I ran to the kitchen. There was no need for stealth now. I would get Jason's shotgun. The vision of Bob, dressed in his black slacks and white shirt, looking like a Mormon, with his glasses and his bicycle flashed through my mind. I saw him again, as a cat, his soft-as-silk fur gleaming as his pink tongue licked and groomed. I remembered Debbie Pelt's body, her upper chest and neck exploding with the blast of the gun, the blood splashed everywhere in my kitchen. God forgive me, I had killed Debbie Pelt with that shotgun. It would kill Quinn just as easily, and Bob, if it came to that.

The tears began streaming down my face as I reached behind the water heater. I couldn't lose Eric; I didn't care how many I killed. I wouldn't lose him! Where was the blasted shotgun? God damn, Jason! He'd taken it back. He knew I had moved out and he'd come and gotten his shotgun, his prized Benelli. Damn it, Jason! But it wasn't Jason's fault. I didn't live here anymore. I was guarded like Fort Knox and I had left my brother behind, like I had left almost all of Bon Temps behind. Of course he would want his shotgun back, it hadn't been doing me any good.

"Eric!" I called to him in my mind, through the bond, to warn him. But the sun was up. He would be helpless. I was feeling helpless too now as I burst through the back door. If I could delay Quinn, distract him, maybe someone would come and help me. Bob was talking to him, giving him the codes. Oh my God, Quinn was carrying a sword!

"Think, Sookie," I told myself. "Think. Get yourself together. Think." And it came to me – Jordun. Jordun could walk in the daylight. If I could call to him, would he hear me? I had called Jan to me once, but I had not meant to. What had he said? "The Queen's blood was calling." If I focused on Jordun, could I call him to me? Did I have to be bleeding?

I sent my thoughts out to Jordun, in much the same way I had contacted Barry the Bellboy in Dallas. "Jordun, Eric is in danger. Jordun, wake up."

Surveying the yard, I could see the guards sprawled out near the chairs where they had been having their morning coffee. The thermos was still there, the cups spilled onto the ground next to them, the coffee forming little puddles of mud.

I could feel them, so they weren't dead. No pain either. I could feel when someone was in pain. So not injured. Drugged? Okay, I was on my own. Could Amelia do anything? Maybe, if I could take the time to wake her. Did I want to put her in the line of fire too? Maybe she could work a spell? There wasn't time. Quinn was walking to the garage, towards Eric.

"Jordun, wake up. You have to save Eric. Wake up." I called in my mind, but I didn't hear him.

"Quinn!" I screamed as I flung the door open and ran onto the porch. "Quinn, no, you can't do this!"

My robe was half open, the fabric flying behind me as I leaped down the porch steps and ran as fast as I could, screaming for first Jordun, and then Quinn. I felt the gravel tear into my bare feet making little painful cuts as I ran towards the tiger, hurtling myself into him as he put up his hands to stop me. There was an "oomph" sound as the impact of running into such a huge man almost knocked me over, but he grabbed me, his big beautiful violet eyes looking at me and filling not with regret or affection, but with determination.

"I'm sorry, Sookie, I have to do this. Bob, take her back into the house," he said, and I thought I heard pity in his voice as he looked me over. Half naked, tears streaming down my face, my feet bleeding, hysterical with fear and rage.

I began beating my hands against his chest. I was no lightweight. I drank vampire blood and it had made me strong, and I was mad as hell. I pounded my fists into him and he grunted with the force of the blows, but he didn't let go. He was so big, and so strong.

"Why are you doing this, why?" I screamed, but I knew the answer already. Victor still had his mother in Nevada. He was impotent against the vampires. He blamed them for everything, for the years in the pits, for him leaving me unwarned while he worked with Victor to betray Sophie Anne. For banning him from his work in Louisiana and the income he needed to pay for his mother's upkeep. But mostly for losing me. And for that, he hated Eric.

Victor would cancel his debts to the vampires, if he gave them Eric. And when Victor came back to Louisiana, when it was in chaos after Eric's death, then Victor would give him what he wanted, me. But he was fooling himself, if he thought the vampires would let him go, or let me go. They wouldn't remove their hooks from him, not while he had a weakness, his mother. He just didn't get it.

"They'll let me go if I do this, Sookie. And you'll be free of that bloodsucker. He has trapped you with his blood bond. He's taken your will and left you bound as his whore. You know you loved me. He's raped you with his blood as surely as the fairies did. You'll never be free until he's dead."

"And you think Victor will treat me so well? You think Victor won't use me, like he's used you, like he's using you now?"

"Come with me, Sookie. Victor promised you to me. You don't know your own mind. You'll see things more clearly when he's dead. I'll take care of you, and your baby. I know what you're going through, when Frannie was born…"

But I cut him off. "Is that what you think? That I'm crazy, like your mother? Because I was raped I've lost my mind? And you're going to be my savior? Get real, Quinn! You can't keep me from Victor if he wants me, the vampires will keep you on a string like the puppet you are, like you have been for years. You don't care about me, and you can't make this about me. I love Eric, Quinn, and I will never love you."

I could see the hurt and disbelief in his eyes, but I could also see the rage and I knew that there was no point in trying to reason with Quinn. He had been an honorable man, doing his best for his family in a hard and cruel world. Maybe it wasn't his fault that he had come to this point, where he would do something so dishonorable and try to rationalize it.

Quinn had nothing more that he could say to me, and he knew it. It didn't matter whether I went with him willingly or not at this point. Eric was going to die regardless. Quinn handed me over to Bob and turned to what he had come for.

"Jordun, Jordun, Jordun, wake up," I called in my head, and I thought I heard his mind stirring. "Wake up! Brother, wake up!" I screamed as I struggled to get away from Bob.

Bob grabbed my arms and yanked them up behind my back, pulling at my shoulders with a force that made me cry out. I was thrown off balance, and we both went down, the thud knocking the wind out of me as Bob's weight landed full force on top of me. He had my hands in a tight grip before I could take a breath and flung them out to the side, pinning me like a specimen laid out for dissection.

"Don't make me hurt you, Sookie," Bob threatened.

I struggled against him, digging my knees into the ground and pushing with all my might. I was screaming now, frantic. "Jordun, Jordun, Jordun. Help Eric. Please God!"

I could imagine what was happening, as I lay trapped in my fruitless struggle with Bob. Quinn would be in the garage already, typing in the code, his sword ready at hand. Would he be down the stairs yet? And Eric, my beautiful Eric. Would he have heard me calling? Would he wake, not able to come to me, in time to see the sword fall?

I heard the kitchen door and I knew that Amelia was coming. I could hear the fevered workings of her brain, hung over and still half asleep. Bob was hurting me; she wasn't going to have that! But she would be too late. She might stop Bob, but I couldn't get to Eric in time. I couldn't stop Quinn if I did. My heart stopped for a moment and I quit struggling, as despair overwhelmed me. And Amelia began to chant.


	38. Chapter 38

CHAPTER 38

Amelia's chant sounded like Latin and I could feel the magic as it left her hands and started to envelop Bob. He loosened his grip, his angry gaze turning to alarm as he looked at Amelia who was walking towards us. I didn't wait to see what Amelia's magic would do. I cupped my hands and boxed Bob squarely on the side of each ear. He howled in surprise and pain and moved off of me, giving me a chance to squirm out and get away.

I left the two witches to battle it out and I ran to the garage door, ignoring my bleeding bare feet. Inside the garage, I could see that Quinn had made it through the access door to the vampire's hidey-hole. "Dear God," I prayed as I began to climb down the stairs.

I almost tripped over what was left of Quinn. His huge body was sprawled against the bottom of the stairs, the front of his shirt a bloody mess. It looked like his heart had been torn out by brute force. The smell of blood was thick in the air. It was still trickling down and forming little scarlet puddles. Quinn's hands were still in the process of turning from tiger claw back to human as the spark of life left him. I scurried backwards up the steps into the cool, fresh air of the garage and vomited.

Sinking down to me knees on the clean, smooth concrete of my new garage, I leaned forward onto the palms of my hands, lowering my head while the world spun round. "You won't pass out, you won't pass out," I chanted.

Several minutes must have passed and I heard Amelia calling quietly from the entry door of the garage. I looked up to see her, still in her nightgown and robe, looking worried. She was holding a big black and white cat in her arms, and when it struggled to get away, she swatted it lightly on the nose.

"Sookie, are you okay? What's going on? Why did Bob attack you?"

She looked down to the floor in front of me, where I had vomited and I could see her indecision. She wanted to help me, but she was not about to let that cat down to get away. She came in and closed the door.

"Sookie?" she asked again and I gathered breath and answered her.

"I'm okay, Amelia. Go into the house and lock the door. Don't let anyone in. Then get my phone; it's by the bed. The numbers will be programmed in. Call Dr. Ludwig and tell her she needs to come and see to the guards. They are unconscious out in the yard. Then call Mr. Cataliades. Tell him Victor has moved against Eric and he needs to notify all the sheriff's guards, so they are prepared. He will know what to do until the vamps get up. Do it now. And lock that fucking cat up in my room!"

"Are you sure you're okay, Sook?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Go right now, Amelia!" I said in the most authoritative voice I could muster. I hauled myself up to my feet, and when she saw me standing, and the look on my face, she turned quickly and headed to the house.

I wasn't sure if I could bring myself to go back down the stairs. If Quinn was dead, then Eric must be okay, right? I could feel his life force still thrumming through the bond. But I needed to check on him, and Jordun, and I would have to climb over Quinn's body to do that. I steeled myself and straightened my robe, tightening the belt around the waist. I wished I had my underwear on. I was always better prepared to deal with things when I had my underwear on.

After flipping on the light switch, I placed my feet carefully as I made my way down, closing the door behind me. Now that the adrenaline was leaving my body, I could feel each little cut that the gravel had left in my feet, and knew that I was leaving little bloody footprints. Well, there was enough blood to clean up already. The coppery smell of it along with the stronger smell of voided bowels was invading my nostrils as I worked my way around the bulk that had been Quinn. With the light on, I could see that his heart was not the only thing that had been torn out. There was a gaping hole at his throat. My gorge rose again and I swallowed down bile, closing my eyes and hoping I wouldn't throw up again.

There was a bend at the bottom of the stairwell that kept any daylight from entering the lair, where the vampires slept. So Quinn had not made it into the sleeping chamber.

"Jordun? It's me, Sookie. I'm coming in."

At first I didn't hear an answer, but then I caught a faint moan. I flipped the light for the main room and I saw him. He was on the floor, his back leaning against the freshly painted wall. His eyes were closed and his face was a grimace of pain. His hands were clutching the front of his stomach and they were drenched in blood.

I glanced quickly to the beds. Yes, Eric was still sleeping, sprawled out on top of the covers wearing a pair of black sleeping pants. His eyes were closed and his hands were crossed over his abdomen. He looked well and truly dead, but not injured. Jan and Daniel were lying in the bed next to Eric. They were naked and spooned together, the pale skin of each of their bodies blending together in one uniform color. Daniel's arms were wrapped around Jan's waist.

"Jordun, how badly are you hurt? Let me see," I said as I knelt down in front of him.

"I will heal, Sister," he said, but his voice sounded weak and he didn't open his eyes.

"I'm going to move your hands, Jordun," I warned him, and taking his hands in mine, slowly began to move them away from his stomach. I stopped almost immediately. I could see that Quinn's claws must have almost gutted him, and he was holding in his intestines.

"Oh my God, Jordun. I don't know what to do." He obviously couldn't be moved, and it would be a while before Dr. Ludwig could get here. And then, there was the secret that Jordun could be awake during the day. Eric had been quite clear on that. Under no circumstances should I let anyone know. I already wasn't sure how I could explain how Quinn had been stopped, but that would be a problem for Eric.

"I will heal while I sleep, Sister. But I am afraid that it will be a little painful." I could see he was in agony and was putting on a good front for me. He couldn't hide the tension in his muscles or the beads of bloody sweat that rolled slowly down the side of his face.

I went over to the bed where my Eric was sleeping, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead, then rummaged around for his pants on the floor. Eric always threw his pants onto the floor and he always kept a small knife in his pocket. Grabbing the knife, I went back to Jordun, who was making small noises of pain.

Opening the blade and placing it against the inside of my wrist, I closed my eyes, steeled myself and pulled the blade swiftly against my skin. The pain was sharp and immediate and blood flowed out of the small wound almost at once. I placed my wrist against Jordun's mouth and told him, in my most imperious voice, "You have my permission. Drink!"

He hesitated for only a second, then his nostrils flared from the scent of my blood and he began to suck greedily on the cut. It hurts when a vampire takes blood, even if they don't pierce your skin with their fangs. This wasn't a sharing of blood during the peak of sexual arousal and I couldn't be glamored, so I just gritted my teeth and waited for it to be over.

After a few moments, Jordun quit sucking and began to lick the wound. His color looked better almost immediately, a pink flush showing on his face and chest. The blood had stopped flowing from his stomach, and he had relaxed his muscles, his posture changing slightly and looking more relaxed.

Having had enough experience with vampires to know that the cut in my wrist would heal over quickly and wouldn't scar if it was sealed with vampire blood, I moved my hand down to his and rubbed it against the drying blood on his hands. He nodded approval, but still didn't say anything, although his eyes were now open and he was looking at me intently.

"You'll feel better soon, right? Do you want some True Blood?"

He nodded and I went to the little refrigerator that Amelia and I had stocked for the vampire's visit. Getting out a bottle, I warmed it, and then shook it up before I brought it to Jordun's lips. His hands were still clutching his stomach, but after a few swallows of True Blood, he brought one of them up to take the bottle.

I looked in amazement to see that the wound was healing before my eyes. His insides were back where they belonged, and new skin seemed to be growing over everything. Of course, that made it more obvious that he was butt naked. Now was not the time for embarrassment however and I moved my gaze back to his face. I admit that I did take a good look first.

"Thank you, Sister, for your generosity. Let's hope my brother does not feel compelled to take my head now that I have tasted your blood. I can see why he is so addicted to it."

"I have a feeling Eric won't mind in this case, since you just saved his life," I said. "Thank you, Jordun."

"It is my pleasure, Sister. Are you okay? You are not injured?"

"Not really, a few bruises I think and I cut my feet on the gravel. I didn't have time to find my slippers. But nothing important."

At least I hoped not. Now that I was evaluating my own condition, I realized that Bob had knocked me down pretty hard. I had no way to know if the baby was okay. I wasn't bleeding or cramping and I had to assume that Baby Claudine was all right. I didn't even want to contemplate that she might not be. I moved my hands over my belly protectively. If something had happened to my baby, there was one cat that was going to get skinned and to hell with the humane treatment of animals.

With that horrid thought, so unlike who I thought I really was, I sat down next to Jordun and started to cry. The tears ran down my cheeks, and my chest heaved with the sobs. Jordun, still weak, reached his bloody hand out to me and I took it in mine, holding on tight as if I was blowing in the wind and he was my anchor. I cried until I was shaking with exhaustion, and then I just sat.

Something had happened to me, but it hadn't happened today. Coming so close to death so many times…no…just that one time…when the fairies had taken me and when I had felt so certain that I would die, that I wanted to die at some point. It had changed me and I was beginning to understand something about myself. As much as I appreciated the gentility of my grandmother, as much as I valued kindness and compassion, as much as I had thought I knew what was right and what was wrong, there was a rage and savagery deep inside me that was as inhumane as the fairies, or the vampires. It may have been buried deep, but it was lying awfully close to the surface right now. And I wanted to put it back away. I wanted to be what I was before the supernatural world had invaded my peaceful, if not always easy existence.

Someone had once said, "You can't go home again." It was true. There was no going back, only forward. Only yesterday, forward had seemed a good place and maybe it would be. I had to keep thinking that, and keep looking in that direction.

While I was feeling sorry for myself, Jordun's hand had gone limp in mine. It was daytime and though he could rise and walk during the day, it probably took a lot out of him. He was healing an injury too, and that would require sleep. I got up and went to the bed that he had vacated to come to Eric's rescue and got the pillow and blanket. I didn't want to try to wake him to get him into bed, and I couldn't move him on my own, but I could make him a little more comfortable. I eased him down to the floor, and put the pillow under his head, then covered him with the blanket. It made me feel better even if it made no difference to Jordun.

What I really wanted to do was climb in bed with Eric and stay there until he woke up, but that just wasn't going to happen. For one thing, Amelia was probably in the house frantically wondering what was going on. For another, I had an obligation to make sure that my guards were okay. Hopefully Dr. Ludwig would be here soon and she could give them any medical attention they needed. Then we would need to get some back up in case anything else went down.

I sat on the edge of Eric's bed for a while and smoothed his tousled blond hair, so lovely even in disarray. I kissed his sleeping lips and then headed back up the stairs, treading carefully around the tiger's corpse. Quinn's sword was lying next to him, no doubt dropped when his hands had transformed into the claws of his animal. I picked it up, surprised by its weight, and carried it up with me. If something was waiting outside the door I was going to be prepared.

As it was, there was nothing scary waiting for me when I exited the lair, locking the door behind me. Luis, one of my regular guards, was standing there rifle in hand, looking ready for anything that might approach. He smiled with relief when he saw me and I realized that no one would have been sure that I was down with the vampires, since the last that Amelia had seen was me standing in the garage.

"Are you okay, Ma'am? Miss Amelia is in a frenzy and we have men out beating the bush for you. Mr. Cataliades is here, and the doctor. Are you bleeding, Ma'am?"

Luis was looking at my robe, which had managed to get quite a bit of Jordun's blood on it. I must have looked a fright! I needed a bath and then some breakfast. The men could take over from here, since the women (as so often happens, I thought) had saved the day.

"Yes, I'm fine. Eric and his men are fine too. Luis, can you maybe get me some slippers or something? I left the house barefoot and the gravel is very hard to walk on."

He did better than that, and just picked me up and carried me over to the porch. As strong as he was, I am no lightweight, and he was puffing as he set me down. Amelia was out on the porch like a shot, hugging me and talking a mile a minute, although I didn't really manage to catch most of what she had to say.

"Thanks, Luis," I said and after pulling myself from Amelia's grasp, I looked around. The yard was full of men and vehicles. They were all sporting rifles and they all looked deadly serious. I guess Mr. Cataliades had called in the troops.

"Luis, if you could tell everyone that I'm fine and so is Eric. What about Travis and Mark and Jim? Are they okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am. The doctor has seen them and they'll be fine. They're over at Mr. Compton's place."

"Sookie, come in the house. Where did all this blood come from? Are you really okay? Let Dr. Ludwig take a look at you."

Amelia tugged at my arm, and knowing that I would hear the whole story from her and really wanting to get out of this bloody robe, I thanked Luis again and went inside. It looked like I had company.

Mr. Cataliades was sitting at the table, a glass of tea and a plate of food in front of him, talking with the tiny Dr. Ludwig. Two weres that I didn't recognize were standing at the side of the room, well armed and looking menacing. I must have been downstairs longer than I thought for this many troops to be gathered in from Shreveport.

"Ah, my dear, there you are," said Mr. Cataliades and although he rose from his chair and approached me, he hesitated at extending his hand. I didn't blame him, since mine were pretty nasty. He did pull up a chair for me to sit down.

"Are you quite okay? And the king?"

"I'm fine, and Eric is too. He's sleeping. Thank you for coming so quickly and taking care of things here. And you, Dr. Ludwig, thanks for seeing to my guards. Amelia, is there any coffee? I didn't manage to get mine this morning."

"I better take a look at you, Sookie," Dr. Ludwig said and began to reach for her bag.

"I'm not injured, this is not my blood," I said, wondering whose blood I should say it was. "Really, I'm fine."

"Would you care to explain what has happened, my dear?" Mr. Cataliades asked in his usual formal manner.

That was easier said than done without divulging Jordun's secret, but I gave them what information I could.

"Apparently Victor managed to enlist Bob to do some spying for him. He met him, well, sort of, on the night of the Nevada take-over." Victor had met Bob the Cat, not Bob the witch. Victor must have been keeping track of Amelia and Bob for a while.

"Did Amelia tell you Bob's history?" The demon and the doctor both nodded. Amelia busied herself with making the coffee and I could tell by her demeanor that she was mortified about the whole situation.

"Anyway, Bob, since he was staying here, knew that Eric and I were going to be here overnight. He notified Quinn or Victor, I don't know which, and I guess he managed to disable the guards. Do you know what happened to them?"

I realized I didn't know that much of the story really, especially where Bob was concerned.

"He used some kind of spell on them, to put them to sleep. They didn't have any reason to be wary of Bob, since as far as everyone but you and me knew, he still lived here," Amelia said as she brought over my cup of coffee. I picked up the cup and put it under my nose, relishing the smell of it before I took my first sip. Ahhh, bliss!

"When I managed to kick his ass, magically that is," Amelia continued, looking proud of herself, "his spell broke and they woke up a little while later, not knowing what hit them."

"And this man Bob's goal was to capture you for Victor?" Mr. Cataliades asked.

"No, actually, he was just holding me for Quinn. Victor sent Quinn to kill Eric. Bob got hold of the codes somehow (I thought I'd spare Amelia by not mentioning just how) and passed them to Quinn. Quinn was to get into the lair and kill Eric and then, with the ensuing chaos of not having a king, Victor could make his move. I assume he probably already has men in the state, waiting for word that Eric is dead."

"I was supposed to be a reward for Quinn, or at least that's what Quinn thought. But really, I think Victor would have taken me for himself as soon as he could."

Mr. Cataliades and Dr. Ludwig listened intently as I gave the bare bones of the story. How I had awakened early and "heard" Quinn outside. How I'd run out and confronted Quinn, who'd passed me off to Bob. And then, how Amelia had come out to save me.

"And you heard their plan telepathically or did Quinn admit his intentions to you?" Mr. Cataliades asked and added, "The distinction might be important as a question of law."

I guess that supernatural law had to make provisions for those kinds of distinctions. I couldn't see any human court giving credence to my telepathic evidence.

"Both, really. Everything I got from Bob, I got from his head. But Quinn tried to justify himself to me, telling me that I was enslaved to Eric or something, and that's why he was doing it. That, and the promise that his debt to the Nevada vamps would be forgiven and he would get me thrown into the bargain if he killed Eric. The possible take-over, if Eric was killed, I think that was from Quinn's thoughts."

Mr. Cataliades looked pleased at my retelling of the story, as if something I had said had sparked an idea in his head. I couldn't really read demon brains, so I wasn't sure what part of my retelling was significant.

"And the tiger, may I ask what happened to him? Did he abandon his endeavor at the witch's approach? Or from the unusual state of disarray that you present, shall I assume that Mr. Quinn made some further attempt at violence?"

With this question, Mr. Cataliades looked meaningfully at the blood on my robe and the sword that I had carried in and propped against my leg.

You had to love the delicate way in which the lawyer phrased his questions. Years of experience in courtrooms had perfected his technique I guessed. I tried to think of a delicate, and discrete way to answer him.

"Quinn didn't turn tail and run, that's for sure. I don't think he even saw Amelia come out of the house. Let me put it this way. He didn't succeed in what he came for, and I don't think we need to worry about him attempting something like that ever again."

Let them think that I had killed Quinn, or whatever scenario they wanted. I wasn't going to say what really happened, or mention Jordun, until I had spoken with my vampires. One thing I knew how to do well, after years of reading minds, was how to keep secrets.

"Well, my dear. I am so very glad to see that you have survived this little ordeal. I will be coordinating extra security throughout the kingdom in case Victor Madden is unwise enough to take any hostile action. It was a great pleasure to see you as always, Mrs. Northman. Feel free to call if you need anything."

When Mr. Cataliades had left, Dr. Ludwig insisted that she check me for any damage, especially when Amelia told her that I had been pushed down. I wanted to clean up first, but she was not one to listen to arguments, so I complied. She took my blood pressure, and listened to the baby's heart, then put her hands on my belly as she always did, picking up whatever she usually picked up. When I assured her that I had no cramps or bleeding, she told me to call at the first sign of any discomfort and let herself out. I assumed someone was waiting to drive her, since she was too short to reach the gas pedal, but at that point I didn't want to worry about anyone else. All I wanted was a shower.

"Amelia, I'm going to go clean up," I said as I got up from the table.

As I reached the bedroom door, I heard Amelia call from the kitchen. "Don't let the cat out!"


	39. Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39

"Well, Bob, what are we going to do with you?" I asked the cat.

The cat was curled up in a ball smack in the middle of my bed with no thought to how much cat hair he was leaving on the sheets. My usual routine was to make up the bed first thing, unless Eric was dead in it of course. That morning, my routine had not been quite the norm.

"I suppose we better send someone out to the store for litter and food," I told Bob the cat. "Even a condemned man usually gets a last meal."

I laughed a little wryly at that statement, but Bob was definitely one step away from the hangman's noose. Eric was going to be so pissed!

"You better not have fleas!" I told Bob as I rummaged through my bag for my make up. I wasn't leaving my room until I was dressed, brushed and made up. Enough people had seen me looking like something out of a zombie movie this morning, half naked and covered with blood. Speaking of which, I better get that robe in the washer to soak in cold water.

Leaving Bob to his catnap, I finished up my morning routine and popped a pair of gold hoops into my ears. I definitely looked pregnant in my yellow spring dress. There wasn't much room in it either. At least my underwear still fit, but only because they were bikinis. If I didn't go shopping soon, all I'd have to wear was underwear. Eric might like that, I thought wickedly as I headed back to the kitchen. I had a cup of coffee to finish and I was starving.

"Amelia?" I called as I walked towards the kitchen, not wanting to startle her.

"Oh hey, hon. How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

"Like I will slap the next person that asks me that," I thought, but didn't say it. Instead, I headed over to the coffee pot and poured myself a fresh cup.

"I'm fine. Glad to be clean again. We need to send someone to the store for litter and food for Bob."

Amelia curled her lip and sneered at the mention of the cat. "Already taken care of," she said. "I asked Travis to send someone. They will pick up some food for all of the men too. Since there are so many of them, we thought we could do barbecue or something."

"Oh good! I'm glad Travis is up and about. What are we going to do today? I guess we won't be sunbathing with the armed forces camping out in the backyard."

"Travis said we can't go out, either. I guess we're on red alert or something." Amelia had gotten out a frying pan and I was definitely going to tell Eric we should give her a raise if she was planning on bacon and eggs for breakfast.

"I guess that leaves shopping on the computer," I said and smiled hungrily as Amelia put bacon strips in the pan.

Amelia was feeling pretty miserable, if the way she was mutilating my bacon with a fork was any indication.

"Geez Louise, Amelia. Sit down and let me cook breakfast. You're murdering that bacon, and I am going to have to eat it. I'm starving." I got up from the table, took the fork out of her hand and directed her to sit. Taking the eggs out of the fridge and getting out the bread for toast, I busied myself with preparing breakfast. Amelia sat at the table with her head in her hands.

"I'm supposed to be helping take care of you," she whined. "And what do I do? I almost get you killed, letting that bastard move in here. We should put him in a sack and drown him, Sook. I'm so mad, I could just spit."

"Well, don't spit on the table, we're going to eat there. You couldn't have anticipated any of this. He seemed like an okay guy to me too. And he did have a very sexy smile. It's not your fault, Amelia, and you're not going to drown a cat."

"What are we going to do with him, Sook? I didn't know what else to do, I wasn't even thinking. It just kind of popped out of my mouth, the transformation spell I mean. It was easy doing it the second time. Eric's going to kill him, I guess. You don't think he'll torture him first, do you? Maybe he'll feed him to Bubba."

I shivered at the thought of that; no one was going to be doing any torturing of anything while I was around. Killing? Well, that was something else.

"Oh god, Bubba! I hadn't thought of that. I think he's still in Mississippi, but he could be at Bill's. He would have brought his laundry over though, if he was at Bill's," I said, dismissing worries about Bubba. "We're not letting him out yet anyway. Do you still have that cat carrier?" I added as an afterthought.

"Yeah, it's upstairs somewhere."

"I think I'm going to take him home to Shreveport."

"You think Eric will let you? I mean, Bob almost got Eric killed. Vampires aren't very forgiving about things like that, are they?"

"I'll deal with Eric."

I said that with more confidence than I felt. Eric was going to be mightily pissed off when he woke up to a dead tiger in his bedroom. There wasn't going to be any way to hide Bob's part in the whole thing. Not that I really cared about Bob or what happened to him, but now that the crisis was over and I was calm, I didn't want to see any more violence. And Bob was a cat now, and I liked cats. I'd have to think about what to say to Eric. In the meantime, I didn't want to spend the day with an upset Amelia, even though she deserved a little grief for getting us all into it in the first place.

"The vamps were all naked down in the lair," I said nonchalantly to Amelia, knowing that change of subject would grab her.

"Really?" she asked, perking up immediately. "They're all so gorgeous. I was noticing Daniel last night. That scar is kind of sexy, don't you think? Does he have any others?"

"Well, now, maybe you should ask him your own self. He looked pretty perfect to me."

I hadn't really paid much attention to Daniel, being pretty distracted by all the blood and gore. Daniel was a blank page to me. He never said much although he had a wonderful voice and had been very gracious about reading aloud at home. I couldn't remember if I had even asked him where he was from. He had seemed more like an appendage to Thomas than an individual.

I couldn't deduce anything about him by seeing him in bed with Jan, since there had been four vamps and three beds. They had looked awfully cozy though. Eric had told me it was rare for vamps to get together for more than one night, but then look at Thalia and Thomas. Actually, I knew of another vamp liaison, Bill and Lorena. But Daniel and Jan hadn't looked interested in each other when they'd been hanging around the house. Maybe vamps just craved touch? I certainly did. Hadn't I read somewhere that babies didn't thrive if they weren't touched?

"Hmm. I think I'll have to find out a little more about Daniel."

Just as my mouth was about to say, "Don't you think it's a little soon after Bob?" or maybe something that was equally not my business, my more charitable Christian self suggested that Amelia set the table and pour out the coffee.

Someone knocked on the door in the middle of breakfast and Amelia called for them to come on in. We were both surprised to see Diantha, Mr. Cataliades' niece. Her boyish figure was clad in her usual outlandish mode: yellow tights, pink tube top and a gauzy blue skirt. She looked like a cross between a parrot and a ballerina.

"Hi Diantha, how nice to see you. Won't you come on in? Would you like some breakfast?"

Diantha eyed my bacon enviously. "No time. Unclesentme. Hesays don'tkillthecat," Diantha said in her singsong way.

"Don't kill the cat?" I repeated, hoping I had interpreted her correctly.

"Don't…kill…the….cat!" she repeated, emphasizing each syllable.

"Okay, although I can't speak for Eric. Is there a reason to keep the cat alive?" It was my intention to keep Bob alive, but I wanted to hear Mr. Cataliades' reasoning.

"Forevidence, atthetrial. Gottago. Nicetoseeya Bye." With that, Diantha spun around and went out the door.

"What was that about?"

"I have no idea. But I can just imagine Mr. Cataliades. 'Mr. Cat, did you conspire to kidnap the Queen of the Vampires?' And Bob would answer, 'Meow'."

"They do have a vampire court, Amelia. Believe me, it's no laughing matter. I sat in on it in Rhodes. Bill was one of the judges; they take turns on the bench. It's kind of like People's Court I guess; only the judgments are a little harsher. They staked a vamp right there in front of everyone. I guess he sort of deserved it, but still."

"Not much about vampires is a laughing matter, Sook."

Funny, but I had had more laughs with Eric than I'd had in my whole life previously. Granted, some of the humor he spouted was sort of black by human standards, but I had laughed just as heartily. Was I even thinking in human standards anymore?

"I'm going to order that book for Eric," I said when breakfast was cleared and dishes washed. "What to Expect, the First Year. I really don't think he knows what he is signing on for. In his day, the women took care of everything. Well, not the raping and pillaging maybe, but most of the domestic stuff. Actually, the men here in Bon Temps pretty much still leave all the kid stuff to the women."

"Eric's pretty progressive for such an old guy though. Who knows, maybe he'll help. What else should we order?"

Amelia just loved to shop, and I was finding it pretty fun too, once I got used to the idea. By the time we were finished on the computer, more than half the day was gone and half my fortune too, no doubt. Geez, babies were expensive.

Late afternoon brought a knock to the door and Travis was standing on the porch.

"Travis! Come on in. You doin' okay? The magic spell didn't leave any affects?"

Travis stepped through the door, but stopped short of coming into the kitchen. He glanced around as if looking for something, and his eyes widened almost imperceptively when he caught sight of Quinn's sword lying on the table. He nodded, as if affirming something in his mind. I could just imagine what that was. Looking at me speculatively, he shook his head as if in disbelief.

"Good afternoon Ma'am. If I might just have a word. Me and the boys are just fine, no problems after we woke up. We appreciate you sending out the doctor though. Mr. Cataliades assured us you were okay in here, so we didn't want to bother you after your ordeal."

I picked up the sword, which I had been keeping handy just in case, and moved it to lean against a corner in the kitchen. Pulling a chair out for Travis, I got a Coke out of the fridge and set it down with a glass and a napkin. Years of working in a bar and you can get drinks in your sleep almost. I sat down and waited to hear what Travis had to say.

"Thank you, Ma'am," Travis said as he sat down and politely took a drink of his Coke. "Now, you can see we have quite a crew out there, mostly weres. The vamps have an emergency phone tree so Liz, down in New Orleans, has been coordinating that. Every one of the resident vamps will have a message with the procedure on what to do. I gather the King doesn't want any vamps to gather at Fangtasia, so there will be a closed sign up and it is under surveillance now."

When Nevada had successfully taken over Louisiana before, Area Five's vamps had gathered at Fangtasia and then been trapped by Victor Madden's people. Eric had learned not to repeat that mistake and would have the Louisiana vamps scatter.

"It sounds like there is a good plan in place." I didn't have any thing to offer on the plan, since strategy was not my strong point. I was more in the "hope they fall on my stake or knife" line of defense. Maybe I should start playing chess or something.

"Yes, Ma'am. We were hoping though, that we might know if there was anything we should expect here on the home front, in terms of the King rising. My men will be here as long as needed, of course, to look after you and Miss Amelia. Mr. Cataliades said the King survived an attempt on his life."

Travis wasn't going to come right out and ask me happened. I wasn't going to tell him in any case. On the other hand, if our King was not in a position to lead and Madden's people showed up, it was questionable whether the weres could stand up to a group of enemy vampires and survive. Another plan would be called for to save me and Amelia from Victor's clutches. Something along the lines of getting the hell out of here.

"Victor Madden did make an attempt to get to Eric, but Eric is fine. I don't know if any more of Victor's people are in the area. Eric should be up at his regular time, Travis. He has Jordun, Jan and Daniel with him and they are all well. I guess we have Bill too, although I don't know if he is recovered enough for fighting. Do you know if Bubba is back from Mississippi?"

"Not that I know of, Ma'am." Travis looked relieved that I had confirmed that Eric was alive and uninjured.

"I expect that he might not be in the best of moods when he gets up, though, so maybe I should talk to him before anyone else approaches him?"

To say he would be in a bad mood was putting it mildly. I was beginning to worry about Jordun down there, smelling like me and wondered if I shouldn't go down before everyone woke up. Just the thought of seeing Quinn again made me feel ill though.

"I'll have the men clear the area a bit then, around nightfall. Until then, you ladies will be safer in the house. We're fixing some barbecue for the men's dinner out there. A couple of the guys are pretty good cooks. Can we send you over something to eat?"

"Thanks, Travis, barbecue sounds real good. If there's anything we can contribute or you need the kitchen just let me know."

"Yes, Ma'am. I think we're fine."

As the sun began to settle down into the horizon I decided to wait inside the garage. Expecting it to cool off once the sun went down, I threw on a light sweater. I hoped there wasn't going to be any more blood, since I was going to run out of clean clothes if I had to change and soak this dress. Maybe I should be buying clothing made of fabric that was more stain resistant?

Jordun was the first vampire through the door. He had thrown on some jeans but hadn't bothered to shower. His chest and arms were still stained with flaking dried blood. I supposed his early rising was part of his gift of day walking.

"Sister, all is well? My brother will be waking, and I thought I might put a little distance between us to explain before he notices the smell of your blood." He was grinning as if this was a familiar game, to evade Eric's temper. The sounds that were beginning to echo up from the lair were anything but playful.

A fearful roar emerged, followed by a series of thuds that sounded very much like a body may have been thrown across the room. A string of words in another language, undoubtedly curses, came from a different voice. Daniel maybe? Within seconds, Eric came bounding out of the door. Sword in hand and blue eyes blazing, he looked quickly around, ready to strike at any threat. When his eyes found mine, he leapt at me, just about crushing me as he threw his arms around me. And yes, he had blood on his hands and chest, probably tiger blood. There went my clothes!

"What has happened, Sookie? Are you all right?" He moved his hands from my back to my shoulders and visually swept the room, his gaze alighting on Jordun. His nostrils flared and his whole body tensed, including his fingers that were now gripping my shoulders. He glared menacingly at Jordun who actually took a step backward.

"Eric!" I screeched, "You're hurting me! Let me tell you what happened." His attention drew back to me. His grip loosened but the dangerous look didn't leave his countenance. I couldn't remember him ever looking this angry.

"Why is there a dead tiger in my room and why is your blood in my brother's body?" He almost spat the last part of that question, but he made no move toward Jordun.

I began to tell him what had happened that morning. I noticed Jan and Daniel, who had come up the stairs and were standing ready, weapons in hand and listening as I told about Bob coming into the kitchen. I hesitated, and then nodded at the two vamps.

"I think we might need a little more privacy for this, Eric," I hinted and he turned to Jan and Daniel and snapped "Leave!" They hustled out to the yard without question, but I gestured to Jordun that he stay put. He closed the door so that we might not be overheard.

Besides having learned to read Eric's facial expressions and body language, our link through the bond keyed me in to his emotions. He wavered between anger and concern as I told about the strange tapping on my shoulder, Bob's perfidy and Quinn's revelations both verbal and telepathic. When I got to the part of finding Quinn dead on the stairs and Jordun's horrible injury, Eric's rage was barely contained. He nodded and seemed mollified when I explained that I had offered Jordun my blood willingly with no coercion.

When I got to the part about Amelia saving the day and turning Bob back into a cat, Eric lost it, his voice rising and his body vibrating with rage.

"Hvor i helvete er den forbanna katta?"

I looked at him blankly and my lack of response seemed to infuriate him even more.

"Answer me!" he shouted, and he shook me. I was so startled that all I could do was gape!

"Don't you shout at me!" I yelled and stomped my foot like a three year old. "How the hell am I going to answer you when you scream questions at me in Icelandic or something? You just calm down, buddy!"

"Norwegian," Jordun chimed in and earned an icy stare from me.

Eric seemed taken aback and it looked like he hadn't even realized he was speaking in a foreign language. He got it right the next time as he spoke clearly in English with a barely controlled hiss.

"Where is the fucking cat?"

"He's in my bedroom, but you…"

I didn't get to finish what I had to say before he was moving me aside to head off to Bob. Grabbing his arm, I tried to hold him back and he whirled on me so suddenly I was almost knocked off my feet.

"You can't kill the cat, Eric! Mr. Cataliades said not to kill him, he needs him for a trial!"

"There will be no trial. I will kill Victor with my bare hands and I will skin that damned cat alive!" He was glaring at me, but it was almost like he didn't see that it was me, he was so enraged.

"But it's Claudine's cat, Eric! Eric!"

He wasn't really hearing me and was pulling away again, unbending my clutching fingers that had been squeezing his arm. Well, I wasn't going to have him skin the cat alive, no matter what. I just took my hand and swinging as hard as I could, I slapped him right across the face! I've played softball and I've had vampire blood, so I can swing. He definitely felt it and it stopped him cold. I felt it too, like I had a tree trunk, and my arm reverberated with the shock of it.

"Listen up, Eric. It's Claudine's cat, from the dream. It was a black and white cat, like Bob. Don't you see? It's Claudine's cat. You can't kill him!"

That seemed to register and I could see him collecting himself, thinking it over and not liking it one bit. But I knew that Bob would be spared when Eric took out his anger by making a fist and slamming it through the garage wall. When he pulled his arm back, it had a wicked gash and his knuckles were bleeding.

"Oh Eric, I'm so sorry," I said, taking his hand and looking at the damage. It was healing right before my eyes, but I have to admit I was tempted to lick the blood off. Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! Eric, as if sensing what I was thinking, put his hand to my mouth and his look went from cold rage to warmth in an instant. I couldn't pass it up, even as I blushed to think of what I was doing.

"Definitely not human," Jordun said from the sidelines and he sounded pleased and maybe a bit envious.

"Are you okay, Kjære? You weren't injured this morning? Have you seen the doctor?" Eric asked as he pulled me in close to him, kissing the top of my head. "I'm sorry that I shouted at you."

"Yes, I'm fine. I was only knocked down, but everything's okay. I saw Dr. Ludwig. She checked out the guards too, and they're all okay. They're all still here. I called Mr. Cataliades and he got here right away. He called New Orleans and there were messages sent out to all the vamps. Fangtasia is closed and it is under surveillance."

Eric nodded as if this was pro forma, but he seemed pleased.

"And did you tell Cataliades everything that occurred?"

"No. I told him about Bob and Quinn being here and that Victor was involved and possibly a threat. He knows about Amelia's spell and the cat. He asked where Quinn was, but I didn't tell him that Jordun killed Quinn. I probably shouldn't have told him about Quinn at all, since I was the only one who saw him here. I was just still so upset, I wasn't thinking."

"How did you explain it?"

"I didn't really. I told him that you were still alive, and that Quinn was no longer someone to worry about. I let him draw his own conclusions. I think everyone thinks I killed Quinn."

This brought a smile to Eric's face. "Good, let them think that. You are already legend for taking out that bitch Lorena."

I looked surprised, not realizing that it was common knowledge that I had killed Lorena, Bill's maker.

"These things usually come out, Lover, although the details may remain a mystery. We can just let the rumor mill take care of the details of this situation for now. It is not unbelievable that you could deal with anyone that threatened you or your family. You are a very courageous woman."

"Well, if it wasn't for Amelia and Jordun today, things might have gone very differently, Eric."

"Yes, and they still may if we are not careful. Victor has underestimated our resourcefulness, but that doesn't mean he is not a threat still. But not for long, I think."

As if that statement was a signal to resume his kingly duties, Eric started rattling off commands to Jordun, beginning with calling Pam and telling her to bring Thalia, Thomas and the van. Jordun pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket and flipped it open.

"Come Lover, let's get you into the house. I will need to make some calls."

"I can get myself to the house, Eric. You might want to get dressed?"

Looking down at himself he frowned. "Yes, a very good idea. I will be in shortly, Lover."

Stepping out the door, he signaled for Daniel who escorted me to the door of the house. Amelia was waiting to hear about what was going on, but I didn't really have any news.

"Eric is a little upset about Bob," I told Amelia. "Let's keep him locked up in my room for now. I think he won't last long if Eric runs into him before he is completely calmed down. It will be better if I am with Bob, to buffer the situation."

I knew it would probably be a busy night for the vampires, with people coming and going, so I decided to just stay out of the way of everyone. I changed into yesterday's clothes, threw my dress into the washer and borrowed a book from Amelia. Pouring myself a glass of milk, I went into the bedroom and settled down to read. From the yard came the sounds of cars pulling in and out and men talking on cell phones, preparing in case Victor decided to make a move. Without a signal from Quinn that Eric was dead, it seemed unlikely to me that Victor would try anything, but Eric hadn't stayed alive for a thousand years by not being prepared.

As I made myself comfortable, pillows propped behind me, book in hand, I realized how totally exhausted I was. All the emotion of the day seemed more draining than physical exertion. There was a lot to think about. Not the threat of Victor Madden. I would leave that to Eric to deal with. But what direction my life had taken and how I was responding to it.

Maybe Jordun was right when he said I was definitely not human. I was feeling less human every day, at least since I'd been taken by the fairies. Was it just hormones? The mood swings were definitely common in pregnancy. Maybe it was PTSD. I had definitely had more than my fair share of trauma, physical and mental. I'd been drinking a lot of vampire blood too. I had surprised myself at how I'd reacted to Eric's injuries, at how much I had wanted his blood.

But the memory of how much I had wanted to hurt…no…not hurt…kill Quinn and Bob was worrisome. Did God count intention as harshly as he might judge a deed? Lust was supposed to be a sin whether you had sex or not, so maybe blood lust was the same thing. And dear Lord, I had actually slapped Eric! How out of control was that? I had a lot of soul searching to do, that was for sure, but not tonight. I was too tired tonight.

Hearing something stirring in the room, I looked down to the floor and noticed Bob. He was hunched back into the corner of the room by the closet, next to his food dish, which looked untouched. I watched him for a while and he watched me. I wondered if what I was doing was right, condemning a man to live the life of a cat. I didn't know what was right and what was wrong anymore and Gran wasn't here to guide me.

Laying my unopened book down on the bedside table, I climbed off the bed and went to sit down on the floor in front of the cat. His ears laid back and the fur rose on the ridge of his back, but after a few minutes of running my hand over the top of his head, he settled down.

"Come on, Bob," I said, picking him up and laying him on the bed. I lay back down, pulling one of the quilts over me and Bob curled up on the bed beside me. His fur was smooth and silky and the warmth of his body radiated through my hand as I petted him. Bob began to purr and the sound soothed me. We all craved the touch of another.


	40. Chapter 40

CHAPTER 40

"Shoo! Shoo! Jeg skal fanden ta meg rive skinnet av det kattkreket og spikre det opp paa stabbursveggen!"

"What the heck is going on?" I complained as I snuggled a little deeper under the covers to get away from the noise. "It must be the middle of the night!"

The sound of the bathroom door slamming added insult to injury and I rolled over to see what Eric was up to. Seeing nothing but blackness, I realized there was no reason to have my eyes open and closed them again. Maybe he would go away and let me sleep.

"Obviously it is nighttime. Surely I am not expected to share the bed with your new pet, Sookie!" Somebody was a little cranky.

The sound of shoes hitting the floor, a little forcefully I might add, and the sudden feeling of an earthquake as Eric flopped his big self on the bed next to me, ended any hope I might have had of falling back asleep.

"You didn't hurt him, did you, Eric? And what were you saying?"

"No, I resisted the urge to nail the cat's skin up on the side of the garage. Neither did I step on him, although I was sorely tempted. He is still in one piece in the bathroom."

Eric said this as if he had just earned enough brownie points for a new badge. Instead of snuggling up under the covers with me, he was lying on top of the quilt fully dressed, and wonder of all wonders, he was fidgeting. I didn't think vampires ever fidgeted, but he was fussing with the pillow and readjusting his position and generally making sure I wouldn't ignore his presence. As if I ever could.

"What's up, sweetie? I'm sorry about the cat. What time is it?"

"It will be dawn in a few hours. You are sleeping in your clothes?"

"I had planned to just rest a bit. I guess I fell asleep. Are we going home?"

"No, they are still…cleaning up out there. It is better if you stay inside. I will rest here again this day and we can go home when I rise."

Eric didn't say anything else for a few minutes. He made no move to get closer, but he had settled down to his usual vampire stillness. I wondered if he would tell me what he had found out or if Victor Madden had made any more attempts on the kingdom. I decided to let him tell me in his own time.

"Did you eat? Are you hungry, sweetie?"

"Yes, to both questions. I had a True Blood."

He said this like a kid that had been forced to eat brussel sprouts against his will and better judgment and hadn't enjoyed them one bit. I rolled to the side and propped myself up on an elbow, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"I think you might be pouting, Eric," I teased.

"Children pout, vampires do not," he said, sounding even more pouty.

"Ha!" I said, and ran my fingers over his lips. He inhaled slightly, scenting my finger, and his fangs slid down. Running my finger over the smooth hard surface of one of his fangs, I pricked it on the tip, flinching slightly at the brief stab of pain.

Eric closed his lips over my finger and sucked greedily on the tiny wound for just a few moments and then sighed. The tension that had been humming through the bond abated a bit and Eric turned his head to look at me. I'm not sure how much he could see, as dark as it was in the room, but I could feel him relaxing.

"I sent you an email. Amelia gave me your address," he said.

"Oh boy! I've only gotten one so far, from Amelia. Oh and some order confirmations, but those don't count. What did you say?"

"You will have to read it and find out," he said, sounding amused. "But I forwarded some things from Bobby. He has found a house."

I certainly didn't want to get email from Bobby, who hated me, but I supposed it was inevitable. It seemed like Bobby was accepting me as a little bit more than an upstart fangbanger these days, but I didn't think we would ever like each other. He was a necessary evil though and he really was very good at his job.

"In Shreveport? What's it like?"

"It's on the outskirts. It's big and in pretty good condition. We could have windows installed to block the light, and black out curtains. Eventually we would have underground facilities on the property too. There are several outbuildings that could be used for extra rooms and guard's quarters and there is enough land to have outdoor space for you and the child in the daytime."

"Do you really think we have to move? I like our little house."

"Yes, Lover, I do too. But it is that, or build another house on our present property, and a decent guardhouse. Even then, I think we would be crowded, since everyone will want to be in the main house with you."

I thought about this for a moment, trying to formulate what I wanted to say. I didn't want to sound critical, but at the same time, I needed to set some guidelines down now.

"I like having our little family all together, Eric, well, not so little family I guess. But…if we are all in the same house….what about when someone wants…you know…take-out for dinner?"

Eric was quiet for a minute and then I felt his chest vibrate as he began to laugh.

"Are you referring to willing donors, My Love? Oh, Pam will love that expression!"

"Eric! I'm serious!" I said, punching him lightly on the arm. "I don't want a bunch of fangbangers walking through my living room, especially in front of the baby!"

"Sorry, Lover, but you are really too cute. I know you are serious. That is why we need outbuildings. We could make a policy of dining out only, as we have now, but it is a little hard on everyone. Why don't you think about it and look at the information Bobby sent? We will talk about it tomorrow and if you want, we can go see the house."

"Will it be safe for me to go out tomorrow? Was there any trouble tonight?"

"It should be safe if you take extra guards, but if you can manage to stay home one more day, that would be best. We found a few of Victor's men and they have been dealt with. I don't think he will give us any more trouble since I am so obviously still alive."

The tension was creeping back into the bond and I let the subject alone. I didn't want to hear about what he meant when he said that Victor's men had been dealt with, and he didn't sound so confident that we had heard the last of Victor either. I rested my head against his chest and stroked his arm, trying to offer comfort.

"Bubba is at Bill's," Eric announced out of the blue. He sounded amused again, and I wondered if he wanted to see what my reaction was. Of course I instantly thought of the cat!

"We need to tell him about Bob," I said. "You won't let him eat the cat, will you?"

"Actually, I hadn't even thought of that," he admitted. "What an interesting idea! No, the reason I mentioned Bubba is that he knew you were here and he brought his laundry!" With that, Eric started to laugh again.

"Well, since I'll be here all day, you might as well bring over all the stuff that needs washing and I'll take care of it."

"No Lover, you are not a laundromat. I have called your brownie and she is coming in the morning to take care of you."

It was always your brownie or your witch with Eric. He rarely used their names. I thought maybe it was because he was jealous that any one else might be important to me besides him. But maybe it was because he had lived for so long without attachments, and people without names were harder to get close to.

"I don't need to be taken care of, you know, I am an adult. But I'm glad you called Grace. If you could taste her muffins, you would know why. Yum!"

"The way you say 'Yum' is going to make it very hard for me to leave your bed, Lover," he said, taking me in his arms and nuzzling my neck. "But I must go. There are several loose ends waiting for me that must be taken care of. If they were not important…"

He left off with that and began to sit up. I couldn't believe he was going to go back out and I tried to hold on to him in protest.

"But you've hardly even eaten, Eric! Do you have to go?" I'm sure I sounded like a whiny two-year old.

"Yes, Lover, I must. I will make it up to you tomorrow." And with that, he kissed me like there was no tomorrow and left the room.

Well, that was surprising and a little frustrating! But if Eric was passing up blood and sex he must be stressed. He never passed up an opportunity. Better not to know what the loose ends were that he was tying up.

As if he knew that Eric had gone, I heard a faint scratching at the bathroom door. Bob! I got up and let the cat back into the bedroom, and this time he went to his dish and began to eat. I took the opportunity to take care of my human needs and change into the nightgown I had brought with me. I climbed back into bed and fell fast asleep.

A strange rumbling woke me up and I found Bob curled up on Eric's pillow, purring like a chainsaw. The sun was streaming in through the window and I felt that for the first time in a long time, I'd had enough sleep. There was a bag sitting by the bathroom door, fortunately filled with clean clothes. Someone must have brought them from the Shreveport house. I popped into the shower and got ready for my day.

The kitchen smelled just like heaven should smell, of hot coffee, biscuits and sausage sizzling in the pan. I definitely could eat a horse. Pouring myself a cup of coffee and sitting down to the table, I greeted Grace who was busy at the stove.

"Good morning, dear. Your breakfast is just about ready. Miss Amelia will be down in a minute."

"Thanks for coming, Grace. And thanks for bringing me some clothes, if that was you. I'm sorry if you got called in the middle of the night. Eric is sometimes a little…" I was at a loss for words.

"Imperious? Yes, well, he would be, wouldn't he? He is vampire after all. No problem, dear."

I was definitely going to get out the dictionary. I missed my word of the day calendar too. Maybe they had something like that on the computer. I'd ask Amelia.

"Have you worked for vampires before, Grace?"

"No. I have worked for the Brigants for many years and of course they generally kept their distance from the vampires. I like to stay with one family. But vampires are like anyone else. They make a mess. They need their clothes washed."

Well, that was an interesting way to think about vamps. They certainly did generate laundry. Eric had told me that loyalty to one family was a characteristic of Brownies. I guess I was a Brigant, although only a small part of me. Maybe Grace had worked for my great grandfather as well as Claudine.

"I worked for your cousins, the Cranes," she said when I'd asked her about Niall. "My mother's family worked for your great grandfather. She met my father when she came to this world with Niall's household. She has returned to fairy of course."

"Have you ever been to the fae lands?"

"Oh no. Only those of pure blood would have been safe there, although that may be different now that Breandan is dead. The portals are closed of course. There aren't any pure bloods left here that I know of, and very few of mixed heritage. Fairy will become a thing of legend now."

Her cheerful face took on such a look of sorrow that I didn't have the heart to continue my questioning. When Amelia came into the kitchen, Grace resumed her usual smile and began to serve breakfast.

"Eric sent me an email," I told Amelia when we had finished our delicious meal and I was enjoying my second cup of coffee. "Bobby Burnham found a house for us. Maybe he sent pictures."

"Oh, let's take a look."

I ended up not letting Amelia see Eric's email, since his message seemed focused on what we could do in the pool if we bought the house. When I had finished blushing, I opened the email from Bobby Burnham.

Bobby had indeed sent pictures and the house looked wonderful. "French Colonial built in the late twenties and restored recently, this two-story house offers six bedrooms and eight baths and updated appliances throughout. The outbuildings include a two-bedroom guesthouse, a pool house and a three-car garage," the blurb he sent with the pictures said. The exterior was brick and wood and it had a huge front porch. It was a mansion!

"There's a lot of windows for a vampire's house, aren't there? And what does anyone need with that many bathrooms?"

"Eric said we'd have to do the bedrooms with that special glass and blackout curtains. The rest of the house is okay to have windows I guess. I'm not sure about having everything above ground though. I don't know if it's safe for Eric."

"You could have an underground safe house added on I guess. It's a beautiful house, Sook. Let's go see it! We can take guards with us."

"Eric said I should stay home today. I think I'm going to follow his advice this time. I've had enough trouble without going out looking for it."

I could see that Amelia wanted to argue about going, but I was learning that discretion really was the better part of valor. It was one thing to be an independent woman, but quite another to be foolhardy and put yourself in harm's way. Eric couldn't always be there to take the bullet and I seemed to have a big bulls-eye painted on my back.

As much as I liked the idea of kick-ass heroines in leather pants that weren't afraid of anything, it just wasn't my style. And I'd already learned that getting beaten up, shot, staked and bitten could really hurt, and more than just physically. I had nothing to prove and everything to lose.

"So what shall we do today then?" Amelia asked. She was already looking antsy. If Grace was here to do the washing up and laundry, then Amelia would have nothing to clean. Amelia was easily bored.

Boredom seemed like a good thing to me today, as a break from near-death experiences. I wondered if it wouldn't become a curse though and knew that I would have to find something to devote my time to now that I wasn't going to work.

"I am going to sunbathe," I said decisively. "And while I am lying in the sun, I will send one of the guys to Wal-Mart to buy photo albums. Then, I'm going to label pictures and make a book for Claudine with the history of her family, at least on my side." Of course, it wouldn't quite have all the family, since I didn't have any pictures of the fairies she would descend from.

"Oh, that sounds fun, I'll make a list and go with him." And just like that, Amelia was in her element of organizing and I was going to get a tan.

My bikini was a little bit more revealing than I remembered, maybe it was the extra bosom I was sporting these days. The bloodstains on the robe had mostly come off though, and there were only a few small tears from falling on the gravel, so I could use that as a cover up. If I put the chaise near the house, the guys would mostly be at the perimeter and I wouldn't have to be too self-conscious. This was my life now, and part of that was a lack of privacy. I was a big girl. I could deal with it.

Grabbing my fold up chaise out of the guest room closet, I took my sunglasses, tanning oil and Amelia's book and headed outside. The sun was bright overhead and it was wonderfully warm but hardly muggy at all. I set everything within easy reach of the chaise, tossed my robe off quickly and plopped myself down, pretending not to notice that I had an audience.

Sunbathing was my only vice. I loved the feel of the sun's rays and I loved the look of a deep, rich tan. It might not be good for me, but the way I was going, a few extra wrinkles would just make my scars less noticeable, or so I hoped. As far as skin cancer went? Well, I'd take my chances. I had been missing this pleasure through the cold winter months, and the warmth permeated first my body and then my soul.

Opening the book, The Historian, I began to read and was soon lost in the search for Dracula, almost forgetting to turn over periodically to keep my tan even on both sides. Thalia and Jan would definitely have to read this book!

When Amelia got back from town, she was in a frenzy of excitement and loaded down with stuff. So much for just doing an album I thought.

"Wait until you see what I got, Sook. We'll have everything we need to do a scrapbook."

Figuring I'd probably been well baked by then, I threw on my robe and followed Amelia into the house. I wasn't sure what help I would be, since I'm not particularly creative. But I figured Amelia had enough creativity for two and it would be fun to learn something new. How hard could it be?

After a few hours of cutting out little shapes and managing to get glue all over myself, I decided that Amelia was better qualified to assemble things. I stuck to picking out the photographs and identifying them. The house had taken on the musty smell of the old trunk so we opened up the door and let some fresh air in. The sounds of people out in the yard, Grace in the kitchen making supper and Amelia fussing over the layouts made me feel a part of something and I thanked God that I wasn't alone anymore.

Looking at the trunk standing open, and being a little tired of the photographs, I decided it might be time to take a look at some of the journals below. Pulling out a few, I began to leaf through the pages. They all were in what I believed to be my grandmother's handwriting and they all were just about like the one I'd looked at before, a chronicle of her day-to-day life.

Poor Gran, God bless her, she hadn't led a very exciting life, although she had always seemed so content. She had had her Descendents meetings and her church suppers and of course her children. There were records of tornados and rainstorms, births and deaths, and pies that came out of the oven overdone. All events seemed to carry equal weight, and there was no hint of anything beyond the life of a southern god-fearing woman who devoted her life to her family. Except for one thing.

Stuck between an entry about my father going catfishing and Aunt Linda scraping her knee was what I had been looking for, well, not exactly, but close. I had believed Niall when he had said that Fintan the half-fairy hadn't raped my grandmother. But in the back of my mind, I wondered if he hadn't used some trick, some fairy magic or maybe some glamour like the vampire's used, to seduce my grandmother. I hadn't really admitted to myself that Gran had been capable of cheating on her husband and bearing another man's children.

" August 23 F was in the yard again, even though I told him to go away. He told me to keep this key for him and wouldn't say what it was for. I sent him on before the kids could see that he was there. May the Lord have mercy on my soul."

Next to my grandmother's words was a key taped to the page. The tape was the old cellophane type and it had yellowed and gone brittle against the old paper. As I gazed at the key, silver that had turned black with the years, it fell to the floor with a decisive clang. I hesitated before I picked it up, almost afraid to touch it.

"What's that, Sookie? You look like you've seen a ghost," Amelia said and she bent down and retrieved the key, turning it over in her palm. "It's an old key, I wonder what it's for. Probably a door from the original house. It's big enough for a door."

"Ahh," sighed Grace who was standing next to the table, staring at the key in Amelia's hand.

Amelia was turning the key over and over, and she seemed to be concentrating on it. I didn't have to ask if it was magic, I could feel it across the table and I didn't know if it could harm us.

"Put it down, Amelia," I told her in no uncertain terms. "Right now, please."

"Okay, Sookie, don't get your panties in a bunch. I'm putting it down. I wonder what it is. Maybe we can figure out what it does, Sook," she said as she laid the key down on top of the table. I laid the journal I had been reading next to it.

"It is a key to the portal I think," Grace said. "Maybe that is why Dermott has been watching from your woods."

"Dermott is here? When did you see him, Grace? I thought he had left. And what do you mean by a key to the portal?"

"What did the journal say?" Grace asked as she joined us at the table.

"It said that F, just the initial, no name, brought my gran a key and told her to keep it for him. She took the key and then told him to go away so the kids wouldn't see him. That's all. The key was taped to the page."

"Fintan brought it then," Grace said. "And maybe Dermott wants it now, to go back."

"But Niall closed the fairy lands off. Could someone go through with that key? And why would Dermott want to go there? Great grandfather would kill him."

"I can't answer all of your questions, dear, but I will tell you what I know. I have heard of the keys, from my mother. Some of the fae, those that did not have the power to pass on their own through the portals, were given keys to go home. It was a rare and precious gift to be given a key. Perhaps this one was Fintan's."

"And you think Dermott might want it? How would he know it is here? Wouldn't he have had one too, if his brother had one?"

"Not necessarily, if he was not in favor with the Prince. I saw Dermott in the woods as I came up the drive today. The weres would not have noticed him, of course. He can mask his scent and he is able to blend in with the trees."

"You know him then?" I asked, wondering why Grace hadn't mentioned this earlier.

"No, but I could see the resemblance to the family, and who else would it be? I assumed he was just watching and he posed no threat. He wouldn't attempt anything with all the guards and this house is warded against fairies, so I wasn't worried about him."

"He has watched here before and at my brother's too. He warned Jason about the man that attacked my brother's wife and son. Jason doesn't want anything to do with the fairies though. So you think he wants the key?"

This didn't really make sense to me. He could have asked Jason about the key. Okay, Jason wouldn't have known anything about it, but he would have known that Gran's old things were here. I guess he couldn't have gotten into my house to search for it, since it was warded against fairies. But it would be suicide for Dermott to go back to the fairy lands now that Breandan and his followers had been killed.

"Perhaps he is just curious about you and doesn't know about the key," Grace backtracked.

"Do you want it, Grace?"

She thought about that for a moment. "No, I have no wish to go through the portals. If the key even still works. This is my home, and I have a family here now to care for. I would be almost a stranger in the fae lands, and I would be less than my kin. I am too human."

Now that I knew what she was, she didn't seem human at all to me anymore, or at least not very human. Kind of like how the vampires said I wasn't human either, once they found out I had a little fairy blood?

The longer I looked at the key, sitting there on the table, the more I felt that I should pick it up. There was that strange kind of feeling, almost like when I had felt the tap on my shoulder that had warned me about Bob. Thinking what might have happened if I'd ignored that warning then, I decided I should pick up the key.

The scent of my great grandfather seemed to emanate from the metal as soon as my skin touched it. Grace could smell it too; I heard her intake of breath. Would the key work for me? Or maybe it would work for Baby Claudine and she could go through the portal to meet her kin. Or she could escape there, I thought a moment later, if she was ever in danger.

"Maybe we should just put it back in the attic," Amelia said. She had been listening thoughtfully through my conversation with Grace. "You can never underestimate the power of magical objects. It has been benign up there in the trunk for all of these years."

"I think I will keep it," I said and I went to put it in my purse.

"Well, okay then. Let's take a break and have something to eat," Amelia suggested when I returned to the kitchen and my grumbling tummy agreed whole-heartedly to that. We didn't mention the key again for the rest of the day.

By the time the vampires came into the kitchen, their laundry was folded and sitting in little piles on the table and Bubba's clean clothes were ready for him in the usual place on the porch. My bag was packed, complete with Claudine's scrapbook to show Eric and everything was cleaned up and ready to go into the van. I decided to leave the trunk in Bon Temps and just take the cradle. I hadn't found anything else noteworthy in the journals, so I had the weres carry it back up to the attic.

Eric seemed in his usual good spirits again and stood in the kitchen, his arm around my waist, drinking a True Blood.

"Did you get my email?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Yes," I answered, burying my head against my chest to hide my expression.

"Would you like to go see the house tonight? We could look at the pool too."

Poking him in the ribs, I nodded. "Ouch," was his response, but I could hear his laughter as he pulled out his phone to call the realtor.

Eric and I drove together in the Corvette and the other vamps flanked us in the van and one of the SUV's. The realtor, Ms. Lebeau, not wanting to miss a possible sale, had come out to meet us and was waiting on the porch. A nice looking middle-aged woman in a navy pants suit extended her hand to Eric and then taking in the fact that he was not breathing, pulled her hand back and nervously opened the front door. When the four other vampires followed us in, I thought the poor woman might have a stroke.

She recovered quickly though and efficiently led us through each room, pointing out details and features that would make it more desirable. She didn't have to talk me into anything. I loved the house immediately. The living room was large enough to entertain a small infantry unit and the kitchen had all the latest in appliances while still maintaining the charm of an older home. There was a nice place for a kitchen table and a big dining room. Everything you could want in a house was there except a bomb shelter, and I was sure Eric would manage to build one of those in the back yard.

We walked through the yard, stopping only briefly at the pool, thank goodness. The vamps discussed the layout in terms of defense and thought it would suit with some modification. The nearest neighbor was far enough away that privacy would not be an issue.

"My wife and I would like to walk through alone, if we might?" Eric told the realtor at some point, and not waiting for her response, took me by the hand and led me back into the house, leaving the poor woman to the rest of our entourage. Finding the master bedroom upstairs, he pulled me in and closed the door.

"Do you like the house, Lover?" he asked as he moved me against a wall, and slid his hand under my skirt.

"It's beautiful, Eric."

"You are beautiful, Kjære, and you smell like the sun," he whispered against my neck as he slipped his fingers inside my panties.

"Eric, everyone is waiting for us," I protested as he unzipped his pants.

"Let them wait," he said, and that was the last thing either of us had to say for a while. He took me against the wall, quickly and quietly, his hands holding me up and my legs wrapped around his waist. When his fangs pierced the skin of my neck, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

"Delicious," he said as if he had just had an ice cream sundae.

"I don't think I can walk, Eric."

Lying me down on the bare carpet, Eric pulled out his ever-ready white handkerchief and cleaned both of us up, putting the soiled cloth back in his pocket. I shimmied back into my panties and made an effort to get up off the floor. He scooped me up and without another word, carried me down the stairs.

Signaling to our vamps that were waiting outside the house, Eric called to Ms. Lebeau, "Mr. Burnham will call you tomorrow." I waved and called out a thank you which the realtor may not have heard since Eric was stuffing me into the car. The other vamps scrambled to their cars, and I noticed that they all had big grins on their faces. Ms. Lebeau just looked dumbfounded.

"Mr. High and Mighty!" I murmured and of course Eric heard me.

"Yes, I am," he said smugly.

"What you are, Eric Northman, is a brat!"


	41. Chapter 41

CHAPTER 41

"These jeans are so weird, Amelia."

"They have to stretch, that's the point, Sook. You are going to get a lot bigger you know."

"I know that. I just think I'll stick to dresses though. Eric likes dresses anyway. Most of the vamps love the old-fashioned stuff. Shit, Bill liked petticoats, can you imagine? In muggy old Louisiana? The poor women of his time must have just about died in the summer."

"Just get a pair of jeans and you can see how they work out. And the tops are so cute."

"I'll look like a balloon!"

"Probably, but it will be over soon, then we can shop again for your new figure and for the baby!"

Amelia thought a woman could never have too many clothes. Not that I didn't love to get new clothes, and I definitely needed maternity stuff, but I still couldn't get used to just buying whatever I wanted, especially stuff that I would only wear for a few months. Just looking at the price tags was making me nervous.

"Pam wants to put a line of maternity shirts in the Fangtasia gift shop. She wants a t-shirt with 'Future Donor' and an arrow pointing down to the bump. Can you imagine?"

"They'll sell like hotcakes. Try this one on, Sook."

Amelia and I had been shopping for hours it seemed, and I was ready for some food. It seemed like there was nothing in Amelia's world that couldn't be settled by shopping, even hunger. But I was ready to put my foot down.

"Okay, I'll get the jeans and two tops and these dresses. Then we're going to get some food, I am so starving. The guys are probably hungry too."

Shopping for maternity clothes was strange enough, but walking into "A Pea in the Pod" with four big burly males had been downright embarrassing. One of the clerks had been ready to lay bets on which one of the "hunks" was the father of my baby. At least I had talked Eric into letting me go during the day without any vamps. I could just imagine what the clerks would have thought of that.

"Which of the underwear did you want?"

Gads! Nursing bras! I was so big now that I had to get new bras. I didn't think it was possible that I might get any larger, although Eric had his fingers crossed. Nursing bras were just so unappealing though. I wanted cute little lace covered bras and panties in different colors. I liked having whatever was closest to my skin to be pretty and sexy. It made me feel confident and valuable somehow.

"Okay, got the bras, and we have the gown and a cocktail dress, that's the important thing. I better get the swimsuit too, the tankini. I probably won't find anything that cute in Shreveport and my suits just don't fit anymore."

"You'll be the belle of the ball with that gown, Sook. The blue is perfect with your eyes."

You had to love friends that boosted your ego. The blue was a good color and the empire waist would be comfortable. I had waited until the last minute to find a dress for the spring ball, since there was better shopping in New Orleans.

"Thanks, Amelia. I hope Eric likes it. If he gets blood on it, I swear he will be in so much trouble."

"At least I don't have to worry about that!" I could hear the regret in Amelia's voice.

Poor Amelia. I had a feeling she was still mourning Trey and after the whole episode with Bob, she appeared to be celibate for the first time in a long time. Not that Amelia had been a slut or anything, well, maybe just a little, but she had always managed to find somebody interesting. I had thought she was interested in Daniel, but she seemed to be making a point to not have any relationships at all right now.

"Let's go get some food. Eric will be up soon and then we're supposed to meet with Mr. Cataliades before court."

"This is a big deal to have a king brought before charges I guess, but I'm still surprised that Victor agreed to show up. It seems like he could just have blown the whole thing off. What would have happened? It's not like Eric is going to head to Nevada and take over his kingdom or something."

"Eric doesn't want his kingdom. But I guess when they have a bunch of kings or queens together and hold court, then whoever has charges laid against them has to come, like Sophie Anne did, when Arkansas was in dispute."

"But then, there was a question about whether Sophie Anne could be queen, right? If she murdered her husband, then she didn't get Arkansas. But this won't affect Victor's position, so you'd think he would just take his fine and not bother to come. If they find him guilty, which they damned well should."

"I don't know, Amelia, that's why we're going to meet with Mr. Cataliades. He will go over what to say and what's going to happen. He said we couldn't let this go without some kind of penalty or it makes Eric look weak. I guess Eric agreed. Personally, I just want to move on."

"Yeah, I'm not so nuts about being the only witch in a room full of vamps, either."

"You might not have to be in there at all. Only if they want to call Bob to testify or something. I'm sorry you have to be dragged into this."

"Well, I guess I'm glad to see that asshole Victor called onto the carpet. He's caused you enough trouble and me too. It will all work out though."

I hoped that was the case, but my experience with vampire politics was that it never turned out to be what you expected. Eric didn't seem too worried, though, so I wouldn't worry either.

By the time we had finished our supper (I had definitely been eating for two) and had managed to get everything unloaded back at the compound, Eric was already up and out of the shower and in the process of putting on his suit. I was glad I had managed to find something a little dressier to wear tonight. Apparently we were expected to dress for the trial.

"I see you managed to find some new clothes, Lover." Eric bent down to kiss me and then continued buttoning his shirt.

"Oh, Amelia dragged me around for hours. I think I have enough stuff to last me until the baby arrives. Who knows what I will fit into after that, when I'm all stretched out?"

Eric managed to look blank. Of course he wouldn't be thinking about things like lost figures, sagging bosoms or stretch marks. The ravages of pregnancy were not something that happened to vampires. I wondered if stretch marks would remain permanent through a change to vampirism? Daniel had a big scar from his human life and Charles Twining, a vamp who had tried to kill me some time back, had lost an eye. It hadn't grown back after his change.

Well, that was not going to matter one way or another, since I had no intention of becoming a vampire. And it obviously was not an issue for discussion tonight, I thought, as I began to undress.

"I am sure there will be clothing available no matter what size you are after the child is born," Eric was saying. "You might want to change, Lover. Cataliades will be waiting for us."

"Aren't you going to eat, Eric?" I offered. I went to stand in front of him in my underwear and since he had just gotten up, I assumed he would be ready for his little snack, even if we had to be quick about it.

"Later, Lover, we will be late. I had a True Blood."

Eric was already reaching for the hairbrush, and was not paying any attention to me at all. Not that I'm the center of the universe or anything, but to just ignore me completely was pretty unusual, and his face hadn't even had that disgusted look he usually had when he'd had to have synthetic blood instead of the real thing. Either he was really stressed, or the honeymoon was over.

I decided to just get dressed. There was no point in starting anything with Eric when we were due to meet the lawyer anyway. I took the new cocktail dress out of its bag and slipped it over my head. It was a lovely sea green silk, with a high waist. The draping in the front allowed room for my belly, which was growing more noticeable every day it seemed.

"Will you zip me up, Eric?"

"Of course, Lover," Eric replied, setting down the hairbrush and moving to stand behind me. He ran the zipper up the back of my dress, and then bent for a long moment, inhaling my scent. He kissed me softly on the back of my neck and I hoped that he would linger there for a moment longer, but he pulled away.

"Later, Kjære," he said, sounding regretful, and went to get his jacket and tie. I watched him walk away from me, then I went to the closet to find my heels and purse.

Mr. Cataliades was waiting for us when we got to the office a few minutes later, his big round belly impeding his bow enough to make it more of a bob.

"My dear Mrs. Northman, beautiful as always," he said in his usual courtly manner by way of greeting.

The demon directed me to an empty chair and Eric stood behind me, his hands on my shoulders. Mr. Cataliades wasted no time in getting down to business.

"Now as far as our case goes, there will no doubt be questions concerning the tiger and his demise. Mrs. Northman, as you will be the primary witness, you should know that you are not required to reveal information about any security devices inside the King's sleeping quarters that may or may not have prevented him being harmed by intruders. These kinds of defenses are of course considered confidential. You may however be asked if the tiger met his end, and this you should answer honestly."

I nodded, understanding that I was not expected to tell whether I killed Quinn or if someone else did. It would be assumed that there were measures in place to protect Eric inside his chambers.

"Now," Cataliades continued, addressing me. "The issue to be determined is whether the attack made on you, as Mr. Northman's bonded property, was ordered by Victor Madden, or whether Quinn was working alone."

I raised my eyebrows at this, not liking the term property one bit, but my protests were forestalled by a look from the demon and Eric's hand squeezing my shoulder.

"You must understand that an attack on a kingdom, a take-over attempt, is not an actionable offense if it succeeds. You saw that when Nevada took over Louisiana. If it fails, and the offender or his people are killed in the attempt, they may not then sue for damages. The defending kingdom may sue for loss and is usually paid a blood price for each vampire that is lost."

"Since this was a failed assassination attempt, but the assassin was not a vampire, there is some question how actionable it is. We, however, are suing for property damage, if I may call it that. What we need to show is that Victor Madden was connected to the action. This is where the cat will come into play if needed. It is why I asked that his life be spared until the trial.

I didn't like the "until the trial" qualifier. I fully intended that Bob's life was going to be spared no matter what the outcome of today's legal challenge.

"The witch and the cat are available if summoned?"

Eric and I both nodded. Amelia would be waiting with Bob in his carrier in an adjoining room.

Mr. Cataliades addressed his next comment to Eric.

"Good. Although Texas, Mississippi and Kentucky will hear the case, the Pythoness has decided that she will preside, a possibility that we had discussed earlier. She is on her way from the airport and will be here shortly."

This was all news to me. I knew that a minimum of three monarchs was required for a trial of another monarch, and since three would be together here for the Spring Ball, the trial had been scheduled. Eric hadn't said anything about the Ancient Pythoness showing up. I had seen her in Rhodes when Sophie Anne had been on trial. Eric had told me that she was the ancient oracle that had been consulted by Alexander. She had been turned by the primitive vampires of her time, and then been nurtured and revered through the centuries.

"If the case goes in our favor, which I believe it will, the Pythoness may decide to offer reparation in the more traditional form. I strongly advise that you accept. It will put you in a very strong position and I think it will discourage any further attempts of this type. Your refusal might be considered a sign of weakness and will leave you with a very determined personal enemy."

"I appreciate your counsel. Hopefully the question will not arise," Eric told the demon.

Mr. Cataliades rolled his eyes, as if Eric was being naïve to think that whatever they were talking about was not going to happen. Of course, they were still talking right over me.

"Well, I am sure that all will be well. I will see you shortly in the courtroom."

"Eric? What was he talking about?" I asked when Eric and I were alone again.

"Nothing that was not anticipated, Lover. Don't worry. You know I will always keep you safe."

It was a case of "where there's smoke, there's fire". Whenever Eric started to reassure me that I was safe, I started worrying that there was about to be trouble.

"I know you will keep me safe, Eric, but I'd like to know what is going on, since it will no doubt affect me too."

At this point, Eric was sporting the stony look that he got when he was finished discussing something. I wasn't going to get any more information on the subject.

"Tell me about your day, My Love, did you eat? Where did you go?"

He sat down and patted his leg for me to sit with him. I always loved when he did that. I snuggled into his lap and indulged myself by prattling away. I put my worries on hold while I enjoyed the intimacy of being with someone who could just listen. He wrapped his arms around me, his large hands stroking my belly.

Our peaceful moment was disturbed, as it so often was, by Eric's phone. I shimmied off his lap and he pulled the phone out of his pocket. After looking at the screen for a moment, he hauled his six and half feet out of the chair and took my hand.

"Our guests have arrived, Lover. It is time for court."

Our guests included Victor Madden accompanied by six vampire guards. One of them was Jonathan, a very courteous Asian vampire that I had met at Andy Bellfleur's wedding. He had been scoping out Eric's assets (aka me!) before the Nevada take-over. He bowed very formally at the waist and smiled as if we were old buddies. Victor was his usual smarmy self, all smiles and good nature, as if he hadn't just recently tried to destroy my life. I returned his greeting politely, if not exactly warmly.

King Isaiah of Kentucky, Stan from Texas and Russell from Mississippi were all sitting behind a table on a makeshift stage at the far end of the largest conference room. Two podiums were set up on either side for the lawyers and a throne-like chair was already occupied by the Pythoness, surrounded by three attendants.

The room was teeming with vampires, mostly ours, but also visitors for the Spring Ball. Everyone was dressed in their finery and as usual with a group of vampires, there was an over abundance of sexy looking young men. The atmosphere was more that of a party than a trial. All that was missing was a buffet table and some balloons.

Folding chairs had been set up in the room, but the overflow crowd also lined the walls and the hallway outside the doors. The crowd rose and bowed as Eric and I entered the room and took our seats in the front row, opposite Victor's group.

Our arrival must have been the signal to start. King Isaiah brought the end of an ornately carved staff down on the floor and the din of conversation turned to an ominous silence.

"As the elected Master-of-Arms of this judicial session, I call you all to witness the case against Victor Madden, King of Nevada, charged with blood offense against Sookie Northman, the blood bonded wife and property of Eric Northman, King of Louisiana and Arkansas. Are you ready to present your cases?"

I recognized Victor's lawyer as Simon Maimonides, brother-in-law of our Mr. Cataliades. I guess demons just go in for the law. Both lawyers nodded at the panel of judges, ruffled matching sets of papers, and began their case.

"I represent Eric Northman, and will show that Victor Madden was responsible for the attempted theft of Mr. Northman's blood bonded wife, causing her harm in the process."

Maimonides spoke next. "I represent Victor Madden, falsely charged with involvement in the attempted kidnap of Mrs. Northman."

Each lawyer then laid out his case. Mr. Cataliades emphasized the fact that I had been thrown to the ground, and that Dr. Ludwig had attended me, and would attest to the fact that my feet were bleeding. I guess that was what constituted the blood offense. Personally, since I had been the one thrown to the ground, I knew that I hadn't really been seriously injured. It seemed strange to me that that was the basis of the trial, versus the attempt on Eric's life. But vampires had their own ways of looking at things.

Mr. Maimonides conceded that the fact that I may have been injured was not in dispute, but that even though Quinn had been employed by Mr. Madden at the time, he had in no way been ordered to trespass on Eric Northman's property. He pointed out that Quinn had not been seen since the supposed incident, was unavailable for questioning (I understood that to mean torture) and that the tiger harbored personal resentments against the purported victim (that meant me, I guessed).

Being my former lover was mentioned as the personal resentment, and Eric growled menacingly when that was mentioned. I patted his hand and he took my hand in his, squeezing it a little too tightly. I squeaked, not very loudly, and everyone in the room focused their eyes on us. Eric pulled his hands back into his own lap.

Cataliades countered that my injuries had not been inflicted by John Quinn, but by Bob Jessup. Mr. Jessup had been employed by Madden as a spy and who had been instrumental in allowing Quinn access to my person for the purpose of kidnap.

"The defense respectfully submits that spying on the Kingdom of Louisiana would not be an actionable offense, even if that had occurred," Mr. Maimonides pointed out, flicking his thick, pudgy fingers as if he were brushing that allegation away.

Mr. Cataliades, looking smug, then announced that the prosecution could produce the aforementioned Bob Jessup to give testimony against Victor Madden. This caused a visible stir, although the silence in the room remained complete. Victor looked a little paler, if that was possible.

The lawyers might have postured before the crowd and bantered back and forth forever if they had not been interrupted by the sonorous voice of the blind Ancient Pythoness. Pale and immobile in her throne, I had almost forgotten that she had a role in the proceedings. Now, all eyes turned to her.

"Mrs. Northman, you are the telepath?" she said in heavily accented English. Her voice had the croak of someone very old and tired, as if she was being forced to show interest and would rather be home taking a nap.

Pam, who had been sitting next to me, poked me in the ribs. I jumped and then realized that I should probably stand up, since I had been addressed.

"Yes, Ma'am," I said, standing up and giving a quick bow, realizing after I did so that she couldn't see my bow anyway.

"You have kept this creature, the cat, as your pet?" She spat the last word out as if she had just swallowed sour milk or something. So she knew about Bob. Well, we hadn't tried to keep his existence secret.

"Yes, Ma'am, for my daughter. Well, she isn't born yet, but it will be her cat."

"When you testified in Rhodes, you said that you were not a seer. Has that changed?"

"No, Ma'am, not that I know of. I mean, I've had some odd dreams, and Eric says they are visions, and maybe they are. I don't know. But the cat was in one of them, and he was my daughter's cat."

I was about to go into a stream of babbling. There was something about the way she was looking at me that made me want to tell her everything that had happened to me. But wait, she was blind; she wasn't really looking at me at all. It just felt like she could see me. If Pam hadn't poked me again, I might have just gone on and on.

"The tiger is dead?"

Okay, Mr. Cataliades had said to answer this one. I just hoped she didn't ask how he had died.

"Yes, Ma'am, he is." That got another reaction from the crowd, this time I could feel the curiosity, especially from the oracle. I knew without a doubt that I could read her mind if I wanted to, and I so didn't want to.

"Tell us what happened," the Pythoness commanded.

This was vague enough that I decided to interpret it however I wanted and I started at the beginning, with waking up that morning. I left out the part about Amelia having the code written down and just said I knew that Bob had discovered the code and that I had followed him outside. I didn't talk about my own panic or my frantic hunt for Jason's shotgun. And I didn't relay the despair I had felt when I thought that Quinn would get to Eric before I could stop him. I concluded my story with finding Quinn dead on the stairs.

"What woke you?"

Now this was a question I hadn't expected. I thought I would get asked all about how Quinn died or what kind of spell Amelia had used. Or I thought maybe she would ask me to be more specific about what Quinn had said Victor's part was in all of this. But she wondered why I had woken when I did.

"I heard someone in the house, and I thought it was Amelia, making coffee. So I got up to use the….well, to attend to my human needs. And then someone tapped me on the shoulder. Well, not really, but I thought they did and then I just knew something was wrong."

"Ahhhh," said the Pythoness, as if she had just learned something important.

"The child was not injured. Does the Norseman claim this child as his own?"

I had to think about how to answer that. It was obviously not Eric's child, but he had said he considered the baby to be his. I looked back at Eric, and he looked at me encouragingly and nodded his head.

"Yes, Ma'am, he does."

With that, it seemed that the questioning was concluded and the Pythoness turned her attention to the three vampires on the platform. The lawyers shuffled their papers again and I felt the anticipation in the room rise. Pam tugged on the hem of my dress, and I realized I was still standing. I promptly sat down. Then, the Ancient Pythoness pronounced judgment.

"The King of Nevada is guilty of a blood offense against the blood bonded wife of Eric Northman." There was a slight gasp from the Madden camp and Victor no longer looked smug. He just looked angry, and believe me, an angry vampire is not something to sneeze at. I could feel Eric's corresponding satisfaction.

The Pythoness wasn't quite finished though. Putting up her wrinkled hand, as if holding off any rejoicing or disparagement at her decision, she spoke directly to the panel of judges.

"It is an old tradition to take a human as blood bonded spouse. Although it is a rare occurrence, it has been held as sacred among our kind for thousands of years. Some of us remember when it was a matter of honor to uphold ancient traditions. Some of us may feel there is no place for them in modern times. Those who would be King must make way for the new while still honoring the old."

The three Kings, Isaiah, Stan and Russell, huddled together on the stage while the vampires in the courtroom waited for their decision. Eric reached over and gripped my hand, but otherwise remained still as a stone. The room remained eerily silent.

Pam leaned toward my ear, smiling devilishly.

"With your telepathy, you will make a killing at the poker tables in Vegas," she whispered to me cheerfully.

"What are you talking about, Pam?" I whispered back. Eyes from all around the room turned to look at me. Vampire hearing!

Pam sat up straight and immobile almost instantly, not answering my question. Her face regained its usual blank demeanor, but she was humming "Viva Las Vegas".

"Pam!" Eric snapped, and Pam shut up.

The huddle on the stage broke up, and King Isaiah, Master-at-Arms, plunked his staff down onto the floor with a loud, dull thud. The room couldn't have gotten any quieter.

"In the matter of King Eric Northman versus King Victor Madden we have made our determination for damages. Eric Northman may accept payment of five hundred thousand American dollars, or if that is deemed unsatisfactory, Mr. Northman may ask for the Right of Challenge."

The gasps were almost universal at this point, and I couldn't have been more stunned if you hit me in the head by a two-by-four! Half a million dollars? For getting knocked down? Geez Louise! Granted, they would have killed Eric if they could have gotten to him, but even still. I couldn't believe it.

Looking towards Victor's party, I saw that Victor looked even more stunned than I felt. "Well, too bad for you Mr. Not So Smug Now, Are We?" I thought. I turned to Eric, expecting him to look about as pleased as punch, but was surprised that he looked taken aback! Then I remembered what Mr. Cataliades had advised in our brief session with him before the trial. What exactly did this "Right of Challenge" entail?

"Eric?"

Eric looked down at me, signaled to Thalia, then took me in his arms and kissed me hard and fast. "Stay with Thalia and Thomas, Kjære. All will be well," he said.

Turning to Pam he said harshly, "The spathas, from the weapons room!"

I had no idea what a spatha was. I didn't even know we had a weapons room, although I guess that was a no-brainer in a compound full of vampires.

All eyes turned on Eric as he walked forward to address the stage. Isaiah used the staff once again with enough force that I was surprised he didn't drive it right down through the floor.

"I ask for Right of Challenge," Eric said.

"Granted," Isaiah boomed out and people started to move about.

"Come, Mistress. You should get out of the way," Thalia said and took my arm.

I was being surrounded by my family of vampires and moved towards the stage area. Chairs were being folded up and carried out of the room and Eric and Victor were moving to the center, each of them removing their jackets and ties. Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea!

"Thalia, you let me go right now!" I told her, trying to resist the tight grip of the tiny vampire. Of course she just ignored me. So much for the whole Mistress thing! A lot of good that did when I wanted to be in charge.

"Thalia, please!"

I tried appealing to Thomas, but that didn't get me anywhere either.

"Obstreperous, don't you think?" he said to Thalia, looking at me and then winking of all things! "That was your word-of-the-day today, Mistress."

Grace had packed my word-of-the-day calendar for the trip to New Orleans. Thomas was always poking around through our things, although Eric had threatened to chop his hands off. At that point I was thinking maybe Eric should do more than threaten.

I wanted to get to Eric and tell him to take the money and run. It was certainly a large enough sum to save face. There was no reason to fight it out. I was pretty sure that Eric was older than Victor, but Victor was no lightweight. You didn't get as far as he had without having left a trail of bodies. What if Eric was hurt or killed? No, I couldn't think of that.

Could I call on God for something like this and expect him to listen to my prayer? Could I ask him to save one bloodthirsty vampire from killing another, just because one of them was my husband, my lover, my life? Did God even listen to all the millions that cried out every day? God, take away my pain. God, save me from this cancer. God, let my child live. And here I was with God, save my vampire. I wanted to think he might hear me.

I closed my eyes and began a little prayer. "Please God, don't let Eric be killed. Don't let Eric be killed, God. Please God."

The vampires were now lined up against the walls, several thick, and completely surrounding the room. Eric and Victor stood in the middle, naked as jaybirds. Eric had tied his hair back with a piece of leather cord. His tall and lean body with its golden hair seemed the opposite of Victor's with his dark curls and shorter, stockier stature. But the power that flowed from their equally glowing white skin identified them as the same species of predator.

Pam pushed her way through the crowd at the door, carrying a long wooden box, which she opened and held out in front of the two men. Eric gestured to Victor, giving him first choice of the wicked looking swords that lay nestled in the velvet lining of the box. So that is a spatha, I thought. Eric pulled out what appeared to be a twin to Victor's sword, and hefted it easily although the thing must have been heavy. It was almost three feet long! And it looked deadly sharp.

Now I don't know anything about swordsmanship. You would think that sheer size and length of arm would come into play in a big way with weapons like these long swords. I suppose it did with ordinary humans, but with vampires I wasn't so sure. Thalia was a tiny thing, and Eric had told me that she was about the best there was with a broadsword. She was so strong and so quick that she would give Eric a run for his money. If I had to carry one of those things around, I would fall over my own feet before I saw my opponent's strike coming at my neck.

Watching Eric and Victor circle each other, sizing each other up, made me worry. Victor had the cat like grace of all vampires and with his fangs run out and a menacing gleam in his eyes, he looked pretty deadly. I wasn't so stupid as to thing they wouldn't fight to the death too. They weren't just going to knock each other around and then call it quits.

The room seemed to have settled and everyone was waiting with baited breath. Well, there were only a few of us in the room that actually breathed, but the anxiety in the room was palpable none-the-less. The conference room was big, but it was crowded, and I wondered if anyone else was worried about bystanders getting whacked by accident. I was pushed back against the stage, and had someone in front of me to cushion the blow if one of the fighting vampires went flying. I didn't know if it was fortunate or not that I could see over Thalia's shoulder. I might not want to see this.

Without any warning (Isaiah hadn't even banged the damned staff again) the fight was on. The two vampires in their dance of death were a thing of horrible beauty. Whirling and leaping, never far from each other, they swung their weapons so fast that I could barely see what was happening.

I grabbed whatever hand was near to me, it was Daniel's, and hung on for dear life, chanting my little prayer mantra in my head. Daniel moved closer to me, and the pressure of his body so close seemed to give me some strength and comfort. "Don't worry," he said and I was surprised that I could hear him over the crisp clang of the swords and the hushed gasps of the crowd.

An arc of blood flew from one of the swords and I knew it was Eric's, although I hadn't seen the blade touch his skin. Every vampire in the room was showing their fangs and I could see that more than one had been spattered with blood from the fight. Victor was bleeding too, and I hadn't seen that strike either.

My muscles felt strained and I realized that I was feeling some of the effect of the fight on Eric's strength. I began to shake, and Daniel moved in closer to me, smoothing my hair. I leaned back into him so I wouldn't fall.

I had found out that Thomas was actually Daniel's maker. Daniel had been following Thomas on his jaunts around the world for more than seven hundred years. That kind of time frame just seemed unbelievable to me. And it was almost impossible to think of Daniel as anyone's child.

"Watch. See how Eric plays with him?" Daniel said. "He could have killed him with the first blow, but he will do it soon. Victor tires and will soon be too weak to fight and that will spoil Eric's victory."

I thought about that, and what that might be saying about Eric, but really, I had known what Eric was for a long time and had accepted it. Watching him now, I could see that Daniel was right. Eric was playing. My eyes could track most of Victor's movements now, which meant that he was slowing. Eric had a few cuts, but Victor's body was criss-crossed with slashes. And Victor couldn't fly!!!

Eric leaped over his opponent like a ballet dancer, with a grace and smoothness that would have put Nureyev to shame. Slashing as he moved, the bloody stripes he left ribboned around Victor's frame. Each slash sent a fine spray of blood and the room was filled with the smell of it, coppery and sweet.

The fight, which had seemed as if it had lasted for hours, even though it had only been a few minutes, was coming to a close. Victor was faltering, and Eric hefted his heavy weapon as if it was as light as a table knife, and brought it down on Victor Madden's wrist. The smaller vampire's sword fell to the ground, or rather, his hand did. My stomach lurched, and Daniel gripped me tighter to steady me.

Eric stood in front of his victim (I had to think of Victor that way at this point) and raising the blade above his head, brought it down in a clean stroke against Victor's chest. The skin parted like a curtain and the breaking ribs made a crackling sound, like twigs breaking in a storm. My vampire thrust his hand into the gaping hole in Victor's chest and pulled out his heart. Holding the dripping red muscle in his big, cold hands, Eric brought it to his mouth and drained the blood from it down his throat.

Victor began to crumple onto his knees, the life visibly draining out with his blood, not enough strength left to scream although his mouth opened as if he would. Eric, walking away from his prey, flung his arm out with a backhanded stroke and severed Victor's neck. It was like he had walked out of the house and as an afterthought, closed the door behind him.

I was so appalled, and yet, I was so relieved to see my Eric walking towards me, bloody but alive. He approached me with firm, confident steps, his beautiful blue eyes filled with pride, holding the dripping heart in his hand. He held it out to me, like a cat that had tired of playing with the mouse and had killed it and brought it to his owner for approval.

I swayed on my feet, and Eric, really seeing me for the first time, dropped his burden and wrapped his arms around me. He looked at my trembling lips and then kissed me, long and hard. Victor's blood filled my mouth, tasting different from Eric's, but filled with life and power still. It tingled through my body and I felt confused and maybe drunk. I thought, "There goes my new dress," and then my eyes went dark and I didn't feel anything at all.


	42. Chapter 42

CHAPTER 42

Waking up surrounded by vampires is a little bit disorienting. They have a way of watching you without blinking that is very intense, while they manage to show no expression at all. I felt a little foolish being the center of attention when I hadn't been the one that had been injured. I thought I couldn't have been out for more than a few moments; the blood was still drying on Eric's wound.

"Eric?"

"Right here, Kjære." My head was resting against his chest and his voice rumbled against my cheek.

"Are you okay?"

"Just a scratch. It is you I am worried about." Eric's tone was concerned but he still managed to sound very pleased with himself. What I felt pressing up against me was certainly an indicator that Eric was feeling no pain. His arms were wrapped around my back and it was a comforting embrace.

"I'm fine. I guess I just got a little dizzy. I think I'm a little drunk from Victor's blood."

I hadn't gotten much of the blood from Eric's mouth, but it had felt like an invasion, leaving me light headed and unstable.

"I think I am, too!" Eric said and he laughed, the sound reverberating in his chest and his body vibrating with merriment. He had obviously enjoyed Victor's blood more than I had.

"Pam has gone to the kitchen to get you some milk." Eric's cure-all for pregnant women!

I pulled my head back from Eric's chest and looked around the room. Apparently, refreshments had been handed out, probably a good thing since vamps were like sharks once they smelled a little blood in the water. Most of the vampires were drinking from bottles of True Blood. Victor's corpse was still flaking away in the middle of the room. Yuck! I was glad to see the last of him, although the manner of his death had sickened me.

Jan was sitting on the floor, wiping down the blades of the swords with a clean cloth. The memory of washing my grandfather's trowel after killing the fairy flashed through my mind and I shuddered a bit. I wondered if the steel of Eric's swords had the same affinity for vampire blood as the iron of the trowel seemed to have for fairy. Or maybe I had just imagined that.

On the stage, the vampire kings appeared to be holding a conference. They had stepped to the side of the stage, where the Ancient Pythoness was still seated on her throne. Stan was on his phone, his eyes focused on Isaiah's earnest conversation with the Pythoness. Russel seemed more interested in watching me, and Eric.

"What is going on with the council, Eric?"

"They are deciding the fate of Nevada." Eric's tone was matter-of-fact, and his face registered more resignation than anticipation, as if he already knew what the council would decide.

Pam walked up to our little group carrying a wine glass filled with milk, which she handed to me. She didn't have a single snide remark about being forced to wait on me. She was grinning and singing to herself. I thought it might be "Luck Be a Lady".

I gulped down my drink, not really wanting it, but knowing Eric would insist. The milk blended with the taste of blood that remained in my mouth and I almost gagged. Daniel, still standing close, handed me a handkerchief. The white fabric came away from my mouth smeared with bloodstains. "I must look a mess!" I thought.

"Fangtasia on the Strip. What do you think, Sookie? Maybe white neon fangs on the front? Now if we could only use Bubba!" Apparently Pam was beside herself with plans for Las Vegas.

"I don't want to go to Las Vegas, Pam. Whenever I leave town, something blows up or I get staked or something. I am perfectly happy here in Louisiana. Or I would be if I could have six months without someone attacking me. Do you want to rule Nevada, Eric?"

"No, Lover. I also am very content to remain here. It is why I left Victor alive so long. However, he didn't give me any choice this time but to kill him and we will make the best of whatever happens next."

Eric was a lot more pragmatic about things than I would ever be. Ignoring the rulers on the stage, as if anything thing they said couldn't possibly be of consequence, he moved his hands down my back and caressed my butt. I pushed his hands away and gave him a small look of disapproval. Not that I didn't care for the feeling of his hands there, but there were just a few too many eyes watching our interaction. He playfully moved his hands back to my bottom.

"Sookie, trouble finds you whether you leave town or stay home. But Abby would tell you to look forward, not backwards. Try new things! We'll sew a few rhinestones on our product line, take it to Vegas, and make a killing!" You just had to love Pam!

Our usually quiet Daniel started to laugh, and the deep, rich sound of his laughter brought a smile to my face. I wasn't sure if he was laughing at Pam, or at the antics of me trying to evade Eric's pretty blatant advances.

The tapping of the wooden staff on the stage captured everyone's attention. Boy, did Isaiah get off on pounding that stick or what! The kings were back at their table and Isaiah stood up to make the announcement. Eric began to step forward, positioning me at his side. I yanked on his arm to let him know I had something to say.

"Don't you think you should put on your pants, Eric?" I whispered in his ear as he bent towards me.

"You don't like what you see, Lover?" I especially liked his world-class butt, now on display for all the world to see.

"Well, yes, but I don't like everyone else seeing it, Eric."

Daniel started to laugh again, and I realized my little whispers were carrying to everyone around us. I shut my mouth.

"With authorization by the full council of the American Vampire League, Eric Northman will assume rule of the state of Nevada as its rightful King," Isaiah bellowed from the stage.

All eyes turned to us as the vampires in the room cheered. I was pretty self-conscious about my blood stained dress and general disorder, but considering that Eric was standing next to me in his birthday suit and wasn't embarrassed at all, I decided to just suck it up. Eric nodded his head respectfully to the panel on the stage. It looked like he wasn't expected to make an acceptance speech or anything like that, since the Pythoness' attendants were whisking her off to wherever she was staying and Eric was turning his attention back to me.

I wondered if we would have another coronation in Las Vegas, and how much time we would have to spend there. I wasn't crazy about the idea of living there, especially with the prospect of our new home in Shreveport. I could see how getting back at Victor Madden might backfire in some respects, disrupting our lives on a grand scale. I was glad to see Eric's pride in his victory and I was sure that it would increase his power and prestige, but I selfishly wished that he were still just the Sheriff of Area Five.

Victor Madden's men, who had been standing to one side waiting to hear their fate, now approached and went down on their knees to their new king. How medieval was that!! Eric took it as his due, and surveyed the group while Jan walked over with one of the newly cleaned swords in hand.

"It is a great pleasure to see you again, Madam," Jonathon said, addressing me, apparently the spokesperson for the little group. "May I offer you our allegiance?"

"It is very nice to see you again, Jonathon," I answered, not altogether truthfully. He had been very polite to me when I had spoken with him in the past though and it never hurt to return a courtesy.

Eric's eyebrows went up at this exchange. When the Asian vampire had been in Louisiana to spy on me during the take-over, Eric had not known that he was there or what his mission was. He had not been happy about that.

"And what would you do with this allegiance that you have been offered, My Queen?" Eric asked me seriously.

"I would make Jonathon my new spy, Eric. He is very good at it, don't you think?"

"Yes, he is. A wise decision, if he chooses to accept a new ruler."

"I accept your sovereignty and would pledge fealty, as will my companions," Jonathon said. "Most in Nevada will be happy to accept you as our new king, and your lovely wife as our new Queen."

Eric looked the vampire over for a moment. "You may wait for my second, Jordun, to take your names," Eric said imperiously and turned his back to the kneeling vampires as if they were no longer of consequence.

"Aren't you going to let them up off their knees, Eric?" I asked as he steered me towards the door.

"Maybe I like to see people before me on their knees, Lover," Eric responded. His voice took on a seductive tone and he pointedly fixed his gaze on my own knees, peeking out below the hem of my silk dress.

"Shall I kneel before you then, Mr. Lord and Master?" My own tone was a little more sardonic.

"I will take that as an offer I cannot refuse, Lover," he said and snatched me up into his arms. I had a feeling he was ready to give 'going to the mattresses' a whole new meaning.

Eric didn't waste any time getting us to the bedroom, Thomas and Daniel scrambling to follow and guard our backs. We passed Rasul, on guard outside our room, and he gave me an amused smile, as he hurriedly got out of Eric's way.

Plopping me down onto my feet next to the bed, Eric gave me a long and ardent kiss, then reaching behind me, he lowered my zipper and slid my dress to the floor. Leaning over to kiss my shoulder, he deftly unhooked my bra and it followed the dress's path to the floor. I stepped out of my panties, kicked off my heels and eased myself down to my knees.

"Your wish is my command, Your Majesty."

I ran my hands up the molded muscles of his thighs and then wove my fingers through the soft curls of hair nestled between his legs, tugging just a little. His hips moved slightly forward and his hands cupped the back of my head firmly, but with no insistence. The silence in the room was profound, broken only by the sounds of my breath, deep and slow as I inhaled the dry, sweet smell of Eric's skin.

The smooth, silken expanse of skin between my hands glowed in the soft light of the bedroom, and a glistening drop of fluid invited my tongue to lick it off.

"Kiss me," Eric murmured, and his fingers laced in the tangles of my hair, pulling me to him.

My lips closed around him, sucking, nibbling, licking, and low moans escaped his throat. His legs quivered slightly as my teeth grazed the sensitive skin and he pushed into my mouth, going very still for a moment, at the edge of release.

"The bed," he whispered urgently, and he helped me to my feet and lay me back onto the mattress.

Spreading my legs, he lowered himself over me, his tongue teasing and licking my breasts, rubbing his length against me until my body cried out for him to enter. He sunk himself deep within my folds, and moved quickly, little sounds coming from his throat, echoed by my own. As my body flushed with the heat of impending release, he sunk his teeth into my neck and bit. I was flooded by a wave of such intense pleasure that I was sure I would explode with the power of it and I gasped, unable to breathe. He collapsed on top of me, his mind and body quietly relaxed for the first time that night.

I was beginning to understand something about Eric. His goals and mine were the same. To control our own lives, as much as anyone could. To love and be loved completely, for who you were and what you could be. To have a family to embrace and hold close. To no longer feel alone.

He hadn't wanted to kill Victor and assume the leadership of another state. He hadn't wanted to complicate our lives any further. But he would do anything within his power, kill anyone, if it meant that I would be alive and safe and there to love him. In that moment, with our bodies still joined, we were of one mind and one heart.

"I love you, Eric," I told him.

"And I you, Kjære."

He stayed with me, lazily licking the puncture wounds on my neck, then holding me safely in his arms as I let sleep overtake me.

END OF PART TWO

(Thank you for all of your kind comments and encouragement. Watch for Part Three, coming soon.)


	43. Chapter 43

PART THREE

Thanks to Charlaine Harris for creating most of the characters in this story, and to the supportive readers of for their great comments and encouragement.

CHAPTER 43

"Thalia can you swing that thing somewhere else? I want to get into the fridge."

Thalia was standing near the kitchen table, swinging a three-foot long broadsword in wide arcs, producing an annoying shushing sound and a dangerous pathway right where I wanted to be.

"I am waiting for Thomas," she said, trying to look menacing, but only managing to sound like a three year old having a hissy.

"Velma's in the nursery, in the cradle. And Thomas won't be home for hours anyway. He only does it to annoy you, Thalia. If you just ignored him, he'd cut it out."

"If I cut off one of his body parts, he might cut it out sooner!"

Velma was the porcelain vampire doll I had bought for Thalia on one of my trips to New Orleans. Thalia had become very fond of the doll, and Thomas had become fond of hiding it, to tease Thalia. Everyone in the family found it amusing, except Thalia. Tonight I was feeling a little too grumpy to find much humor in the situation and just wanted to get to the refrigerator in one piece to get some milk.

"Why don't you put the sword in its sheath, and I can get some milk without losing any of my body parts, Thalia? I need a lot of room to get by you now that I'm so fat!"

"Sorry, Mistress, let me get your milk. You look tired."

I was tired, and my back ached. The last few weeks had been crazy busy. Even with Grace to get the kitchen set up and Amelia helping with the nursery, there had been so much to get settled after the move. The construction workers had barely picked up their tarps and buckets and the movers had shown up in their trucks. Everyone had been living out of boxes until this week and with the trips back and forth between Nevada and Louisiana, even the vampires were beginning to look frazzled.

"Yes, I am a little tired. Do you think we can get Daniel to read tonight? Most of the books are unpacked."

Daniel, Thomas's child, (I still felt ridiculous calling an ancient vampire someone's child.) was a quiet person, even for a vampire. I had begun to see that he did have a sense of humor though, and I suspected that he was sometimes the culprit behind the teasing, although Thomas the Prankster usually got the blame.

"I think he has gone out to dinner, but he'll probably be home soon."

'Out to dinner' was our new euphemism for taking advantage of a willing donor. Although there was enough True Blood to feed an army of vamps in my fridge, there was usually something a little more appetizing over at Fangtasia. Vampires had been out of the coffin for several years, but their appeal hadn't lessened and there were always fangbangers at the bar that would offer themselves up as a meal.

I was standing firm on having donors at the house, and Eric agreed that it was a security problem until we had established a regular group of screened humans like we had at the New Orleans compound. Even then, we would have to wait for a suitable dorm building to be built. I was not sure if I was going to like that arrangement either, but as long as they weren't in our house and around the baby, I was willing to give it a try. Gran would be rolling over in her grave at the thought, but you had to be flexible if you were going to live with six vampires.

If Daniel was out to eat, and Thomas and Eric were at the club, then Jordun and Jan must be outside. Maybe Eric had sent someone over from the bar though. Pam was still in Las Vegas, working with Sandy Seacrest to get that mess organized. She had wanted to be home before the baby was born, and I was beginning to think she'd better come home soon. Dr. Ludwig had said it wouldn't be long.

"Come and see what got done in the nursery," I said to Thalia when I had finished my milk. I had been in an organizing frenzy for the last few days, and I thought everything was finally ready.

We headed upstairs and into the room next to the master bedroom. I had had the walls painted and they were a buttery color with thin lines of white and pink running vertically. The old fashioned molding was painted white along with the high ceiling. New curtains hung at the windows, a plaid of pastels that went nicely with the paint. Amelia and I had picked things that weren't necessarily babyish, figuring the room would grow with the child this way. Of course the bedding, toys and accessories were ready for a baby girl.

The dresser had been stocked with diapers and tiny outfits, and the crib was dressed in its fairy bedding, a matching mobile hanging overhead. The cradle, which we would use mostly in our bedroom, had matching pink sheets. Although it had seemed a little odd at first, I was glad we had gone with Tinkerbell for a theme. It made the room fun and cheerful.

There had been a time that I had sort of panicked and was worried about the baby having wings or something, but the other fairies I'd known hadn't sported feathers, so I chalked that up to some kind of pregnant hysteria. I could envision my little girl playing dress up wearing gauzy wings and carrying a little wand strung with ribbons though.

"I don't like that you are going to the hospital," Thalia said.

She was folding and unfolding some of the little tee shirts that Pam had sent over from the club. The poor child would be forced to wear Fangtasia clothing, at least when Pam was around.

"It's better this way, Thalia. What if something goes wrong? It's safer at the hospital."

"Don't say that!" Thalia was adamant that I shouldn't anticipate anything going wrong. She said it was bad luck.

"Well, I could need a caesarean or something. And Dr. Ludwig can't just leave all her other patients while I am in labor at home. Eric has arranged for lots of guards."

Eric had gone round and round with Dr. Ludwig over the security at the supe hospital in Shreveport, reminding her that the fairies had managed to get in very easily once before. Ludwig wouldn't let him have the place warded, since she had patients that had fairy blood and they needed to be able to get in. In the end, Eric had lost the battle with one concession. I was to have my own room and there were to be three guards with me at all times. Well, we would see about that. I didn't know if I wanted to be in labor in front of a bunch of armed men.

"I don't like it," Thalia insisted, knowing full well that the matter had been settled already.

Bob padded into the room while I was showing Thalia how I had organized the closet. He knew he wasn't allowed in the nursery or in our bedroom, but that just seemed to make it more attractive to him. I had already had to wash the sheet in the crib once, when he had managed to get in and fall asleep there.

I stomped my foot and clapped my hands and Bob jumped back and hissed, then scurried back out the door. "You stay out," I called after him.

Thalia had found a little pink receiving blanket and was fussing with the cradle where Thomas (or Daniel) had put her doll. She tucked the blanket around the doll, arranging it very carefully. I guess she had decided that the cradle was a good place for Velma for now. This side of Thalia was always a little surprising, since she was a stone killer when there was a battle to be fought. But I kind of liked this part of the tiny vampire and thought she would make a good babysitter for Claudine.

"Daniel is home," Thalia announced, although I hadn't heard the door. My senses had improved well beyond normal human ability with the vampire blood that I drank, but they would never be as acute as vampire's senses.

My phone was vibrating away on the kitchen table when we got back downstairs. Daniel had picked it up to answer it and I snatched it out of his hands. Geez Louise, was there nothing private in this household anymore? I could see by the number that it was Pam calling again.

"Hello, Pam."

"You're not at the hospital yet?"

"No. I'm in the kitchen. We're going to read for a while, then I'm going to bed."

"Well don't go into labor until I get there. I'll be home tomorrow. Anubis will drop me off about three."

"I thought you were staying two more days."

"I don't trust you."

"And what's that supposed to mean, Pam? Trust me for what?"

"To not go into labor. It's just the kind of independent thing you would do, with no regard for those of us stuck here in Vegas."

"Aren't you having fun in Vegas, Pam? I thought you were checking out property for the new Fangtasia."

"Yes, I think we found something. I'll tell you about it when I get home. Don't have the baby until I get there."

"Pam, that's not up to me, you know," I replied, but I was talking into space, Pam had already hung up.

Pam had been calling several times a night since she'd left for Las Vegas the week before. She seemed to think I could decide when to have this baby, and that I should decide to have it at her convenience. If it had been up to me, I would have had it a week ago!

"Pam's coming home tomorrow at three," I announced to anyone who might care. Jordun and Jan had followed Daniel into the house and they were arguing about what book to read tonight.

"I think we should have the one about the cinnamon rolls," Jan suggested.

The story he wanted was about a baker and her pride and joy were her cinnamon rolls, well, before she has a run in with a bunch of vampires. Jan loved the smell of sweet things baking in the oven, especially things with cinnamon -- cookies, cakes, it didn't matter. I wondered if Grace would be willing to bake some cinnamon rolls some afternoon now that the kitchen was set up for baking. I loved the smell too, and the taste.

"We read that already," Thalia argued. She had her usual sullen look on. Thalia had lightened up appreciably since she'd joined our family, but her fallback position was usually sullen.

I headed for the living room, deciding to let them fight it out. Sometimes it was worse than a pack of kids fighting over what television show to watch. Jason and I had had more than one battle over that before Gran had made us take turns. Maybe we needed to try that in this household, or we could roll dice or something. I was too tired to be part of the discussion however, and my back was just killing me. My rib was hurting too, where little Claudine kept kicking in the same place. I was sure I would just explode any day now if this baby didn't come out!

"We're having the cinnamon rolls," Jordun said and I squeaked, not realizing that he was right behind me. "Does your back hurt again?" He reached out as if to touch me, then pulled his hand away. I was not his property.

"Yes, and just about everything else too," I whined. "I hope Eric comes home early tonight."

Daniel came in with the book just as I was getting settled in on the couch, not that there was any position that was comfortable anymore. Bob jumped up, curled himself against my leg and began to purr.

Daniel was the preferred reader, since he had the most beautiful voice. Thalia would leave out whole passages if she didn't like some part of the story. Jan usually was busy with his sketchbook while he listened to the stories.

"Sunshine, by Robin McKinley, Chapter One," we began.

The story unfolded and as Daniel's melodic voice took us to a different world and time, it occurred to me that my real life had become stranger than fiction. I felt physically restless and vaguely uneasy. And I had to pee again! This was getting so old. Although this was one of my favorite all-time vampire books, I just couldn't stay put. Maybe I wouldn't wait for Eric. He might be another hour or two.

When Daniel paused between chapters I said, "I'm going to take a bath," and hauled my heavy body off the couch and upstairs.

After taking care of my more urgent needs, I turned on the bath water, threw off my clothes, and got out my razor. Eric didn't care if I had body hair or not, women of his time hadn't shaved, but I cared and I wasn't about to start growing a tropical forest. Reaching far enough to shave my legs was becoming a gymnastic act though, with my big belly.

I sat on the side of the tub, the steam rising from the hot water pouring into the tub, and maneuvered my leg until I could pull the razor in a smooth stroke up my calf.

"That's a pretty sight," Eric said to my backside and I yipped in consternation as the surprise of someone sneaking up on me caused the razor to slip and nick my skin.

"Can't you call out or something, like 'Honey, I'm home'? You scared me half to death, sweetie."

I turned to look at Eric. He was smiling and his nostrils were flared at the smell of the small bit of blood running from the cut on my leg. I smiled back, glad to see him home early.

"Let me do that for you, Lover," he offered.

"I think I was doing fine by myself, until you snuck in. Seriously, Eric, when was the last time you shaved yourself?"

Eric pondered that for a moment, as if he was trying to remember, and his hand unselfconsciously rubbed his chin. "Myself? Calendars were a little different then, maybe the year 1000? But I have had some experience with a razor since then."

I wasn't about to ask in what context that had taken place. Eric was out of his clothes and lifting me down into the water of the tub while I was still contemplating the concept of the year 1000. He rinsed the gel from the cut on my leg and licked the small wound before he settled in front of me and took the razor in hand.

"Silly modern women, removing all of their hair," he muttered to himself as he adjusted the position of my leg, resting my foot in a most interesting place between his legs. I had a feeling that he enjoyed the smooth skin of a well-shaved leg though.

"Now, just lean back, Lover, and let the master work."

I had never been shaven by anyone else before, and I had to admit it was a pleasant experience, especially considering where my toes were at the moment. Eric used long, smooth strokes and his touch was light and careful. Maybe I did want to know what he'd done with a razor before.

My vampire was quiet, not asking the usual questions about my evening, or how I was feeling. He didn't make shaving my legs a sexual experience, although there was something very sensual about it. He seemed to sense that I was weary and out of sorts, and I thought he wanted to soothe me.

"Come, My Love, let's put you to bed," Eric said, pulling me out of my sleepy reverie. My legs were as smooth as a baby's bottom.

He dried us both off with big fluffy towels, and I headed straight to the bed. I felt like a hippo waddling to the bed and climbing in, trying to get comfortable. Eric slid in next to me, and snuggled up against my back. He felt warm after our hot bath, although I knew his skin would only hold that heat for a short while. He was like a snake that had been lying in the sun. He would cool off when he crept back under his rock.

"Pam is coming home at three tomorrow," I said into my pillow. My eyes were closed and the bed was soft and it felt good to lie down next to my vampire.

"Yes, she called me. I am to tell you not to have the baby until she gets back. I hope you will wait until I wake up at least."

I chuckled at that. "Eric, this is not like an on-demand movie you know. Anyway, it could be days yet, although I hope it isn't."

Eric's hand was stroking my belly, moving his hand a little lower with each stroke. I have a very healthy sexual appetite, and Eric's might be categorized as voracious. Pregnancy hadn't slowed us down very much, although we had had to get pretty inventive in terms of comfortable positioning. I wasn't sure if I could manage much tonight, but feeling his temporarily warm fingers sliding between my legs, I had a feeling that I might manage something.

"Are you afraid, Kjære?" I knew that he wasn't talking about our lovemaking.

"Yes, of the pain mostly, but also…" I stopped there, not wanting to voice my fears.

"Me, too," he said.

He didn't try to patronize me with promises that it would be all over very soon, or that everything would be fine, not to worry. He was honest with me, and that was of more value than any false comfort he might offer.

He was thinking of his wife from centuries ago. She had died after childbirth, and his baby son too. He hadn't loved her as he loved me, but he had valued her and cared for her, and he had loved his children. He was afraid of losing me.

"Make love to me, Eric," I whispered and pushed my hips closer against him.

He moved quietly, and the only sound in the room was my breath as he stroked me and slid himself slowly and gently inside me. I didn't move at first, letting him do all the work, taking in the sensation of his talented fingers, his soft lips against my neck, and his cooling skin against my back.

He pace quickened to match the pace of my breathing and I felt the edge of something wonderful begin to engulf me. His fangs pierced the skin of my neck, and as he drew my blood from the small wound, my body surrendered itself to the comfort of release.


	44. Chapter 44

CHAPTER 44

"Eric, honey, your squashing me."

Eric's arm was draped across my belly and he was hugging me just a little too tightly. "Vampires never realize their own strength," I thought as I shoved him with my elbow. He didn't budge an inch. Realizing it must be daytime, I grabbed his lifeless arm and flopped it away. The pressure on my belly continued on its own for a moment. That made me a little nervous.

I opened my eyes and looked at the bedside clock. It was only ten thirty. Eric would be asleep until around seven. It was Saturday, so Grace was off. I would have my shower and go down and make the coffee. Maybe I would call Tara and see how she was doing with the new baby. She'd had a boy and named him Jackson. It had been a while since I'd talked to her. Actually it had been a while since I'd talked to any humans except Amelia, and she wasn't your average human.

That same tight feeling hit me again while I was washing my hair. It wasn't especially painful, but it was strong enough that I instinctively wrapped my hands around my belly. It felt as hard as a rock. I sputtered as the shampoo dripped down my face into my mouth. Yuck! Rinsing myself off, I climbed out of the shower and onto the matt. Something was running down my legs and I had a feeling it wasn't the bath water. Dabbing with the towel I saw the tinge of blood and my breath caught for a moment.

"Okay, Sookie, you knew to expect this," I told myself. "Stay calm and think about what to do next. First thing? Get some clothes on."

You can read all the books and tell yourself you are prepared, but I don't think there is anything that can prepare you for the down and dirty aspects of having a baby. I stood there in the bathroom, watching fluid run down my legs, immobilized by what to do next.

I had to put on my dress. I would need to wear a pad or something so I wouldn't make a big mess. My hair was dripping all over. I needed to brush it out before I left for the hospital. I had to tell the guards so they would be ready to drive me. All of these things went barreling through my mind, but what I did was lay the towel down on the toilet seat, sat myself down and wished for my grandmother.

After indulging myself in a few minutes of self-pity served up with a dollop of dread, I steeled myself for what was coming. I managed to get myself dressed and then toweled off my hair and brushed it. I decided I could live without make-up for today, but I would need some shoes. I headed to the closet to find some sandals, and just about doubled over as my whole belly seemed to tie itself up in a knot. I guess it was time to go.

Eric was still dead asleep, oblivious to what was going on. "I'm sorry, baby," I told him as I stroked his golden hair and kissed his dead lips. "I would have waited for you if I could."

I grabbed my phone and my purse and headed down the stairs, reluctant to leave Eric behind, but knowing he would come as soon as he could. I hoped it would be soon enough.

Eric had programmed in Travis's number on speed dial, right after his own, so I punched a few buttons and the were answered.

"Mrs. Northman? Everything okay, Ma'am?"

"Travis, I think I need to go to the hospital now." I tried not to sound pitiful but was afraid I hadn't succeeded.

"I'll be right there, don't move," the were said, emphasizing the last part, as if I was going to be doing gymnastics or something. I can't read minds over the phone, and were minds are never easy to read, but he sounded a little nervous.

I checked that my hospital bag was still sitting by the back door. Amelia and I had followed a checklist and I thought we had packed everything I might need. There were gowns, robe and slippers, toiletries, an outfit and blanket for bringing the baby home, and an outfit for me to wear home. Amelia had thrown in a few snacks and a romance novel in case I had to wait a long time, but I had a feeling I wasn't going to be reading much. And of course, we'd thrown in a camera.

Mark came through the door, not bothering to knock, and looked me over. He'd had some kind of emergency medical training I knew, and I asked him if he'd ever had to deliver a baby.

"No, Ma'am, and I don't plan to do that today if I can help it. How often are your contractions?"

"Oh, I forgot I was supposed to time them," I said, feeling like an idiot. "But my water broke and I guess I'm supposed to go in if that happens."

"Yes, Ma'am, can you walk?"

"Yes. I need my bag," I told him and pointed it out. He grabbed the bag and my arm and we headed out to the car. When I fumbled with the seat belt, Mark buckled me in snugly, acting apologetic that he might be getting too personal when his hand brushed against my belly. Not that he could avoid it, since it took up half the car!

"What about the vamps?" I asked him, worried about leaving them unguarded. "And Pam is coming home at three o'clock." I didn't want Pam's coffin left out in the yard or something.

"We have enough men to cover that, Ma'am, don't you worry about a thing." As if I could not worry!! And Pam would be pissed if I had this baby before she got to the hospital.

The old factory that had been converted to the supe hospital wasn't that far away and we made it there in about fifteen minutes. The middle-aged shifter at the front desk got out my chart and led me down a drab hallway.

"My name's Karen. I'll get you settled in. Dr. Ludwig is on rounds, but will come in to see you soon. Will your guards be staying with you?"

"Yes," Travis answered before I could protest. Well, maybe Dr. Ludwig would throw them out into the hall. I was in no mood to argue the point, since I could feel another contraction coming on. Everyone paused while I caught my breath, leaning heavily on Travis' arm. When I could walk again, Jim took my other arm and we headed to a room in the middle of the building.

The room was more like the birthing centers that I had read about than a regular hospital room. There were no windows, but it was well lit. The bed was pretty low to the ground, a concession to the doctor's below average height I supposed. It was made up simply in white cotton sheets, with a pillow and light blanket. There was a cabinet with a sink, a scale and a few rolling tables, a metal-legged chair in the corner, but not a lot of equipment in sight. The bare walls were drab and unadorned but I wasn't there for the scenery.

"Let's get you changed," Karen said as she pulled a gown out of the cabinet. She laid it on the bed and turned to look at the guards who looked back in consternation.

I was sure Eric had told them not to leave me on pain of death, but what Eric didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right? The three men stepped to the outside of the door and waited while I got into bed. Dr. Ludwig came in soon after that, stopping to huff and puff at the guards in the doorway who parted like the Red Sea when she approached.

"Well, young lady, let's see what we've got here." The doctor rarely wasted time on pleasantries and got right down to business, giving me a brief exam and assuring me that yes, I was going to have a baby.

"I think it will be a few hours, so make yourself as comfortable as you can, I'll send round some tea for you to drink, it will help. Stay on your feet as much as you can, and nature will take its course. My nurse will be in to check on you."

If I'd had a normal human life, I would have called someone – a mother, sister, aunt, or grandmother. Maybe I'd have called someone like Arlene, who would have come down and told me horror stories about every childbirth she'd heard about, assuring me that of course that wouldn't happen to me. But Arlene was a horror story all on her own these days, and there were no women left in my family. I could call Jason, but really, he wouldn't be much of a comfort, we hardly spoke to each other anymore. I should call Amelia, I thought, but I didn't pick up my phone.

Amelia would be bustling about, timing contractions and reading from the birthing book. She would be asking the doctor how many centimeters I was dilated and would tell me to pant like a dog when it hurt. Just thinking of all of that made me tired. What I wanted was the cool, quiet presence of my vampires. I curled up in a ball on my side and got ready to wallow in my own misery.

I don't know how long I lay like that. The nurse came in and had me drink a cup of very foul smelling tea, then helped me up to the bathroom. The contractions were becoming more frequent and they were really starting to hurt. I couldn't see that that nasty tea had done me any good. I was increasingly afraid, but at the same time I was excited, anticipating my child. I tried to focus on what she would feel like in my arms.

"Sookie? How are you doing? Take a deep breath."

I think I must have been moaning a little, I felt dazed. I didn't know how long I had been like this, but it felt as if it had been hours. I felt warm hands against my lower back, right where the pain was, pressing hard.

"You have to breathe, Sookie."

"Mark?"

"You're fighting it, Sookie. You'll wear yourself out. Unclench your jaw. Breathe."

As the pain subsided, the same big hands brushed the hair from my face and I took what rest I could, gratefully accepting some ice chips for my dry mouth.

"The doctor wants you to walk."

"No, I can't, Mark. Please don't make me."

"Come on, Sookie. I'll help you. The baby is pressing on your back, if you get up on your feet it will go faster."

I could barely remember the doctor being there at all. I was so tired. But Mark's voice was almost hypnotic, soothing, encouraging, and he had me on my feet, leaning heavily against him. Travis took my other arm and we walked up and down the hallway. The soon familiar floor was gunmetal gray linoleum and though it looked shabby, it was very clean. My slippers made a shushing sound against it as we walked and walked, stopping for each contraction, the same warm hands pressing and comforting, until I couldn't walk anymore.

By the time I was back in the bed, my legs were shaking uncontrollably and I just wanted everyone to stop touching me. I batted away their hands. They were all so warm; they weren't the cool familiar hands I wanted. I needed to get this baby out right now! If everyone would just leave me alone!

"Sookie, Sookie, open your eyes, look at me!"

"Go away! Leave me alone!" I had tried to tell them all to go away, but no one would listen to me. They were so insistent that I should open my eyes.

"Sookie, look at me!" Eric demanded and a cool relief washed through me as I opened my eyes and saw the face of my vampire leaning over me. I just burst into tears as he took my hands in his and kissed them.

"Eric?" I held on to him for dear life, my fingers digging into his hands as an overwhelming urge to push came over me.

"Sookie, let go. Give yourself to me, Sookie. The baby is coming. Let go." And I relinquished my will to him.

The pain lessened almost immediately and I relaxed under Eric's influence. I could focus again and I listened as the doctor directed me when to push and then push again, each push harder than before as I trembled with exhaustion, until blessed relief came and I felt our child slide into the world.

When I heard her cry for the first time, it was the happiest sound of my life, like I had been missing a piece of my heart and now I had found it. I thought I couldn't hold all of the emotions that ran through me and I laughed and cried all at once, tears streaming as I smiled and smiled.

"A beautiful and healthy girl," Dr. Ludwig announced as she wrapped Claudine in a blanket and laid her gently against my breast.

I wrapped my hands oh so carefully around the tiny body that was my child and held her close. Her head was covered with a soft fuzz of hair and her eyes, blinking in the bright light of the room, were the blue of sapphires. Her skin was red and damp from the birth and slightly streaked with blood, but it had a translucent quality that almost glowed.

Eric's cool fingers stroked my hair and then reached tentatively down as if he would touch the child too. When I looked up to his face, I could see that he was crying. Tears of blood ran sluggishly down his cheeks.

"Do you want to hold her, Eric?" I asked him and he gave me a curt nod, unable to speak.

I scooted over in the bed and Eric sat down beside me, then looking as nervous as I suppose any new father must have looked, he picked up the tiny bundle. He held her carefully, his big hands nearly obscuring her from my sight. He sniffed her and then I thought he looked relieved, as if he had been holding his breath.

"She is so beautiful, like her mother," he said and he leaned over to place a kiss on the top of first my head and then the baby's. I liked the sound of that – mother. We sat together for a few quiet moments and marveled at the wonder that was our family.

Dr. Ludwig, who had been massaging my belly and fussing with stuff I didn't want to think about, walked over to Eric carrying something in her hand. "You should bond with the child, it will be safer," she said and handed him a small flask filled with what looked like blood, cord blood I assumed.

Eric nodded and drank the flask down, then looked astonished for a moment as his fangs ran out. I panicked for a moment, instinctively reaching for the baby, wondering if Eric would get drunk on the fairy blood. I knew I couldn't stop him from draining her if he lost control. But he looked at me with a satisfied smile. "She tastes just like you," he said. Pricking his smallest finger on one of his fangs, he put it to the baby's mouth and she sucked, her little lips barely able to pucker around his big finger.

As fine as this moment was, there were things that needed attending to and let's just say there are some aspects of bearing children that don't bear repeating. When the physical aspects of my care were finished, Dr. Ludwig held her hands out to take Claudine to be bathed, weighed and measured, while the nurse finished cleaning me up and helped me into one of my clean gowns. By the time everything was cleaned up and presentable there was quite a crowd at the door and as they say, the natives were restless. It was time to admit the rest of the family.

I don't know what this room had originally been, maybe an office, but it hadn't been designed to accommodate a crowd, and a crowd we were. Of course any time you get more than a few vampires in a room, it feels crowded, the very atmosphere around them seems to take up more space than a human, at least to me.

The doctor huffed and looked disapproving at how many visitors there were, but even Dr. Ludwig was not going to try to turn away that many ancient and powerful vamps. The nurse scurried out, careful to avoid touching anyone and my vampires filed in, apparently in pecking order.

Thalia was first and she watched for a moment as Dr. Ludwig fussed with the baby. She reached out a tentative hand to touch Claudine, but pulled it back when Ludwig raised her eyebrows. Thomas was next, followed by Jordun, Jan and then Daniel. Pam brought up the rear.

The men each spent a moment observing the baby, most of them smiled although Thomas just looked astounded. Then they each nodded respectfully to Eric and me and made room for the next one.

Pam strode in looking cocky as if to say that she didn't care that she was the low man on the totem pole. He face registered amazement though when she looked down at the tiny baby.

"Oh! She's so small!" she exclaimed. I didn't know what she was expecting, since Dr. Ludwig had already pronounced the baby's weight as a very healthy and normal seven and a half pounds.

"But what are those big lumps on her back, Sookie?"

Big lumps? Big lumps? Oh my God! What could she mean by that? The doctor had said she was healthy and beautiful, why would she have lumps? Of course I hadn't really seen her naked yet. I started to get up from the bed. Eric was already at the baby's side, a look of shock on his face.

"What's wrong with my baby? Daniel, help me up," I shouted, extending a hand to him. "Eric, what's wrong with her?" Tendrils of fear crept over my skin and I began to cry in earnest.

"Now, now, stop that. Get out of the way, vampire," Dr. Ludwig said and Eric, nonplussed, stepped aside. "Now there is nothing wrong with her at all. Let me show you."

The tiny doctor came to the side of the bed carrying Claudine, naked and squirming on a little receiving blanket. She set her down beside me and turned her over, exposing her little back and bottom. Claudine fussed a little, a little kitten sound, as I ran my hand over the two very definite lumps on her back. They were smooth, not discolored, but they felt like a deformity in the bone.

"What's wrong with her?" I said in my most resolute voice. If there was bad news, I didn't want to be sheltered from it, I didn't want to hear evasions. I needed to know the truth, no matter how bad.

"I must admit that it is unusual," Dr. Ludwig began and I began to shake in apprehension. Would the woman just spit it out already?

"But I have heard of it before. This is where her wings will grow."

I was struck dumb. You could have hit me with a baseball bat and I couldn't have been more stunned. Wings? It was a showstopper!

"Well, hell," Pam said. "It's going to be a bitch to find that girl any clothes."


	45. Chapter 45

CHAPTER 45

"None of the fairies I've known have had wings," I said, to no one in particular. "Not Claudine or Claude or Niall, not my great uncles either, at least that I know of."

The baby was now clean, dry and dressed in one of the little outfits that I had brought for her, a Fangtasia onesie and a little pink Tinkerbell sleeper. The irony of that wasn't wasted on me. I was propped up with pillows in the bed with Claudine curled sleeping in my arms.

"The winged fae rarely left the fairy world," Dr. Ludwig responded. "They would have been too conspicuous in the human world. There have been sightings of odd winged creatures of course, usually brushed off as optical illusion or by saying the viewer was hysterical or crazy."

"But it's not like it runs in my family though, does it?"

As far as I knew, Dr. Ludwig had never been to fairy, so I wasn't sure why I thought she should be an expert.

"Not that I know of," she agreed, "which means nothing."

As usual, I knew very little about what was going on around me. It had been that way since the first day that Bill had walked into Merlotte's. New creatures kept popping out of the woodwork and all the myths and legends appeared to have some basis in truth. And all of the "God's truth" that I had been raised with? I was beginning to wonder which stories were the real fairy tales.

"Claudine was trying to become an angel, and Eric and I saw an angel, or what looked like one, in our dream. Are they born or created? Do you know anything about them?"

"Not really. Angels are very rare. There have only been a few that have walked the earth. The Christians claim them as their own, but they are some evolution of fairy. No one is sure what their purpose is, if they have a purpose other than just existence."

This had been the story that we had gotten everywhere we had turned. The angels were mysterious. They might be guardians or warriors. The modern concept of angels linked them with good. The biblical angels were more about the wrath of God kind of thing. Then there were the fallen angels that might be the same as demons, but were associated with Satan. Maybe we would never know any more than that. But I wanted to think that my cousin Claudine had achieved her goal of becoming an angel, and I wondered if baby Claudine having wings had something to do with that.

A slight disturbance at the door interrupted the conversation.

"Your weres want to know if you and the baby are okay," Jan informed me from his post by the door.

"Oh, come on in and see the baby," I called to the door. After a little shuffling of position (my vamps did not like moving to the hall to make room for weres) Mark, Travis and Jim filed in.

"Thanks, y'all, for helping me out today," I said. "Come and meet Claudine. She's sleeping right now." I couldn't help the pride in my voice. Wings or no wings, I was sure this was the most beautiful baby ever to be born.

The three big men walked to the side of the bed and made the appropriate noises of approval when they saw how cute the baby was. Jim was carrying a bag that had the unmistakable smell of food. And oh my god was that coffee?

"We thought you might be hungry after all of that hard work, so we picked you up some supper," Travis volunteered. "Congratulations, Ma'am, and Mr. Northman," he said, nodding at Eric. "We'll be back first thing tomorrow morning. You just call if you need anything."

"Thank you so much, all of you," I told them, looking especially at Mark. "I can't ever tell you how much it meant to me to have you here today."

Surprise of all surprises, Eric, looking a little bit as if the words would choke him, thanked them too. I guess those words were in his vocabulary after all.

The aroma of the coffee and the smell of the food were calling me and I began to hand the sleeping baby to Eric. Noticing the longing look in Thalia's eyes, and a promise I had made to her months before, I asked Thalia to take Claudine. She beamed and scooped the baby up in her arms, rocking and cooing at her like any mother might. It was so uncharacteristic of the tiny warrior woman, that everyone showed looks of astonishment on their faces except Eric, who just looked proud.

Inside the bag was the best roast beef sandwich I had ever had. Maybe it was the joy of the occasion or more likely the fact that I hadn't eaten anything all day, but I wolfed down every bite. Once my appetite was satisfied, even the coffee couldn't keep me awake, and letting my eyes close, I drifted off to sleep.

I was very tired, but something kept tugging at my sleepy brain, a noise like little mewling sounds that soon escalated to small cries. "Someone should pick up that poor baby," I thought, scrunching myself further down in the bed. I was feeling a little crampy and just generally achy and I really wanted to go back to sleep.

A thought hit me like a Mack truck and I shot up so quickly I was surprised I didn't propel myself right out of bed. "Good Lord! That's my baby!" My baby was crying, my baby.

"Kjære, I think the baby is hungry," Eric said in a bare whisper. He sounded as distressed as the child.

I was more fully awake now, and could see Eric standing next to the bed holding Claudine, who was definitely making an effort to find her supper. Her little head was nuzzling against Eric's big chest as if she was rooting for something and she wasn't happy about not finding it. Her little cries distressed me.

"Oh, I guess I should feed her. How long was I sleeping?" I said, trying to get propped up in what I hoped was a good position for nursing. I unbuttoned the front of my gown and managed to free one breast from the tangle of fabric. I wasn't exactly sure how to do this, but how hard could it be, right?

"Only an hour," Eric said. No wonder I was so tired.

Jordun and Jan were still in the room, but it sounded like the rest of the crew were out in the hallway, talking on their phones maybe? The business of the empire would go on, baby or no baby. Jan looked mightily interested in my fumbling, but not in a "bare breast on display" kind of way. He just looked observant, like he did when I had sat for my portrait. I had a moment where I was a little embarrassed to uncover my breasts in front of him, then thought, "F it!" If I were going to be nursing an infant, everyone would just have to get used to some unclothed flesh, including me.

Eric handed me the baby and I put her up to my breast, just the way I'd read about it in the books. She nuzzled around, still making little noises. It sort of reminded me of Eric, the way he would nuzzle sometimes before he bit, taking in my scent. Okay, baby will open her mouth and I just pop her right onto the nipple. Only she wasn't opening her mouth. Now what!

I looked at Eric, as if he would know what to do. He just had his usual holier than thou look, although his body language was almost impatient, as if he was asking me what I was waiting for.

"I'm not really sure what to do," I admitted, feeling almost guilty, like I ought to know this.

"Isn't it instinctual?" Jan asked.

"I guess," I said a little defensively. "And I guess it was instinctual the first time you ripped someone's throat out? That went well, did it?"

Jan laughed. It was a full-throated almost human laugh, not the little snicker that you usually got from vampires.

"Point taken," he conceded. He reached down to a canvas bag at his feet and pulled out a sketchpad and pencil and began to draw.

"Shall I call the doctor in?" asked Eric, a little more sympathetically.

But as I was about to answer, Claudine's tiny mouth opened and I managed to pop her onto my nipple before she wriggled away. She latched on tight. It was a surprising feeling, a little painful actually, not at all like my usual experience with mouths and nipples. For one thing, she didn't have fangs! Thank God for small blessings! That was a scary thought, and it was a little scary how hard such a little mouth could suck.

"Does it hurt?" Eric asked curiously after Claudine seemed to have found a rhythm.

"A little," I admitted. "Actually, I kind of ache all over. Maybe they have some aspirin or something?"

"I have been remiss," he said and sitting down on the edge of the bed, he bit into his wrist, his fangs making a nasty crunching sound, and extended it to my mouth. I latched on a little faster than Claudine had and probably sucked a little harder, taking in the thick sweet blood that I had come to enjoy. I took a few swallows and then licked the wound, as Eric always did. I felt better almost immediately.

"Did that hurt?" I asked him back.

"No Lover, not a bit," he answered and gave me a big fangy smile.

A light flashed at that moment, almost blinding me, and Eric actually startled. My eye caught a flash of red hair popping back out the door. "For the scrapbook," I heard from the hallway. Pam had been fascinated by the family scrapbook that Amelia and I had created. Now she was creating her own. She had enlisted Thomas' help, and he had lately been making himself very annoying with the camera.

"Oh, we should take some pictures of the baby, Eric, while she is still new. I brought my camera in my hospital bag."

"I think that is your camera, Sister," Jordun volunteered, seemingly amused. "Thomas was rooting around in your bag while you were sleeping."

"Well, next time tell him to stay out of my stuff."

"I think he was a thief in his first life." I thought Jordun might be kidding, but I wasn't really sure.

"Well, don't let him take the camera home, I want to get some pictures of the baby."

Not that Thomas would listen to Jordun. Thomas was somewhat of a law unto himself. He had sworn fealty to Eric and he put in his time dealing with the kingdom's obligations. He seemed very agreeable about pulling guard duty too. But I think even Eric couldn't make him behave. I had a feeling Daniel might influence him though, if he wanted to.

"Aren't you coming home tonight?" Jordun asked.

"No, the doctor thinks I should stay for the day, in case I have any problems."

I didn't voice my concerns about being home alone with a new baby. That was the downside of a husband who was a vampire. He couldn't just take a week off from being dead all day, even for a new baby. I supposed I could get Amelia to stay with me. Geez Louise, I hadn't even called her to tell her about the baby! I hadn't called my brother either.

"We should call Amelia," I said.

"She called Pam when she couldn't get you on your phone. She will come tomorrow, Lover."

I managed to get Claudine disengaged from one side and shifted her to the other, this time figuring it out a little faster. Her blue eyes looked straight up into mine and I wondered how soon it would be before she would recognize me as her mom, or if she already did. Would my smell be distinctive to her, as it was to Eric?

This whole motherhood thing was definitely going to be a learning curve. I had spent a lot of time with Arlene's kids, but not as infants. Infants were so helpless and delicate. It was a frightening thing in many respects, the responsibility. But on the other hand, and there always is another hand, it was like stepping into a world of possibilities…in my case, maybe literally, with the supernatural aspect and all.

As dawn approached, and I knew that my vampires would have to leave, I had to fight off the tears that threatened to form. I wished that I could put the day on hold or sleep through it, as Eric did. Eric seemed reluctant to part with me, and he kissed me long and hard, as if otherwise I might forget him during the long hours of daylight. He rested his lips on Claudine's head and caressed her cheek with his long fingers.

"I will come for you soon, Kjære, and for our lille engel," he said and he was gone.

The nurse came in with a little bassinet for Claudine to sleep in, and I could hear my were guards outside the door arranging chairs and getting settled. I tucked the baby in and curling into a ball in my own bed, I fell asleep.

There is that old saying, No Rest for the Wicked. Well, there are some things in my past that I wasn't especially proud of, and some that I deeply regretted, but I didn't consider myself particularly wicked, not in the witch of the west sense at least. But it looked like rest for me was going to be a thing of the past.

Hospitals are the same, human or supernatural. There are always doctors and nurses coming and going. It is meal time regardless of when you want to eat, babies want to eat whenever you are sleeping, and visitors can't seem to understand that you may need some sleep when your body has just been through the trauma of giving birth.

Amelia was the first to show up, and she was bright eyed and bushy tailed. She was irritated that I hadn't called her to be there for the labor and delivery and I could tell it was all that she could do to not sit down and chew my ass out. On the other hand, she was so excited about the new baby, that she couldn't contain her excitement and good humor. She seemed to take up all the space in the room with her energy and non-stop conversation.

"Everybody is dying to hear how your labor went. Sam wants to come and see the baby, but I told him he might want to wait until you get home. He sent this over. I knew you would be tired. Did you talk to Jason yet? He said he would be over later."

That Amelia! If you told her anything, you might as well just take out an ad on a billboard.

Amelia dug in her bag; she had brought enough stuff to stay a week. She pulled out a gift bag and handed it to me. The card read, "Congratulations from everybody at Merlotte's." Of course it was from Sam. Inside the bag was a little stuffed collie with a pink bow around its neck. It made me realize how much I missed my friendship with Sam. I hadn't seen him in a long time.

Jason was the next one to show up, carrying a super market bouquet of pink roses. I was surprised to see that my brother actually looked older. Had it been that long since I had seen him? I wondered if it was just the strain of all the changes that had taken place in Jason's life. He had lost more than I had, his wife and his baby. I felt almost guilty about the blessings that I had.

"Well, this is my little niece? She looks a lot like you, Sis. You doin' okay?"

"Yeah, I'm a little tired, but everything is okay and I guess Eric will pick me up tonight to go home."

"I heard you had that new house. Maybe I can come over sometime and see it, for lunch or something."

"Sure, Jason, you're always welcome."

"Now that Hoyt's married, and I guess you heard Calvin and Tanya are gettin' married too, I'm gonna be one of the last bachelors in Bon Temps. Well, me and Sam, I guess."

"Maybe you'll meet somebody, Jason."

"No. I guess I'm just going to be on my own. I got the pack though, and they're like family now."

I was beginning to feel pretty bad about not spending time with my brother. Jason had always seemed so self sufficient and confident. Now he sounded broken and lonely.

"You want to hold her, Jason?"

Jason seemed a little nervous when I put the baby into his arms, but he knew enough to support her head and make sure he had a good hold on her.

"Yeah, she looks just like you, Sook. Gran sure would have loved to see her great granddaughter. I just can't believe my kid sister has a baby," he said and shook his head. "Is she…you know…normal?"

"No, I don't know, Jason. What do you mean, is she normal?" I was getting on my high horse now, ready to defend my child.

"Well, don't get all over me, Sis. You know…can she hear people?"

I was almost relieved that he hadn't asked about her wings. Of course, with Claudine all wrapped up in a little blanket, he wouldn't even notice. Unless you were looking at her back, you wouldn't be able to tell. Of course that would change at some point, but there was no telling when. I didn't think I wanted to tell Jason yet.

"How would I know, Jason? She isn't even one day old yet, and she can't talk, so how could I tell? I guess she might be able to though, since it runs in our family."

"Well, I wouldn't say that, since it's just you, Sook."

I hadn't told Jason about Hunter. I had been visiting with him every few weeks, but that had been kept secret from everyone except the three guards that drove me, and Eric of course.

"I guess we'll have to just wait and see," I told my brother. "Tell me how everyone's doing."

And Jason was off and running with what Gran used to call "catching up", another name for the local gossip. He seemed happier when he was talking about something that was not about him, which was something else new about Jason. Jason was always about himself first.

"And Bud Dearborn says they've been watching out for those FOTS crazies, and all of us shifters have to look out for 'em. I guess they've been picking off people that work for vampires for a while, especially the fangbangers. Now they're after the shifters and weres. Calvin says we'll deal with 'em ourselves though, if they come into Bon Temps or Hotshot. Arlene and her pals are keepin' a low profile. She's workin' up to the Grab-it-Quick now."

I didn't want to hear Arlene's name, it just made me feel bad all the way through. But I was interested in what he had to say about the fangbangers. Eric hadn't said anything about that to me. Maybe I'd ask him. I had gotten to know some of our regular donors, and found out that some of them were actually pretty decent kids who had just come from bad circumstances.

The baby started fussing again, and Jason looked as surprised as if he was holding a snake when she started to wiggle. "Hey, she's pretty strong for such a tiny little thing," he said, then handed her off to me.

When I started to unbutton my blouse to feed Claudine, Jason turned his face away quickly, looking embarrassed. "I guess I better get goin', Sook," he said. "Looks like you have things to do and some of the guys out to Hotshot are working on the road out there. Catfish says we can use the backhoe from the road crew and I'm headed over there to pick it up."

We said our goodbyes and Jason bent over the baby to give her a little kiss on the forehead, looking sad for a moment before he put on his usual smile and headed out the door.

By the time Claudine was nursed and bathed and changed, and Amelia had taken about a million pictures of her for the scrapbook, the next visitors were at the door.

"Well, my dear, aren't you the picture of health," Mr. Cataliades said. Since I was in my bathrobe with a serious case of bed head and generally felt exhausted to the nth degree, I had to appreciate the demon's gallantry.

"Thank you, Mr. Cataliades. How nice to see you, and Diantha."

"Goodtoseeya," Diantha muttered, her eyes focusing on Claudine in her little bassinet.

Diantha had outdone herself today and looked like a peacock in mating season. Her tube top was lime green and her very short skirt was a turquoise blue so bright I wanted to get out my sunglasses. She had on her usual leggings, purple with yellow stripes and her feet were bare. Where did she find this stuff?

"Won't you sit down, Mr. Cataliades. I'm not sure what I have to offer, but maybe Amelia can find us some tea or coffee or something?"

"A cup of coffee would be mightily appreciated. My dear Miss Amelia, if you would be so kind. I need to speak with Mrs. Northman for a few minutes."

Amelia took the hint and went off in search of coffee, Diantha following and closing the door behind her.

"I see this is the new addition to the family," he said, looking at Claudine.

"That's Claudine," I said proudly. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"Why yes, she is, like her mother. We will need to take care of some business now that the baby is born, Mrs. Northman. There is the matter of a birth certificate, which Dr. Ludwig will need to file. And then there are the assets that Mr. Northman wishes to assign to her. We will need to fill out a social security card application for that, to deal with taxes you understand. Then there is another matter which we can discuss after business is taken care of."

Most of the paperwork was pretty straightforward, appointing me as guardian of Claudine's new trust fund. I was a little surprised at how much Eric had assigned to Claudine. He was taking no chances that she would be unprovided for under any circumstances. The birth certificate was even more interesting.

"As your lawyer, you will forgive me I hope, if I address issues of some delicacy." He glanced up from his stack of papers with an apologetic nod.

"First we will need to record the child's full name," he said, pausing pen in hand.

"Claudine Adele Northman," I replied. He nodded his approval.

"Now as to the name of the father, the state of Louisiana requires that that be the name of the husband in the case where the child is born to a married woman. The exception to this would require a three party agreement involving the biological father's participation. I do not see that as a possibility?"

I nodded. The biological father was not going to be showing up in court, since he had lost his head to my great grandfather's sword.

"This kind of issue is most often seen during divorce proceedings, over the matter of custody, you understand? Since your blood bond with your mate is permanent, I doubt we will ever find ourselves in those kinds of negotiations."

"However, since it is generally accepted that the vampire race is incapable of reproducing by means of conception, this may be a…public relations issue. There are far more laws governing who can access birth records these days, and that is a good thing. But these documents do move through the hands of employees in the records departments, and so there are no guarantees that the parentage of your child will not become a public matter."

"Mr. Northman will of course shield you as well as he is able from any public scrutiny, but as the wife of a man of some prominence, you should be prepared for questions. My advice is to deal with it in your usual gracious manner, making it clear that it is a personal matter and you do not care to comment."

He gave me a few minutes to take this all in. I hadn't considered things like birth certificates. The supernatural world generally kept itself off the radar, but now that more and more supes were coming out, that was changing. And with the advent of computers, the ability to have and conceal assets was becoming more challenging. Having "papers" was a necessity if you wanted to own property or travel or of course, go to school. Not that I could see Claudine going to public school. But I had a few years before I had to cross that bridge.

"Now, my dear, I have another thing to discuss with you. I wish to assure you that I have discussed this with your mate and he has granted his consent, subject of course to your permission. I would like to offer your child a gift."

I wasn't sure what kind of gift he could offer that would require Eric's consent, so I waited patiently for him to continue with an explanation.

"You rendered my family a great service in Rhodes, and we are in your debt."

I might have assured him that I didn't consider that he owed me anything for warning him in time to get out of the hotel in Rhodes before it collapsed on top of him. As it was, Diantha had been trapped for some time by the falling debris and still bore a scar on her leg from her injuries. He forestalled any comment I might make with a wave of his hand.

"I would like to offer my personal protection and that of my family to your daughter in the form of a demon mark."

I didn't know if I liked the sound of that, and maybe it showed on my face, because Mr. Cataliades reached over as if to pat my hand. He pulled his hand away quickly though. I had gotten used to that. Touching me was apparently taboo unless specifically authorized by Mr. High and Mighty himself, since I was his property, or if I initiated the contact myself. I usually just ignored all that vampire bullshit if Eric wasn't around though.

"Please understand that the mark will not obligate your daughter or yourself in any way. It is much like your designation as a 'Friend of the Pack' by the Shreveport werewolves. Members of my race will recognize it and will extend succor and support to those that bear the mark if they are in need. It is considered a great honor and is rarely bestowed."

I had to give this some thought. My "Friend of the Pack" status had been presented in the same way, but it had carried some obligations. I had been called upon to use my gifts at the contest for pack master, for instance. But on the other hand, the pack had sent Trey when I had needed protection, at the cost of Trey's life.

"When you say 'mark' what exactly does that entail?" I asked, picturing some disfiguring tattoo or something. There was no way that was going to happen.

"There would be no disfigurement," he answered, understanding the reason for my constraint. "It is a small imprint of magic. It can be placed at the nape of the neck or the base of the spine. Those of demon blood would recognize it immediately, even if it were covered by clothing or hair. Placing it requires that I touch her, but I can assure you that it carries no discomfort of any kind."

"And Eric agreed that this was okay?"

"Yes, my dear. I would not care to be forced to defend my life against your Viking and his followers if I bestowed my mark on his daughter without his consent."

"If that's the case, then thank you very much, Mr. Cataliades. I would be honored to give my consent."

Stripping the baby down to her diaper, I stepped back to let Mr. Cataliades work his magic. I had a few second thoughts, and almost called for him to stop before he had even touched her, but considering how my life had gone the last few years, I wanted her to have all the allies she could. You just never knew what was waiting around the next corner.

Mr. Cataliades looked a little surprised when he turned Claudine over to lie on her tummy. I guess he had seen the little bumps by her shoulder blades.

"Ah," was all he had to say about them before he touched his finger to the base of her neck. I yelped in alarm as a tongue of flame formed on his finger, but before I could react, the flame was gone and he pulled his hand back. Claudine hadn't reacted at all, but I rushed to pick her up and see if she had been burned. Imbedded in her skin, barely visible, was a tiny tongue of flame, flickering like the tip of a lit candle. When I touched it, it felt perfectly cool and smooth.

"Can you see it?" the lawyer asked.

"Yes. Will everyone be able to see it?"

"Those of fairy blood, and of demon blood of course. Your vampires will see it, but only if it is uncovered. Perhaps a witch might discern it with the proper spell."

"Can you tell me anything about why she would have wings, Mr. Cataliades?"

"I'm sorry, my dear, but I don't know."

I got Claudine back into her little outfit, another Fangtasia onesie and a little pink gown with built in mittens. It was challenging to get her little hands in, and she was very vocal about letting me know that she didn't like the procedure one bit. There was no way to tell when Claudine's wings would grow in, but Pam was right about the clothes, and it was going to be a bitch to get her dressed.

Amelia and Diantha came in soon after, and while Mr. Cataliades and I drank our coffee, Diantha made faces at the baby. With her wickedly pointed teeth, the faces would have scared most people to death, but Claudine watched for a few minutes, blinked a few times, and then closed her eyes and fell asleep.

"It was a pleasure to see you again, my dear," Mr. Cataliades said as he set his cup down. "Call me anytime if there is something I can do for you."

"Thank you, Mr. Cataliades," I said as he walked out the door, Diantha waving and skipping along behind him.

Since the hospital offered a very limited menu, we ordered take out and Amelia went to pick up food for all of us. The guards managed to find a few trays and with a little finessing, we managed to all fit and enjoy an early dinner party in the room.

After our meal, Dr. Ludwig stopped in and checked that the baby and I were well enough to go home. It couldn't be too soon for me. I changed out of my gown and robe and put on my going home clothes. Amelia helped me pack up the few things I had brought before she left for Bon Temps and I settled in to wait for the sun to go down.

I was half asleep, nursing the baby, when Eric came striding in.

"This is a pretty sight, My Love," he said and bent over the bed to kiss the two of us.

"Eric," I said sleepily, "please take us home."


	46. Chapter 46

CHAPTER 46

We arrived home to find a celebration of sorts for the baby's homecoming. Pam, in her usual manner, had taken all the little bits and pieces that she read in the advice columns to throw an appropriate party. I wondered how she had found time to arrange this, and if poor Bobby Burnham had been sent out to shop for baby shower items.

There were several bouquets of baby shower balloons on the dining room table, which was covered by a pink paper cloth. Places were set with wine glasses on pink plates, each filled with True Blood (except for my glass of milk, of course) and decorated with little paper umbrellas. Apparently there was still some confusion about the whole concept of baby showers, and it didn't occur to Pam that the tropical umbrellas she'd chosen might be more appropriate for a luau. In the center of the table was an inscribed cake reading "Welcome Baby Claudine". I hoped it was chocolate.

Showing me my place at the head of the table, between Thomas and Eric, Pam went to the corner of the room and picked up one out of a small pile of wrapped gifts. "We do the presents first, right? Before the cake?"

"Yes, that's right, Pam," I said, smiling at her enthusiasm.

"This one's from me," she said, holding out a box wrapped in pretty pink paper with little bunnies on it.

I had my hands full with Claudine, and I turned to Thomas extending the baby for him to hold. "You can sit with Uncle Thomas, Claudine, while I open these," I said.

Thomas scooted back in his chair and looked blank for a moment. I wasn't sure if he was afraid of Eric if he touched the baby, or if he was just afraid of the baby. The latter seemed more likely. Thomas looked across the table at Daniel, as if to see what he thought, and Daniel just shrugged and rolled his eyes, like he thought Thomas was the village idiot. Thomas reached out his arms, and I deposited the baby carefully in them, positioning her so that Thomas would be supporting her head. He sat very still and stiff, like he was holding his breath, although of course he didn't breathe in any case.

Turning back to Pam, I took the present and removed the ribbon and paper. Inside were two outfits. The first was a little white christening dress, very traditional with a very long skirt. The bodice was intricately embroidered with white satin flowers and the stitching was perfect and beautiful. I was pretty sure Pam had done the embroidery herself, and she nodded when I asked her. It was a work of art.

I could see that the second outfit was the complete opposite of traditional as soon as I pulled back the tissue that covered it. Pam was obviously working on the new line for Fangtasia on the Strip, and this must be one of the prototypes. It was a little black tee with matching jeans. The usual Fangtasia logo was on the sleeve, and across the front, embedded with rhinestones, it said "Viva Las Vampires". I laughed out loud. I didn't have the heart to tell Pam that babies might choke to death on those rhinestones. I would have Eric tell her later.

I made the appropriate fuss over Pam's gift and moved on to the next box. This one was from Jordun. Inside the very small box, sitting in a little nest of velvet, was a diamond that just about took my breath away. It was huge and there were so many facets that little rainbows reflected around the room from the light overhead.

"It's stunning, Jordun! Thank you," I said and passed the jewel to Eric, who looked suitably impressed and bowed his head slightly to his brother.

"Diamonds are a girl's best friend," Pam hummed as she picked up the next gift.

This one was from Thomas and Daniel. It was another small package, and you know what they say about small packages. Inside was a stunning necklace of sapphires, as blue and as perfect as Claudine's eyes. Thomas, who had been looking intently at the baby sleeping peacefully in his lap, gave me a big smile when he saw my reaction.

"Oh, she will look beautiful in this," I said, qualifying it a bit, "when she gets a little bigger, of course."

Thalia got out of her chair to hand me her gift. It was a long box, heavy for its size. The wrapping had little storks all over it, carrying pink bundles, and it was tied with a pretty pink bow. Opening it, I saw the gleam of metal and very carefully removed the cloth covering a small sword. The hilt was inlaid with gold and it was quite beautiful. I might have said it was a child's sword, since it was so small compared to the huge weapons the vampires seemed to prefer, but looking at the razor sharp edge, I couldn't quite consider it something for a child. Thalia however was looking very pleased with herself, and Eric reached over to take the sword in his hand.

"A very nice weapon for her to learn on, Thalia, well made with good balance." He swung it around a bit and then passed it to the other men who all examined it with practiced eyes.

"Thank you very much, Thalia," I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

The last gift was leaning against the wall, covered with a sheet. I knew it would be from Jan and I guessed what it would be. It was my portrait, ready to hang in a beautiful carved gilt frame.

"Something for the mother," Jan said, "since what more does a baby need but a mother to love her."

I appreciated the sentiment almost as much as the painting, and I felt tears well up in my eyes. The portrait was magnificent. True to the vision that Jan and I had shared months before, I stood in the white and red gown, my hand against my back. Even with an untrained eye, I could see that it was a masterwork. If I had seen it before Claudine had been born, I would have said I was looking in the mirror.

I couldn't find words to say, but Jan nodded at me as if to tell me that the expression on my face said it all. Who said that vampires were ruthless monsters? Well, I may have said it once or twice myself, but looking at this painting, I couldn't see Jan that way, assassin or not.

"Time for cake," Pam announced cheerfully, clearing the wrappings away and tossing them into a corner. She handed me a knife.

I felt a little silly as I cut one slice for myself (it was chocolate!) and put it on the small plate that sat beside my glass of milk. I enjoyed every bite, since I had long ago gotten over the discomfort of being the only one eating. The vampires drank their True Bloods and we all sat in a companionable silence.

Little noises coming from Thomas' lap broke the silence and the party broke up to move into the living room. I picked up the baby and headed to the nursery to change her diaper while everyone settled into their usual spots.

It was rare that the whole family was home at once, since there were so many obligations in Eric's new kingdom. Between the New Orleans office and now Las Vegas, someone was always out of town or at the office at Fangtasia. We would probably be back to our usual traveling schedule soon, but it looked like Eric had given everyone a few days off. Before long, Pam and Jordun would be in Sin City and Eric and I would have to head back to the Big Easy.

I took my place on the couch next to Eric and snugged up next to him, baby on my lap. Bob the cat sauntered in and stared up at me from the floor, stretching a bit and placing his paws on my legs to sniff at the baby's feet. Eric shooed him away, and Bob, looking put out, headed off to the kitchen and his food dish.

"Chapter Four," Daniel began.

I couldn't concentrate on the story tonight, neither could I just fall asleep, even though every bone in my body was weary. I looked at Claudine, who had fallen back asleep and sort of wondered what I was going to do with her.

I had always hoped that I would have a family with little children. Well, except for a time when I pictured myself staying with Bill, who of course couldn't give me children. It might sound stupid, but I had sort of thought of it like babysitting Arlene's kids. You sat down and colored with them, or picked out a movie to watch or a book to read aloud. Those were all things I did already, with my vampires. Well, not the coloring books, but the books and movies.

You drove the kids to school, or you put them on the bus, carrying their lunch in a little bag. You might take them to Sonic for a special treat when they got an A on their report card. Sometimes you'd break up a squabble, like when Jason would pull my hair and Gran would get after him with a switch from the tree. All of these things had seemed perfectly manageable.

I had read the books on childcare and intellectually knew what things I would have to do to take care of an infant. Just about any question you had could be answered in a book or on the Internet. You could even discuss it with other moms. But nothing had prepared me for how much I loved this baby and how that made me worried and fearful.

Here I was, with this totally innocent and helpless little being in my lap, and I was afraid to go to bed and leave her unwatched in her cradle. When the vampires died with the sun, no one but me would hear her cries of distress, and if I didn't wake up, she would lie there hungry and miserable. At the hospital, there were guards at the door and nurses walking in and out. I couldn't have the guards in my bedroom here, with Eric and I maybe naked under the covers. What if something happened to her, or God forbid, she didn't wake up at all?

And then, there was that niggling little remark that Jason had made. Was she normal? Well, I knew the answer to that already. Telepath or no telepath, this was not your average baby. But what would that mean for her future? Was I going to fall asleep one morning and wake up to see the baby flying out the window or something? Okay, the windows in this house didn't open, seeing as how they were vampire safe and bullet proof or something, but I could picture it in my mind nonetheless.

Eric, sensing that I was worried about something, stroked my hair soothingly, and I tried to focus on something besides my new mother hysteria. I half listened to Daniel's mellow deep voice, as he read about some other woman's encounter with vampires.

Pam had picked up her needlework and her fingers moved swiftly and surely over the fabric. It looked like she was doing a sampler this week. Jan was sketching as usual, and Jordun looked like he was in what I called down time, a sort of suspended animation that vampires often fell into. Thomas was sitting next to Thalia and he was being his usual self, periodically poking Thalia or tugging at her hair. He was the only vampire that I had ever seen fidget.

Thalia would put up with that for a little while, but before long, I figured they would be heading outside, picking up their weapons on the way out. They had fallen into a routine of practicing their swordsmanship for an hour or so each night. They looked pretty evenly matched, with Thalia's greater speed and Thomas' greater size. But Thalia was probably just holding back so she wouldn't kill him. They could call it swordplay, but the few times I'd watched them, it looked more like foreplay to me.

When Claudine began to stir and root around for her next meal, I decided I would nurse her upstairs and see if I could get a few hours of sleep. After saying goodnight and thanking everyone again, I headed to the bedroom, followed by Eric. He stopped in the nursery to pick up my old cradle, bringing it to the bedroom, and positioning it next to our bed, so I could have the baby close through the night. I handed the baby to Eric while I brushed my teeth and got ready for bed and by the time I climbed in, Claudine was in a frenzy to be fed.

I propped myself up with pillows to nurse the baby…again. I wondered if she was actually getting much milk. I had heard that it took a while for that to begin. Maybe I should have gotten some bottles? The process seemed to soothe her though, and she seemed to latch on properly. There was enough suction in that little baby's mouth to pull nails out of a two by four. Well, I would give it a few days until her checkup and then I could worry, if it turned out she wasn't gaining enough weight.

Claudine quieted down as soon as she found my breast and began sucking away contentedly. Eric climbed in next to us, lying on his side, his head propped up on an elbow.

He seemed pretty happy to watch, and was staring fixedly at my breast and the baby's mouth. I hoped he didn't find it too sexy or something, because I felt about as attractive as a wet mop, and I didn't think anything could induce me to want sex right now. I was tempted to ask Eric if he was hungry, since he hadn't fed from me for two nights now.

"Are you hungry, Eric?"

He considered that for a moment. "I am quite content, Lover. You need to regain your strength. You have worked very hard."

"I am so glad you were there, Eric."

"I am too, Kjære."

We lay there together for a few moments in a companionable silence, and then as I usually did, I told him about my day. He made little comment, although he seemed pleased when he heard about the demon mark. His face went blank for a moment when I mentioned my brother's visit. He had never liked Jason.

"It was nice of Pam to throw the little party."

"Pam is very happy about the child," Eric said. "In fact, I think all of our vampires are, although they are a little unnerved by it, perhaps."

"Well, Thomas certainly was," I responded.

"Thomas spent very little time with humans before he came to us, Lover. He is a little bit…unused to them. And it has been a very long time since any of us would have held a child."

Well, I hoped that was the case. Since if any one of them had had a child in their hands, it was probably going to be their lunch. Most vampires didn't approve of feeding on children though, something about insuring the future food supply maybe?

"What do you know about Thomas?" I asked Eric.

"I found Thomas when I was a young vampire, not quite a century old I think," Eric began. "It was hard to know what year it was sometimes, moving from place to place, hiding in the shadows."

"I had come back across the channel and was wandering through England. My master had left me on my own for a while, to be called back when he needed me. Thomas was seeking out his meal in some village that I came across. He didn't know enough to be fearful when another vampire came into his territory, and perhaps he had not much to fear from me. If my master had been with me, Thomas would not have survived the encounter. We often killed each other then. You couldn't have too many vampires in one place before the human toll would become to noticeable and we would be hunted down."

"He smelled me near him, of course, and knew that I was of his kind, although he had not met another vampire. Thomas had no master, and I think he was curious, so he watched me and I watched him."

"How could he have no master?" I asked.

"As he told it to me later, he was on a battlefield in Scotland when he was taken. He was not a warrior. His family were farmers. He was young, but even the untrained boys often went to battle then, sometimes armed only with farm implements. He was wounded and lay unconscious, dying. It was some scuffle with my people I think. We often raided on the coast of Scotland. I think that Thomas is probably a byproduct of one of those raids. He has much of the Norseman about him."

I didn't know much about the history of Scotland. Most of what I knew came from watching Braveheart. I pictured Thomas in a kilt with his face and chest painted blue and white, looking savage. Of course, Mel Gibson had had it all wrong, or so the magazines said. He had pulled the idea of the war paint from another time in history, from the earliest inhabitants of Scotland, the Picts or something.

"A vampire must have been on the battlefield too, enjoying the spoils of war, the men who lay overnight, left for dead by their fleeing comrades. Perhaps he liked the way Thomas looked, who knows?"

"So what happened to this master vampire? Why wasn't he with Thomas?"

"Thomas woke up days later in a mass grave, and dug himself out. He didn't know what had happened. Perhaps his master was killed. It is amazing that he survived with no guidance. I can't believe someone would create a child, and then leave him lying to make his own way. But war is a terrible thing. Homes were burnt to the ground, children murdered before the eyes of their mothers, the women raped and the crops stolen. His master could have been hiding under a house that burned, or he could have been discovered and been hunted down. Thomas never saw him and has never been called to him."

"Did you stay with Thomas for long?"

"A few years. He made me laugh, and it had been almost a century since I had had reason to laugh. He was a pitiable creature, filthy and unschooled, but he endeared himself to me, so I taught him what I could. Then I was called back to my master, and Thomas went his own way."

"And what about Daniel? The two of them have an unusual relationship."

"Yes. You remember that Sophie Anne's gift was to keep her children with her, and to communicate with them, a sort of telepathy?"

"I remember that. Is that Thomas' gift?"

"No, I don't think Thomas has a gift, unless it is an ability to make someone not want to kill him. Otherwise, I think Thalia would have killed him the first time he made a pass at her."

Eric smiled and rolled his eyes, a common reaction to Thomas' antics. I wondered if he would tell me Thalia's story if I asked him, but as sleepy as I was, I thought hearing about Thomas and Daniel would be enough for one night.

"I think it is Daniel's gift," Eric continued, "although different from Sophie Anne's in some ways. It is hard to understand how it works. Instead of Thomas keeping Daniel, it is as if Daniel keeps Thomas at his side. And I don't think they communicate exactly, but it is like Daniel can influence Thomas. He uses it for Thomas' own good mostly, or so I have observed. They have genuine affection for each other."

"Yes, I have felt that too. Sometimes they seem like they are brothers or best friends, but a lot of the time, it's like Daniel is Thomas' dad or something, keeping him in line."

"Exactly."

"So when did those two meet up, or do you know?"

"In the mid thirteen hundreds, there was a great plague."

"The Black Death? I read about that in history."

"It is impossible to describe the horror that reigned across Europe. Whole families, almost entire villages were ravaged with the pestilence. It didn't affect us, of course. In some ways, it was easier to feed, although we avoided feeding on those afflicted unless there was no one else left to feed on. Even a vampire has some sensibility to something like that. But you could roam in a town at night, and everyone was locked inside their homes, hiding from the plague."

"If there was plague in a household, the people were not allowed out, sick or well, even for food or medicine. You could go to their homes and say you were bringing food and they would invite you in, and there were no guards in the streets to see you. And when you left a body behind, it was thrown into the mass graves or the fires and no one would look to see what the cause of death was. There were so many bodies. The stench was unbelievable."

I shuddered at the thought of what Eric had seen, and what he had done. Sometimes I was envious when I thought about how much of the world Eric had seen, how much history he had been a part of. But I was glad I would never live through something like that, would never have to see something so horrid.

"Daniel was a soldier in Scotland. The plague came first to English soil, and their defenses were weakened as great numbers of the soldiers died from the sickness. The Scots, thinking this was a good time to take advantage of their weakness, sent raiding parties across the borders. They came back carrying the plague to their own people. The population of Scotland was decimated within a few years."

"Thomas found Daniel in the graveyard of his village, burying his family. He had brought the plague home with him, and it had killed his family, although he never got sick."

"Oh my God!" I said, tears welling at the thought of what Daniel had been through.

"He buried his wife and his own children, and Thomas wandered on to him, weeping on their graves. I don't know what motivated Thomas to take him. Perhaps he was lonely. Perhaps he thought to spare the man from the same plague that killed his family. I don't think even Thomas understands the impulse that led him to turn Daniel, but Daniel has been with Thomas ever since."

"And you called them both to you when you needed help?" I didn't mean call in the vampire sense; I assumed he'd used a phone, or maybe email.

"Yes. I ran into them now and again over the years, and after the revelation, I managed to find them. They are both men of honor and they value the tradition of the blood bond. I offered them a home and a chance to try a new life here in the states. And now, a family."

I could see the value a family would have to both of those men. Thomas had been alone for almost one hundred years, without even a master. Master vampires could be cruel to their children, but being alone without another of your kind for a century must have been a terrible thing. And I couldn't even begin to think about Daniel's sad story. Although vampires always outlived their families, most of them didn't have to watch their families die.

While I was thinking these sad thoughts, Claudine had finished her supper. I put her down on the bed between Eric and me, while I fastened up my bra and nightgown. She had slept most of the time since she was born, but now, she seemed wide awake, her blue eyes looking around and her arms and legs moving up and down, like she was warming up for a marathon. It was the cutest thing ever, and I put aside my sad thoughts to enjoy my baby.

Eric touched Claudine's tiny hand and her little fingers clasped around his big one. His eyes sparkled with delight at her response. She watched his face intently as he began to talk to her in what I thought was his native language. I turned onto my side and resting my head back against my pillow, watched the two most important people in my life as they got to know each other. Eric kept his voice low and quiet and I thought he might be telling Claudine a story. I listened too, not understanding the words, but mesmerized by the slow even tone of his voice. Before long, he had charmed me into sleep.


	47. Chapter 47

CHAPTER 47

"Eric? What time is it? The baby's crying."

I rolled over in bed, hoping Eric would just hand me the baby so I wouldn't have to get up. It seemed like I'd just closed my eyes. My breasts hurt. They felt so heavy, and the front of my gown was all clammy and damp. I guess this is what they meant about your milk coming in. Good Lord! The whole bed would be wet. I poked Eric with my elbow, but he didn't budge. He was dead of course; it must be morning already. I dragged myself out from under the covers and sat up.

"A lot of help you are, fella," I told him, giving him an extra poke with my finger for good measure, then feeling bad about poking him, I leaned down and kissed his cool skin. My nostrils flared and I took in the dry, sweet scent that signified home and safety. Okay, how weird was I getting? I was smelling people now? Just like the freaking vampires!

"Sorry, sweetie, I know you can't help being asleep," I told him. I guess if he were a normal human dad he'd be off to work by this time in the morning and I would be on my own anyway. I was a little jealous though, that some people got to have a full night's (or day's) sleep.

It felt like the middle of the night in the darkened room. Reaching over to turn on the lamp next to the bed, I managed to drip milk all over poor Eric's back. Geez Louise, he was going to need a bath, and so was I. I patted him dry with the bottom of my nightgown. I crawled out of bed and leaned over the cradle, where little Claudine was kicking up a fuss.

"I'm sorry, angel, I'll be right there, I just need the bathroom and then you can have your breakfast," I said and kissed her forehead.

Claudine was not impressed with that reasoning and by the time I had taken care of my most urgent needs and washed my hands, she was going great guns, screaming and clenching her fingers into tiny fists.

The baby was pretty wet too, and smelling none too fresh, so there was no point in changing my gown before I fed her and got her calmed down. I didn't want to lie back down on the damp sheets though, so I picked her up and we headed to the nursery. Claudine must have smelled the milk dripping all over me by now, because she started moving her little mouth and rooting around on my chest, frustrated by the gown and nursing bra in her way.

Grabbing a small cloth from the changing table, I sat down in the rocker and unfastened my clothes. Claudine wasted no time in latching on and just about choked herself when my milk started gushing into her mouth. I used the cloth to catch what was leaking out from my other breast and let out a sigh. We had just done this a few hours before and I wasn't used to being up this early.

I yawned a few times and then looked down at my little baby. "You probably don't know that mommy likes her coffee first thing," I told her. She stared at me intently, her blue eyes focusing on mine as she just kept on eating. I was like one big human straw for everybody to suck on these days.

I stroked the fine golden fuzz that covered Claudine's head. Her skin was lightening already from the reddish tone that most babies had right after birth. Her complexion was very pale, almost translucent, like the inside of a shell.

I couldn't find a trace of Lachlan, her biological father. I admitted to myself that that was a relief, since I'd hate to be reminded of that frightening countenance every time I looked at the face of my daughter. She did resemble me, just as Eric had said. I could see the fairy in her too, but from the Brigant family side. She actually looked a lot like her namesake, my fairy godmother.

"No matter how you came to be, you are definitely the most beautiful baby in the world," I told Claudine.

She looked back at me as if she was studying my face, and I very tentatively used my gift to see if I could hear what was going on in that little head of hers. But, other than a vague sense of hunger, I couldn't hear a thing. Maybe my gift wouldn't work where there was no language, although with some people all I got were pictures anyway. Or maybe Claudine had enough fairy blood that my gift wouldn't work on her. Maybe that was a good thing. Did a mom really want to know what their daughter was thinking? Well, sometimes I might.

My telepathic ability had stretched quite a bit when I had started drinking vampire blood. That had been a mixed blessing for sure. It was easier to keep my shields up now, too. I had experimented some in the last few years to see what my limits were, and fairies had been one of the races that I couldn't hear. Or maybe they could just block me. I had run into that a few times now. There was so much I didn't know about the fairy race.

I might never know much more than I knew now, with all the pure fairies locked behind the portal. From what I had discovered about fairy longevity, I probably wouldn't live long enough to really know the truth about my own daughter and what she would become. But I knew one thing for sure. No matter how she had come to be, no matter what her father had been, no matter what she would become in the future, I loved her with my whole heart and soul.

Actually, I thought, I knew two things. And the second thing was that no matter how much I loved this little angel, it was going to be a challenge to give her the special care she would need. For right now? Fairy blood or no fairy blood, she was as helpless as any human infant and I was as worn out as any new mom.

"What am I going to do with you while I take my shower?" I asked Claudine. "Your daddy is going to be no help at all, is he?"

I tried to plot out the logistics of how to manage my morning. I badly needed a shower and change of clothes. Claudine would need to be washed up and changed first. I guessed I could put her in the cradle while I was in the shower, then maybe I could put her in the portacrib in the kitchen while I made the coffee. I just didn't want to leave her too far from me, where I might not hear her.

Claudine nursed greedily for a few more minutes before she started to slow down. Her mouth let up its death grip on my nipple and her body gradually became as limp as a rag doll. As her eyes began to drift shut I put her over my shoulder and managed to eke out a small burp.

It wasn't as easy to wash and dress an infant as I'd thought. For one thing, she was ready to sleep again. Even though I warmed up the washcloth, it startled her and she let me know in no uncertain terms that she didn't like it. Maybe I should have done this first before I nursed her? I managed to get her clean and into a fresh diaper and then picked out a new onesie and a little yellow sleeper with orange duckies on it. Getting her into it was another matter, but after a few tries and lots of worry that I'd bend her legs too far or something, I managed to get her dressed and settled.

We headed back to the bedroom, and I put her down in the cradle so I could shower and dress. She seemed happy enough to be on her own until I was halfway through with my shower, my hair covered in shampoo, when she began to fuss again. I rinsed off and toweled myself dry as quickly as I could, feeling like a terrible mom to leave her crying. At least I didn't have to worry about her waking up the household, since they were all dead at this time of day. I pulled on clean underwear, t-shirt and jeans and ran a brush through my hair, quickly tying it up into a ponytail. I didn't bother with make-up.

I picked up my crying baby, holding her close and trying to comfort her, and she managed to spit up all over me. Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea. At least Claudine seemed to feel better after that and she stopped crying. I pulled out another clean shirt. The laundry hamper was going to be filling up pretty fast at this rate. Having a baby sure was a messy business.

By the time I had a sleeping baby in the portacrib and a cup of coffee in front of me, I was a basket case. I was exhausted and starving and just about ready for tears. Leaning on my elbows and propping up my head, I wondered if all new moms felt like this.

It wasn't like I was particularly inept or something. At Merlotte's, I could carry a drink tray with a pitcher and five glasses and get it to a table in the crowded bar while dodging drunks trying to feel up my butt as I walked by. I could keep orders in my head and keep a smile on my face while holding up my shields to block out all of the unwanted thoughts of the patrons. And here I was, being done in by a little baby. "Get a grip, Sookie," I told myself.

While trying to decide which I needed more, breakfast or a nap, I was saved from decision by Grace coming through the kitchen door. I got up and flung my arms around her, almost knocking the small woman and her bag of groceries to the ground. She set down her burden, returned my hug enthusiastically and then held me at arm's length as if evaluating my condition.

"Well, my dear, I see you haven't been getting enough sleep. And I bet you are ready for a nice hot breakfast," she said and headed over to look at Claudine.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you, Grace. I just put the baby down and I am so hungry!"

I was grinning like an idiot I'm sure, since I was so happy to see someone, especially if that someone could cook. Gran used to say that there wasn't much that couldn't be cured by a hot meal and a kind word. That had seemed somewhat simplistic to me at one time, but today I couldn't agree more.

"Now isn't she the most beautiful little angel in the world," declared Grace. She looked down at the sleeping baby and smiled for a moment before she opened the cupboard and got out the frying pan.

It wasn't long before I was sitting before a plate of sausage and eggs, with toast and jam and a large glass of orange juice. In between bites, I told Grace about my time at the hospital and how everything was going at home so far.

"When you are finished with your breakfast, why don't you just nap for a while. I'll wake you when the baby wakes up. I can take care of everything else."

"Thanks, Grace. I'll bring out the laundry. I'm afraid Claudine and I have a big pile. I guess we'll have to wait for Eric to wake up to get the sheets." It wasn't like we could move him; it would be like moving the Rock of Gibraltar.

"Oh, you don't know how to make cinnamon rolls, do you? So Jordun can smell them?" I realized that sounded a little bit ridiculous, but Grace seemed to accept it as a perfectly reasonable explanation for baking.

"I'll see what I can do," she said. "Go get some sleep while you can."

That sounded like good advice to me and since I could barely keep my eyes open anyway, I left Grace with the sleeping baby and the mess in the kitchen and curled up with Gran's ugly old afghan on the couch. Bob came padding in from wherever he'd been hanging out, and made himself comfortable, snuggling against my chest. I ran my fingers over his fur and he purred loudly. It was only Bob, but I was glad for the warm body as I closed my eyes.

"Your breasts smell very delicious, Kjære."

"I should get up and change, I'll get the bed wet."

"I don't care about the bed, I want to taste you. I am very thirsty, Lover."

I could feel his hunger, a dark beast clawing at his belly. My blood responded, wanting him to take what he needed.

His hands made quick work of the buttons on my gown, and then fumbled for a moment over the closure of my bra. "This clothing is medieval," he said, ripping the fabric away and lowering his face between my breasts. "Your smell is so intoxicating!"

"Eric, you can't drink that, you'll be sick!" I told him, trying to push him away, but his tongue had already found my nipple.

"I am so thirsty," he repeated as the milk gushed into his mouth.

"Sook! Sook! Wake up, sweetie, the baby's awake and hungry."

I pushed again, wanting Eric to stop. Who knew what the milk would do to him. I was so sure it couldn't be good for him. I put some force into it and he flew off to the floor. Then he hissed at me.

"Sookie, wake up! You just scared the crap out of Bob. Sookie?"

"Oh shit, Amelia?"

I was still in that twilight stage between dreaming and waking and it took me a moment to take in the scene. Bob was hunched on the floor, his fur standing straight up along his back, his tail thrashing back and forth. He was looking at me as if I was a threat. Geez Louise, as if I'd hurt a cat!

Amelia was looking back and forth between me and Bob. She didn't generally have anything good to say about Bob anymore. No more brushings, no more baby talk. She wasn't apologetic as she had been the first time her magic had transformed him. She usually just ignored him, as if he had been abjured in her eyes. But she was looking pretty concerned that I had apparently hurled Bob across the room.

"Sorry, Bob," I said to the cat. "I guess I was dreaming. Oh Lord, the baby." I could hear Claudine crying pitifully, it sounded like she was upstairs.

"Grace took her up to change her. It sounds like she's not liking it very much. Quite a set of lungs she's got!"

"She's probably hungry. How long was I sleeping?" It had felt like just a few minutes, but Claudine was ready to eat, so it must have been longer. My breasts were responding to the baby's cries and felt ready to explode. I would need to change my shirt again.

"I guess about three hours. Grace said that Claudine was sleeping most of the time too. She just woke up a few minutes ago. I brought you a car full of flowers that got sent to the house. I guess no one knows the address here, so just sent them to the Bon Temps house. And you've gotten a lot of phone calls, too."

Amelia was off and running, and almost followed me into the bathroom in her excitement to tell me all the news. When Grace had handed me the baby and I was settled into one of the comfy chairs to nurse her, I was actually kind of glad for the company. I felt a little bit more myself after the long nap, although Eric's hunger was still sort of nagging in the back of my mind.

The household was like a beehive today, unusually busy for a family that mostly came out at night. The washer and dryer were humming in the background, and the rattle of dishes in the kitchen sounded like Grace was making lunch for everyone. Several of the guards were in and out, bringing in flowers from Amelia's car. There were a lot of them. And over all of the bustle, Amelia kept talking,

"I went by Merlotte's last night, and everyone is asking about you. They wanted to know if the baby had fangs. Can you believe it? And I guess there were some guys from one of the tabloids at the bar yesterday. They were asking Sam all about you and Eric and wanting to know if Eric was the father. Of course, Sam just told them to leave, but they've been talking to people in town. I wonder if they'll do one of those stories, you know, where they photoshop in the alien babies? They had one last year that was a wolf baby. Of course, that was before the revelation and everyone thought it was fake, but maybe it was real. Who knows, anymore? Can you believe people actually buy that crap?"

She just couldn't shut up. I happened to know that Amelia read every last one of those tabloids when she got the chance. She might say she never bought them, but she sure couldn't get her hands on them fast enough in the grocery store checkout lines. She said it was research, to see how much of the secret magic world was leaking out and how people responded to it.

Gran had always liked them too. She hadn't taken them seriously, of course. She had looked at them as entertainment, like a sci fi movie. Little did she know that a lot of the stuff they talked about was true, just hidden from the human world.

The tabloids weren't so far off with the idea of my child having fangs either. After all, Claudine would have wings at some point, although we had no idea when they would grow in. They would have a field day with that. I had no idea how we could keep something like that hidden, not unless we never left the house. Life sure was getting complicated.

"So Sam will come by tomorrow. He didn't want to bother you too soon, but he wants to see the baby. And Alcide called a few times, you should call him. I thought we'd better get the announcements started today, if you are up for it, and we can get them in the mail. Then there will be thank you's for the flowers. You'll want to do those, I guess."

"Oh, there's a big package from my dad, too. He had it sent over this morning. It needs assembly, he said, but he can send someone over to do that if you want. Travis checked it for bombs even though it's from my dad, can you believe it? I know what it is, but I guess you'll want to open it before I tell you."

Amelia was so excited about the gift from her dad, that I asked her to tell Travis to bring it on in and I'd open it first thing when Claudine was finished nursing. You had to love Amelia's enthusiam, even if it did get a little annoying sometimes.

The package turned out to be a playhouse, big enough for a little girl to walk into. The picture on the box showed a pink and white Victorian style house with a little fold out table and a stove with knobs. There was even a doorbell and a pretend phone, batteries not included, some assembly required of course. With an evil grin, I turned down Travis' offer to set it up, thinking I would see what Eric would make of it. He was the daddy after all!

Calvin had sent a pink potted hydrangea. It would look nice on the front porch. "Congratulations on your new baby girl, Calvin," the card read. Tara had sent over a bouquet of white roses and mums that came with a cute wooden baby elephant pull toy. It was adorable. The card read, "Sugar and spice and everything nice, Love Tara, JB and Jackson."

There were several other bouquets from people I didn't even know, and I suspected they were from local business associates of Eric. The largest, most elegant arrangement was from Alcide, although the card was signed "The Longtooth Pack". It was a beautiful spray of red roses, two dozen, nested in a bed of white baby's breath. I put that one on the mantle just below my portrait that Jan must have hung the night before.

The afternoon went by quickly. Grace served a hot lunch of chicken, rice, steamed vegetables and biscuits and set out a big pitcher of iced tea. She joined us for the meal, then headed back to the laundry while Amelia and I worked our way through thank you cards and baby announcements. I hadn't thought about getting a list from Eric of people he would want to notify. I suppose baby announcements were not something that was usually an issue in the vampire world, but I could ask him about it when he woke up.

By the time the vampires began to stir, Amelia had driven off, carrying a big stack of mail to drop at the post office, and Grace was pulling a very fragrant tray of cinnamon rolls out of the oven. The whole downstairs smelled of cinnamon.

"I'll leave you to your vampires, my dear," she said affectionately. "Don't let them keep you up too late."

"Thank you, Grace. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I think you will always manage to do whatever needs to be done, Sookie. Don't doubt yourself. But I am glad that I can make it a bit easier." She patted Claudine on the head, picked up her bag and headed out the door, just as the doors upstairs began to open. As if on cue, Claudine began to cry.


	48. Chapter 48

CHAPTER 48

Jordun was almost always the first one up, although he wasn't the oldest of my vampires. Our routine had gotten pretty well established. Jordun or I would start the blood warming in the microwave, and by the time the first few bottles were close to the ninety-eight point six that appealed to the vamps, Jan and Daniel would be in the kitchen. If I hadn't gone back up to our room, Eric would come in shortly after, usually shirtless with his hair dripping all over the place.

No one asked what Thomas and Thalia got up to, but they often didn't appear for another hour, unless they were on guard duty. Pam never came out until she was fully dressed, brushed and made up, no matter what she was planning for the evening. In fact, unless it was in the middle of a pitched battle, I couldn't remember ever seeing Pam when she wasn't perfectly turned out.

We usually sat around the kitchen table. The vamps had their True Bloods, even if they were going out to eat later, and I would eat whatever I had planned for my supper. It was usually a quiet affair, not being a very talkative bunch after all.

Claudine decided she was having none of that, and went out of her way to be noisy. Since she had just been fed and had already managed to spit up on me three times, I wasn't exactly sure what to do to comfort her, so I was walking up and down with her over my shoulder when Jordun came in.

"What have you done to the baby, Sister? Have you been pinching her?"

"What did you do, Jordun, wake up on the wrong side of the coffin? Of course I didn't pinch her. I don't know what's wrong with her. I guess babies just cry sometimes?"

"Maybe she's hungry."

"I've only fed her about ten times today," I said defensively.

"Lucky girl," he said, and licked a drip of blood from the edge of his glass.

"Teething maybe," Jan said and I jumped, since he had come in so quietly. He bent over the pan of cinnamon rolls that were cooling on the counter and inhaled deeply.

"She's too young to get teeth," I answered.

Daniel poured blood into two glasses and handed one to Jan, then joined him in sniffing the rolls.

"And what would you know about teething?" Eric piped in from the doorway. He walked over to me and kissed me quickly on the lips before he took the crying baby from my arms.

"I read the baby book. It said they cry all the time when they are getting their teeth," Jan replied, but Eric just ignored him.

"What is all of this fuss, lille engel? You drink all day from the most beautiful breasts in Christendom and then you complain for your mother? Hush."

Eric plopped his six and a half feet into one of the kitchen chairs, pricked his finger on one of his fangs and popped it into the baby's mouth. She quieted immediately and began to suck contentedly.

"She just wanted her fader," he said proudly and kissed Claudine on the top of her head. I shook my head in disbelief at his prowess with infants and went to pour Eric a glass of blood.

The strains of Cinnamon Girl came drifting in from the hall followed by Pam, humming happily as she walked over to the counter to smell the cinnamon rolls.

"What did you do to that baby to make her scream so, Sookie? I swear she could wake the dead!" Pam said, laughing at her own joke.

"Don't you know any songs from this century, Pam? Really! Neil Young?"

"It's a classic, Sookie. This smell is heavenly. You absolutely must sit down right now and eat one of these."

"Yes, please do," Jan said as he got a plate out, put a roll on it and set it down in front of me.

It's pretty hard to resist a warm cinnamon roll fresh from the oven, and nursing moms need lots of calories, right? I took a big bite and little yummy sounds escaped my lips as the cinnamony sweet goodness hit my tongue. A wave of lust rose up from the vampires around the table. Jan leaned forward and focused his eyes on my mouth and Eric actually growled at him. He sat back upright and then bowed his head apologetically to Eric.

"Get a room," Pam said and she walked out the back door.

"Sorry, it's just so delicious."

"Perhaps we should take Pam's advice, Lover." Eric said as he stood up. He handed the now quiet baby over to Jan. Although slightly taken aback, Jan settled the baby carefully in his lap on one arm and continued to drink his blood with the other. Eric picked me up and carried me up to the bedroom.

"Eric, what about Claudine?"

"She is perfectly safe with Jan. I will hear her if she cries. Hush," he said and laid me on the bed.

"Hush? Hush? I am not an infant that you can tell to hush, Eric!"

"You are certainly not an infant, Lover." His voice had gotten very low, and although he didn't say anything else for a moment, he managed to hush me quite effectively with his mouth on mine.

He began to undress me, and my body relaxed into the feel of his hands on my flesh. I wasn't sure I was ready for this, but the force of his hunger seemed to permeate me and made me want to give in to his desire.

"I'm not sure we should do this, Eric. It's so soon."

"I would never hurt you, Kjære," he whispered as he flung his jeans to the floor.

His lips found mine again and then traveled slowly down the side of my neck, kissing and licking, while his hands followed the arc of my waist, over my hip and down the length of my thigh. Any further protests died on my lips.

I wrapped my arms around the hard muscles of his back and spread my legs slightly, inviting him to explore. His fingers traced the curve of my inner thigh until he reached my center, resting his hand there briefly before he stroked ever so softly and slowly, sending shivers through me.

His kisses continued downward until his lips brushed against my nipple, and I let out a quiet moan of pleasure. This was definitely not like nursing a baby! My arms tightened around him, pulling him closer, and he pressed his hard length against my thigh.

His fingers found a perfect rhythm and I moved against them, each touch a lick of fire against my sensitive flesh. His tongue flicked against my nipple and when his fangs brushed against my skin, I ached for him to sink them into my breast, to puncture me, to connect to me.

His mouth latched on to my nipple and my skin parted at the point of his fang. I felt the flow of milk release, mixing with the blood as he sucked hard and the first wave of orgasm hit me like a blast from a flamethrower. His body tensed against mine and he had his own release, a rush of fluid cool and slippery against my thigh.

I lay there panting for a few long moments, wanting to ask him if he was okay after the new addition to his diet, but not having the breath to speak. He relaxed beside me, his tongue tracing a languorous path over the bite marks on my breast.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No, sweetie, just the opposite," I said. "Are you okay? The milk won't make you ill or something, will it?"

"No," he said doubtfully. "At least, I don't think so. I hope not. It is the nectar of the gods I think," he said more surely. "I will envy my daughter at her every meal."

I laughed a bit at that. I hoped he didn't think I was going to keep them both satisfied on breast milk, if it turned out to be something that he thrived on too. I could just picture myself with a cowbell hung around my neck and Eric in a shirt that read, "Got Milk?"

"It has been a long time since I have tasted something so delicious."

"Have you tasted breast milk before, Eric?" That would be surprising, if he had.

"Well, you know that I had children, Sookie. And Aude, well, she was almost always nursing one of them it seemed, so yes, I have had my share I suppose. Not enough to deprive the children of course," he added, as if I might think he would let his children go hungry.

"But I don't remember it tasting quite so delicious, especially with your blood in the mix."

Okay, he was sort of grossing me out now. "Let's just not talk about it, Eric. I think I'll be okay with it if we just don't talk about it."

"What is it that you say, Sookie? Mum's the word?" I nodded and made a zipping motion with my fingers over his lips.

Then I told him about my day. He always wanted every detail. He didn't want to miss any new experience with the baby and asked about what I had dressed her in and how often she had fed. He seemed very interested in what Amelia had said about the tabloid reporters, and wanted to know what paper they were from. I hadn't even asked Amelia for the name, but I knew he would be on the phone to Sam at some point later that night and would find out what he could.

Eric recognized the names of the people who had sent flowers, business associates he said. He was pleased that I had sent thank you notes. He expected that we would have many more gifts of congratulation now that the news of the baby was spreading.

"You must have anything that comes to the house screened by the weres," he said. "And it is best to have as few people as possible at the house for now. I have had Travis add security, but there will be curiosity seekers, and they can be very enterprising. Let Travis know if anything unusual happens. It would be better if you let voicemail pick up your calls, so you can screen out anyone you don't know. Mr. Cataliades will handle anything you are unsure of, and any calls from the media, if I am not awake."

"Perhaps we should set up tighter security at the Bon Temps house for now too," he said.

"Do you think Amelia is in danger there?"

"No, but it is best to be cautious. If they have been at the shifter's bar, then the media will begin to watch your old house too. Bubba will be too conspicuous there. I will bring him back to Shreveport. Compton is well able to take care of himself at this point."

"But what about Bob? We can't have Bubba here at the house, he'll eat Bob!"

"It is as much as that fucking cat deserves," Eric said, almost spitting the words. Eric didn't curse very often, and when he did, it was usually about the cat. "Your witch won't take him?"

"We've discussed this Eric. Amelia hates Bob now, and she doesn't want him. Besides, he is Claudine's cat, and I won't have Bubba eating him. If you think we can keep Bubba under control, then it's fine for him to come here, otherwise maybe he needs to go to visit Russell for a while or something, in Mississippi."

"I'll work something out," Eric said. "Your cat will be safe, but keep him indoors for now. I don't want to have to hunt the woods for him."

"Yes, I will. I don't want the woods crawling with kittens either." Bob had already left a litter of kittens in the woods behind my house in Bon Temps.

"The veterinarian could see to that little problem," Eric suggested, smirking.

"Okay, enough of that. I am not having Bob neutered. I will just keep him in the house." I was going to put my foot down on that idea right off the bat.

"We should go check on Claudine, Eric. I don't like to be away from her yet. What if something happened? I get nervous when she's not in the same room."

"I can understand that, Kjære. I feel the same way about you sometimes," he said, kissing the top of my head. "Shall I bring her upstairs or would you like to go down for a while before you rest for the night?"

"Oh, I think we should head downstairs. I have a project for you, and Jan wanted to read tonight."

We managed to get cleaned up and dressed before any complaints were heard from our possibly reluctant babysitters in the kitchen. We walked into a scene of domestic tranquility, vampire style.

Jan appeared to be arguing with Pam and Thalia about whose responsibility it should be to change a diaper. "Surely Eric can afford to hire a wet nurse to deal with this," he insisted, "but until then, isn't it something women take care of?"

"You must be kidding, Jan. Haven't you looked at a calendar lately? This isn't the twelfth century anymore you know," Pam threw at him.

"You are his child," Jan countered. "She is your sister after all."

"I don't think I even know how to do it," Thalia said. "Do you, Daniel? You've had children."

Daniel was sitting with the baby, obviously needing changing, her bottom half wrapped in one of the kitchen dishtowels.

"I'm sure it can't be that complicated. Humans do it all the time. But my wife always took care of the children."

"Sookie, it's about time you got here," Pam said as Eric and I entered the kitchen. "The child is a mess. I am sure you will know what to do about it. Daniel, give Sookie the baby."

Claudine seemed to be perfectly content. Apparently something like a dirty diaper didn't matter to her. She was watching Daniel the way Jan would study a face before he started a sketch, memorizing every expression and line. Daniel held the baby out to me, and I scooped her up. Yes, she definitely needed some freshening up.

Eric watched all of this with an innocent grin on his face, as if of course he wouldn't know how to change a diaper. Probably Aude did all the childcare in their family too. Sometimes the age of the vamps really did show.

"I'll change her," I said. "But if any of you are going to babysit, you'll have to learn how it's done." I didn't get any volunteers to see a demonstration, so I took Claudine up to the nursery for some fresh clothes.

"Why don't you guys see if you can put the playhouse together, since construction is men's work," I suggested, calling down from the stairs. "It's in the big box in the living room."

It took a little time to get the squirming baby cleaned up and into fresh clothing. I was still a little nervous about breaking her; she looked and felt so delicate. She definitely didn't like the whole process and she was, as Pam would say, leaking pretty heavily before we were through. I would be glad when her cord was gone and I could put her in a tub. Maybe that would go over better than a washcloth.

Claudine and I were both yawning as we got back downstairs. I wondered if I could finish my cinnamon roll without causing some kind of lust attack. It seemed like I was always hungry, but then I was still eating for three.

The scene I walked into this time, was even better than I'd hoped for. Jordun pulled out a blade that had been hidden in his boot and managed to get the box open without any serious damage to himself or the contents. That was the last thing that went right.

Eric, being the King after all, was in charge of the diagram. It was a good thing he spoke French, because the English in the instructions was unintelligible. The guide was also written in what might have been Chinese, but none of the vampires had managed to learn that language in their travels. Although Thalia boasted that she spoke Farsi, no one seemed impressed and since Farsi would be of no help at all, Thalia took herself off to the sidelines and scowled.

Thomas managed to stand up all the big pieces, in what looked like the correct orientation, but without a screwdriver to deal with the screws, they had to be all laid back down.

"It calls for a large Phillips screwdriver and a small hammer," Eric announced to the world at large, but when those items didn't appear, he looked at me. I just shrugged. We had barely moved in, and I had no idea if we had a toolbox. I had lots of tools in Bon Temps, but that would hardly do us any good.

"Where did this come from?" Eric asked me.

"It's a gift, from Copley Carmichael, Amelia's dad," I answered. "He said he could send someone over to set it up, but it seemed kind of silly to do that when we have so many men in the family."

That got a reaction, and Eric did what he did best. He pulled out his phone, took it to the kitchen and made some calls. Twenty minutes later, Travis was at the back door with a small toolbox, complete with screwdriver and hammer.

Although Thomas had managed to get it right the first time, or it had looked right anyway, he couldn't seem to duplicate his strategy and the following forty minutes were like a comedy of errors. When everything seemed to be just about put together, Jordun noticed that the door opened the wrong way, and it had to be disassembled.

Pam, Claudine and I managed to enjoy ourselves, observing while staying out of the line of fire. We sat on the couch and admired the confident stances and arrogant struts of five very handsome men who hadn't a clue what they were about. But in the end, the house was put together with no blood spilled and everyone's limbs still attached. Of course, there wasn't a battery to be had to make the toy phone give its 'realistic sounding ringtone', but Claudine was too young to take a call anyway. I wouldn't let Eric call Travis to run out to Wal-Mart for the batteries, but he only looked sulky about that for a few minutes and then beamed at his handiwork.

"I have lived in places that were less appealing," Jordun remarked as he admired the cute little playhouse.

"Hopefully they were a little bigger though," Eric replied, bending his tall frame to look in the small windows.

Figuring I better get something to eat before Claudine needed feeding again, I handed the baby to Eric while I made myself a sandwich in the kitchen. I would save my cinnamon roll for breakfast. While I drank my milk and wolfed down my sandwich, Eric strolled around the playhouse with Claudine, pointing out all of the features that were available for her amusement. Of course she would have to get quite a bit bigger before she would be playing house, but she seemed to be happy in her 'fader's' arms. He definitely had a way with the ladies.

By the time the cardboard was cleared up, and the playhouse set to the side of the room, I had finished my meal and Claudine was ready for hers. We settled down on the couch, and everyone made themselves comfortable. Claudine rooted around until she managed to get enough nipple in her mouth to latch on. We were really getting the hang of this nursing thing. I was ready with an extra cloth for any drips, and although Eric seemed to enjoy watching the baby feed, he made no overt signs of hunger.

This would probably be the last night that the whole family could all take off work. A kingdom of three states wasn't going to run itself after all, and it would be a mistake for Eric to leave things too long in the hands of subordinates. He would stay in Louisiana until Claudine and I were up for travel, but he would have to go into the office on a regular basis, and probably be away in New Orleans part of the time.

It wouldn't be long before he would have to make at least a token appearance in Las Vegas. I wasn't particularly nuts about taking the baby there, but we would mostly stay in the official residence. I was hoping Grace could go with us to help with things. Maybe Jan had had a good idea to have a nanny or someone for the baby, but I wasn't ready to let anyone outside of our small family take care of her at this point. I didn't want to miss any part of her day, when I knew that she would be changing quickly at this age, almost before our eyes.

Well, those things would be dealt with as they came up. For right now, I wanted to enjoy the moment, being snuggled in Eric's arms, Claudine's sleepy head nestled to my breast, and my family surrounding me.

For once, perhaps in honor of the cinnamon rolls sitting on our counter, Jan chose to lay down his sketchpad and read aloud. He picked up the story where we had left off. "Sunshine, Chapter 7," he began.


	49. Chapter 49

CHAPTER 49

Grace had set up lunch at the kitchen table, since the dining room seemed ridiculously formal for just two adults and two babies. There were sandwiches and fruit salad and a nice apple pie for dessert. Grace had chosen to make herself scarce, and had gone out to do some shopping so I could have some privacy with my friend Tara.

"Who would have thought we'd be sitting here like this, both married and with babies? I always thought I didn't want kids, but now I just can't imagine not having Jackson."

Jackson was sleeping in his car seat carrier on the floor, right next to Tara's chair. He was as cute as a button, and so big at five months that he made Claudine look like a Barbie doll. Surprisingly, Claudine was sleeping quietly for a while, in her little portacrib. She had been up all night screaming, or it seemed like all night, and had worn herself out. I was pretty worn out too, and was running on adrenaline from the excitement of having company.

"I know what you mean. I wouldn't trade Claudine for the world. So how are you managing with the store and everything?"

"Pretty good on the whole. Mackenzie has been a godsend. She could almost run the place by herself now. Business is good, and with JB's schedule, we hardly have to have a sitter at all. I'm starting to stock some maternity stuff, and it's selling pretty well. Everybody's having babies these days."

I realized that Tara was the first human besides Amelia that I'd had over to the house since we moved in. Sam had come by to visit twice, but he didn't count as human. Actually I hadn't even seen any humans in more than three weeks now, since the baby was born.

"So you know Jessie Long? She was about two years ahead of us in high school."

"Sure, I know her. She always hung out with Jason's crowd."

"Well, she moved over to Monroe, but she came into the shop the other day, when she was in Bon Temp to see her mom. She's pregnant again and it seems like every two years she's got another baby. She married Mike Franchbois, you remember him?"

"How could I forget? I think he was the only one stupider than Jason in that whole bunch."

"Well, yeah, I guess that's true, which I don't get, since his folks did real good. They have the Fina Station up on the highway. Anyway, she came in and we got talking about having kids. So you know she was always flatter than a board, but you know how you get so big when you're pregnant? And Mike tells her, 'Oh my God, the titty fairy came!' I thought I'd die laughing!"

"Good Lord! The titty fairy?" I joined in her laughter.

Oh! If she only knew! Titty fairies? Well, I guess the tooth fairy was pretty funny too, when you actually knew that fairies existed.

"Yeah, so he loves it when she's pregnant and she just keeps cranking them out. I don't know how she does it. I'm just about dead on my feet with just Jackson, and JB is always so good about helping, too."

"I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life," I agreed.

"Well, you look pretty good. I don't know how you can keep up with the nursing though, but I guess it's different when you don't have to work. I just couldn't do it. I tried using the breast pump at work, but it was too much. Anyway, JB likes to feed Jackson, and it's so much easier all the way around with bottles."

"I think Eric would be upset if I gave the baby a bottle. He says it isn't healthy, but of course, he doesn't have to get up every three hours with a crying baby."

Actually, Eric would probably be happy if the "titty fairy" was in permanent residence and I nursed for the rest of my life! But I wasn't going to be talking about that with Tara.

"He's okay with the baby though? I mean, you don't get worried that he might…well…"

"No, he just loves her, and he's really great about helping out, except for diapers. He draws the line there. He says if I leave him with the baby, he will hire someone to be on standby just for diaper changing."

Tara and I both laughed at that. I don't think she realized that Eric was quite serious.

"Well, looking at this place, I guess maybe he could afford to hire a nanny or something? I don't know why you don't. Then you could get out more. Have you even been to the old house? Amelia still lives there I hear."

"Sure, Amelia's still living there. I haven't been out at all yet. I'm still kind of nervous about taking the baby out, and we have quite a few people through here. I have the housekeeper to send out for anything I need, or the guards. And Amelia comes over a couple of times a week."

I took another bite of apple pie and washed it down with some coffee. I hoped that my face wasn't going red. I was a little embarrassed by my new timidity. Something about being responsible for Claudine made me worry so much. Really, if I was honest with myself, I guess part of it was that I was worried about how people would react to the "vampire baby". It wasn't that I was embarrassed about marrying Eric, but it had sure not gone over well with the humans. And from what Sam said, the speculation about the baby was getting wilder and wilder.

"That can't be good for you to be home all the time, though. He doesn't make you stay home, does he?" She lowered her voice as she said that, as if the sleeping vamps might hear.

I could hear that Tara was remembering the horrible experience she had had with her vampire lover, Mickey. Mickey had been a rogue and had been pretty brutal with Tara, beating her severely when he'd found out that Tara had gone to me for help. Tara would never trust any vampire, and she was probably wise in that respect.

"No, I can do whatever I want. I have to take guards of course, what with the FOTS crazies out there and all. And Eric is pretty well known in Louisiana, and has made some enemies, so he wants me to be careful. But it's not like he keeps me prisoner or anything."

"Well, you should come and see everyone. And if you come to the shop, I've got some real cute stuff that would fit you now. Your shape sure came back fast."

Tara's shape had too, and she looked her usual svelte self. She was always dressed real nice and had really good taste in clothes. I had to admit that I was feeling pretty close to my old self too, finally. What with the vampire blood and everything, I was pretty well healed from the birth. Of course, with the breast-feeding, the fairies had definitely left me with extra bounty.

"You know, Sookie, it's not my place to say so, but didn't your doctor tell you to put her down to sleep on her back?" Tara asked, looking over at Claudine in the portacrib. "It's supposed to prevent that SIDS, you know what that is?"

"Yeah, sure I do, and I talked about it with the doctor. But you know, Tara, she has kind of a little defect."

As soon as the word passed my lips I felt like a terrible mother, and I was so glad that Claudine wasn't awake to hear it, even if she wouldn't understand me anyway. I had been "defective" in the eyes of almost everyone except my gran and it had been very painful to bear that kind of label. It wasn't until I found the vampires, or they found me, that I began to see my telepathy as maybe a gift. Even now, I didn't always see it that way.

"Oh, honey, I didn't know. It's not too serious I hope?"

I had sparked Tara's curiosity now, and I wished I hadn't said anything at all. Actually, it was only because Claudine had been sleeping for the last hour that Tara hadn't noticed it on her own. The "nubs" on her back were growing along with the rest of her, and when she didn't have a blanket over her, they were pretty noticeable even with clothes on. They interfered with the baby's sleep and Dr. Ludwig had assured me that a fairy baby wasn't going to suffer from sleeping on her tummy.

"It's her shoulders, they aren't quite right and she can't lay on her back comfortably. The doctor thinks she will be fine by the time she is grown though," I added, seeing the look of horror and pity that crossed Tara's face. "Really, it will be okay," I threw in, more to reassure myself than anything else.

"Well, that's good news then. Maybe I shouldn't say anything, but everybody's kind of wondering about the baby, seeing as how her dad is a vampire and all. I mean, we all thought vampires couldn't have babies. No one knows what to think. Sam and Amelia said she was perfectly beautiful and normal and so some people think you might have had that artificial insemination or something? But with the pictures in the tabloids and all."

"What pictures, Tara?"

Tara was looking a little abashed now, as if she shouldn't have said anything at all. I was thinking she should have kept her mouth shut too, or just come out and asked how I got pregnant. We had been friends our whole lives almost, so it wasn't like I wouldn't tell her. But now I couldn't help but focus on the whole tabloid picture thing.

"Well, you know, how they add stuff in with a computer now? So I guess they put in fangs. I don't know where they got a picture, but it probably isn't even your baby. I'm sorry, Sookie, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, Tara, that's okay. We knew that the press would have a field day with this at some point. Most people will know it's nonsense."

The people like Arlene and her friends would just jump all over this though. They were always looking for somewhere to direct their hatred. Maybe the coming out of the weres was getting to be old news, so they'd aim their venom back at the vampires for a while.

I was saved from further comment by whimpers coming from Tara's baby, Jackson. That instigated a trip upstairs to the nursery to change him and Tara was able to ooh and ahh over the Tinkerbelle theme and all the cute baby girl stuff.

"Girl stuff is so much cuter," Tara said and we were off and running on another subject. The thought of the tabloid pictures just hung like a big weight around my neck though.

Jackson wolfed down his bottle and then we spent some time just fussing over him and playing peek-a-boo. Claudine stubbornly refused to wake up until it was almost time for Tara to go, then she wouldn't quiet until I fed her.

"She looks just like you, Sookie. She's going to be beautiful."

"Thanks, Tara, I think so, but of course I'm her mom. If Jackson grows up to look anything like JB, you'll have to beat the girls off of him. All the girls will want him for prom!"

"Yeah, that's probably true, especially if he gets something from my side too," she said, laughing. "Don't get me wrong, I love JB and he's the sweetest thing on earth, but he'll never be a rocket scientist."

We took the grand tour of the house, although most of the rooms upstairs were locked with electronic pass code panels next to the steel doors. The downstairs hadn't really been decorated yet. The furniture was pretty much in place, but the walls were mostly bare still, except for my portrait. None of us had had any time for decorating, and it hadn't seemed important with the baby keeping me so busy. Now I wished I had put a little more thought into it. Amelia and I would have to get to work on that.

Tara was pretty impressed with the house anyway. It was a beautiful place and pretty huge, especially by Bon Temps standards. She didn't ask about the locked off bedrooms, and I didn't volunteer any information.

"I'm awfully glad I got a chance to see that beautiful baby with her eyes open," Tara said as she packed Jackson into his car seat. She was looking a bit nervously at all the guards standing just a little ways away, with automatic weapons in hand.

"I'm so glad you came, Tara," I said, and clumsily gave her a hug, trying not to drop a squirming Claudine. "I'll come by the shop soon and you can sell me some clothes."

"You do that, hear? Don't be a stranger," she said and drove off, leaving me alone with the baby.

I headed back into the house, Claudine on my shoulder and got my phone out of my purse and called Grace.

"Grace, listen, if you're still at the store, could you pick up one of each of the tabloids at the check out counter?"

Grace didn't hesitate to say she would, without asking why I wanted them. That was one of the things I liked the most about my brownie housekeeper. She never questioned why I did things. The vampires had a way of either looking amused or looking disdainful at a goodly percentage of my decisions. In the end, I guess they went along with them, but not without the looks. But then, vampires often didn't seem to understand human motivations.

By the time Grace came home from the store, with six different tabloids under her arm, I was walking the baby trying to quiet her again. Surely she couldn't be teething, she was less than a month old, but she acted like she was in pain. I wondered if I should call the doctor, or if maybe she had colic. I had read about babies that just cried and cried. I don't know why I had thought that a half fairy baby would be spared all of those growing pains though.

Maybe she was missing her "fader". Eric had had to go to Las Vegas for a few nights. He really couldn't leave everything to his subordinates. Things were going well there, and Jordun and Pam would be staying for a while to get the state organized to Eric's standards, but the boss needed to go occasionally and keep an eye on things. I hadn't wanted to take the baby on an airplane yet, or to someplace as big as Las Vegas. I was sure missing Eric though and maybe that was the problem with Claudine too.

After thanking Grace for getting the newspapers, I sat down at the table and started to look at them. We were only on the cover of one, and that held a picture of Eric. It was obviously taken from his Mr. January calendar pose, but only his head and shoulders. He had that "come hither" look that he often got, and didn't seem really that dangerous at all, just sexy. Next to it was an inset box with a picture of a blond baby, pretty fuzzy on the features, with very definite fangs in her otherwise toothless mouth. In very small print below, it read, "artist's rendition". On the other side of the box was a picture of me, my high school graduation picture. I looked about twelve.

"Vampire myths exploded!" the headline read. "Will fanged vampire children sit next to yours in school?" read the first line of the story. "Will your daughter come home with a vampire baby?" read the second. It only got worse from there.

As usual with tabloid news, it was all speculation. Although the Vampire League of America had stated quite definitely that vampires could not breed with humans, the story questioned the veracity of that organization, accusing them of using propaganda to make humans feel safe. They cited my marriage to Eric and the subsequent birth of our baby as a "possible" myth buster. They were careful to never say that the baby was actually a vampire, but couched everything in terms of fear of what could happen. What would the world do if vampires started to interbreed, they asked.

The whole idea that I was on the cover of a tabloid was upsetting enough, but I had expected something like this since Amelia had told me that the tabloid reporters had shown up at Merlotte's. What really got me was the follow up story inside. Someone had interviewed Arlene, and she had told them all about my dating Bill and how waitresses, all with vampire bites, had been found strangled in Bon Temps. She didn't bother to mention that her boyfriend had done those murders. That was a matter of public record, of course, but the paper didn't bother to mention it either.

As I kept reading, I got really pissed off. Arlene had told about how Jason's wife had been crucified and his baby had died on that cross. Then she said I had married Eric Northman and "hadn't hardly been seen since" and who knew where the vampires were keeping me. The only thing she didn't talk about was my telepathy, and that really surprised me, although she did say she'd always thought I was some kind of witch.

I hurled the paper to the floor and stalked out of the room, too incensed to know what to do with myself. I knew that Arlene had gone over the deep end with the FOTS, and she held me responsible for her arrest when she had been the one setting me up to get hurt. And of course, she thought it was my fault that she had lost her job at Merlotte's, although there was no way Sam was going to have a fellowship fanatic on his staff.

I was just livid with anger, but I was still hurt to the core. Arlene had been one of my only friends for so many years. She had come to the house and helped me go through Gran's things after Gran had been murdered. She had brought me food when I'd had my house burned and when I'd gotten shot. I knew that it was stupid to feel bad about Arlene, but that didn't mean that I didn't feel it.

Well, there was nothing I could do about it now. This news would blow over just like sightings of Bigfoot and UFOs. They'd have a celebrity baby next week or some star with anorexia. But I wasn't going to get over it immediately. And I couldn't help but think what Jason would say if he saw my picture in the tabloids. I just wished Eric would come home.

"Is everything okay, dear?" Grace asked. "Did the visit with your friend go well?"

"Yeah, it was really nice to see her, and her baby is just as cute as they come, next to Claudine of course. Thanks for the nice lunch, Grace. I think I'm going to walk outside for a bit, and then maybe the baby will settle enough for us to have a nap."

Our yard was starting to take shape, although the construction would probably be going on for months. We had decided to have a small area behind the house for Claudine to play. There would be room for a swing set and maybe a little sand box. The fence posts were already in place and as soon as the fence was in, we would start on putting in a small lawn and some flowerbeds. The front of the house would have more extensive landscaping, but I wanted just a nice small area where it would be safe for Claudine and where I could sunbathe a little more privately. Since it was already October, I doubted I would get to use it before next spring.

The baby seemed to enjoy the sunshine, and I certainly needed it. I spent too much time indoors during the day lately, usually sleeping, since I was up most of the night with the vamps. There was no telling if Claudine would be a day or night person at this point, but surely the sun was good for everyone except vampires. We walked around the yard for a while, stopping to chat for a few minutes with the guards and watching some big machinery chew up the dirt out by the woods. They were putting in an underground facility, the bomb shelter I called it. Maybe I did need to get out more, if this is what I was doing for entertainment.

I managed to get in a nap before the sun went down. Claudine fell asleep over my shoulder and I didn't even bother to go upstairs. I just laid her down and plopped into one of the comfy chairs and slept for a bit. A little before seven, the vampires began to rise. Jan and Daniel came out of Daniel's room, both wearing nothing but a towel, and headed to the kitchen for their supper.

"Would you like to join us for a swim, Mistress?" Jan asked. That explained the towels. The vamps didn't believe in swimsuits apparently, but they did respect that I'd rather not have them running around the kitchen naked.

"No, I think I'll stay in with the baby. She has had a very fussy day, and we're both sort of worn out."

I might have gone out to sit by the pool if Eric had been there, but really I wasn't in the mood to watch a bunch of gorgeous naked guys splashing around if I then had to go to bed by myself.

"Let me do your hair first," I offered. "The pool guy was saying that the filter is getting clogged up with all the long hair and we should all tie it up before we go swimming."

"Shall I ask Bobby to hire a new pool man?" Jan asked, frowning, as if the clogged filter was the pool guy's fault. Vampires!!

"No, a new guy would say the same thing. Come on, sit at the table for a minute and drink your blood while I braid your hair."

I went to get a brush and some hair ties from the bathroom. Everyone in the household had long hair. Mine was getting longer than it ever had been, and I was finding a braid much easier to deal with than a ponytail. Eric was very fond of French braids and fancy side braids, but most of the men just wore their hair down. I was really starting to like long hair on men.

Daniel warmed up bloods for both of them while I worked on Jan's hair. They all seemed to have beautiful hair too, no split ends, and it always stayed the same length. I finished Jan's hair and he picked up the papers on the table to read while I worked on Daniel.

Without warning, the atmosphere in the room totally changed as Jan slammed his glass onto the table, shattering the glass and sending a spray of synthetic blood all over the place. His fangs ran out and he looked like he was in full alert mode.

"Has Eric seen this?" he demanded. He was pointing at the article about the interview with Arlene.

"No, I just heard about it today, from my friend Tara, so I asked Grace to pick up the paper from the store."

"Daniel, get dressed. Get Thomas and Thalia down here to guard our Mistress," he said imperiously and left the table, running up the stairs to his room.

Daniel jumped out of his chair, leaving me dumbfounded holding the brush, and followed Jan to the bedroom. Within minutes, all four vamps were coming down the stairs, and Jan was bristling with weapons.

"What's going on, Jan? What are you going to do?"

"This is totally unacceptable. I will take care of it. I will take Daniel. Thomas and Thalia will guard tonight."

"What do you mean you will take care of it? You're not going after Arlene. She had two children! You just hold your horses, Mister."

I stomped my foot as if that would make some kind of impression on an enraged vampire. Jan was looking mighty scary. Thomas, Thalia and Daniel just looked blank. They hadn't seen the paper, but if Jan thought someone needed to be "dealt with" (aka "killed"), who were they to argue the point.

"You know this woman? You would defend her when she says such things?" He looked incredulous.

"Well, no, I guess I can't defend her, but you can't just kill her for saying stuff. What about her children?"

"People like this don't deserve children," he said and pulled a few more knives out of one of the kitchen cupboards as he headed for the back door. I hadn't even known we had a weapons cache in the kitchen.

I moved to get between him and the door, but of course I wasn't fast enough or strong enough to stop him.

"Jan, don't do this! Stop!" I shouted at his back and for a miracle, he stopped.

"Would you command me, as my Mistress?"

I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that. I remembered another time when I had actually called Jan, like a maker could call his child. He had said my blood had called him. Did he mean that I had power over him, or just that I was the mistress because I was married to Eric.

"I won't command you to do anything, Jan. I am asking you, as someone who loves you and is part of your family, not as your mistress. Please don't kill her."

I could almost hear Jan's struggle to rein in his anger. If I commanded him, he would have no choice but to obey. But his pride demanded that he defend me and the child from anyone who would attack us, even if it were only verbal. His rage was palpable and it vibrated through me and I began to shake with the force of it.

"Please, Jan," I asked again and began to cry.

As the first tears coursed down my cheek, the tension in the room broke. Daniel moved behind Jan and wrapped his arms around him, in an action totally uncharacteristic of what I knew of vampires.

"As you wish, Mistress," Jan said and walked out the door.

"What's going on?" Thomas asked, but I didn't answer. I just sat down at the table and had a good cry.


	50. Chapter 50

CHAPTER 50

(For Maria)

I sat at the table and just cried for a few minutes, letting go of all the anger, worry and frustrations that had been building up the last few days.

Thalia read the tabloid, passed it to Thomas, then began pacing the house like a tiger. She was distressed that I was unhappy but had no idea what to do about it. If she started swinging her big sword around, the way she often did when she was disturbed, I was going to….. Well, I didn't know what I could do about it. There wasn't much anybody could do about Thalia when she got in a mood.

Thomas fished around in his pocket and managed to pull out a clean handkerchief and hand it to me, then sat at the table just staring at me, until I wanted to just hit him. I wondered what else he had in his pockets, my missing camera maybe? After a while I began to feel a little ridiculous, acting like such a drama queen, and went to the bathroom to wash my face and pull myself together.

Daniel was holding the baby when I came out of the bathroom, and she was being fussy, but hadn't worked herself up to tears yet. I got the dustpan and a rag to clean up the blood and broken glass from Jan's shattered drink.

"Maybe she wants blood," Daniel suggested. "She is used to drinking from her father."

"I don't know what she wants," I answered, feeling like a bad mother. Shouldn't I know what my own baby needed?

"I think Daniel is right," Thomas said. "He usually is."

"Well, Eric isn't here!" I snapped, then immediately felt bad for snapping at Thomas. I could be a real bitch sometimes.

"Sorry," I said, as I hurled the rag and the whole mess into the trashcan.

"Can you read her mind?" Daniel asked. "To see why she is unhappy?"

"I can't. I've tried. Maybe because she has so much fairy, or maybe she would have to have language first."

"Maybe because you haven't had her blood."

"Like I'd drink blood from my own baby! Good Lord!" What was he thinking?

He didn't have a response to that. He might even be right, though. Like Thomas said, he usually was. But that was just unthinkable.

Jan came in then, carrying his clothes and weapons. He was dripping wet and the smell of chlorine followed him through the kitchen. He walked right past everyone, silent and naked as a jaybird, and headed to the shower. I didn't even say a word about the water all over the floor. His butt was almost as nice as Eric's, but I didn't say anything about that either.

I got out a bottle of True Blood and warmed it up for him in the microwave, setting it on the table with a clean glass. Then I got out the food that Grace had left for my supper and heated that up too. I was sort of regretting now that we hadn't just gone out to the pool for a swim with Jan.

We settled back into our usual dinnertime routine and I almost inhaled my meat loaf and mashed potatoes. Grace was such a good cook and I could never seem to get enough to eat. Even without feeding Eric the last few days, I was still burning a lot of calories keeping up with Claudine. She could sure eat a lot for such a little thing.

Jan came back in and sat across from me. His beautiful auburn hair was temporarily pulled straight by the weight of the water, now dripping onto his shirt. It would dry into graceful curls. The top buttons of his shirt were undone and what I could see of his chest was smooth and almost hairless. He was not a big man, but his body was lean and chiseled with muscle. I wondered if he had already been a killer before he became a vampire.

He looked so young, almost all the vamps did. It made it easy to forget that they were centuries older and probably a lot wiser than I was, even though I was a grown woman. They had seen a lot worse than an ignorant waitress "telling all" to a cheap scandal sheet. I was a little surprised that Arlene had gotten such a rise out of cool and stealthy Jan.

"Isn't someone supposed to be at Fangtasia tonight?" I asked, a little uneasy with the silence. Usually Jan or Thomas would be heading out to enthrall the vermin (as Pam so aptly put it) by this time of night.

"I'll call someone to go in," Jan said, picking up his phone.

I wasn't really worried about Fangtasia; there were always enough vampires around there to give the humans what they had come for. It seemed like I should be doing something though, taking charge of something. I felt utterly useless and ineffective. Maybe it was hormones or something.

"We should call Eric," Thalia said.

"And what is Eric supposed to do?" I asked, because really what could he do from Las Vegas? He would just get all pissed off and he'd probably tell Jan to go kill Arlene and we'd be back to square one. Would Eric even be up yet? I checked the clock. Another fifteen minutes until the sun set in Las Vegas.

"Come on Thalia," Daniel said, handing the baby to Jan. "Maybe Thomas will be able to hold onto his sword long enough to give you a real challenge tonight."

"I was holding back," Thomas whined. "She is such a tiny little thing after all."

"Crazy beats big!" Daniel said, and Thalia muttered something that I was glad I couldn't quite discern.

"I'm sorry," I told Jan when we were alone at the table and could hear the clang of the sword practice outside the door. I wasn't quite sure what I was apologizing for, but I thought I might have insulted him, questioning his judgment.

"There is nothing to be sorry for," he answered, looking at me very directly. "If I kill one of them, ten more will just stand up to take their place. There is always another ignorant human ready to hate what is different."

He said human in the disdainful manner that was so common with the supes, like they were roaches or something. Actually, when I thought about it, I guessed I had changed the way I talked about people too. It was human this and human that, not people anymore, as if I wasn't a part of them. In some ways, I suppose I wasn't. I rarely saw anyone that wasn't a supe anymore.

"I appreciate that you would defend us," I said.

"I am sworn," he said, but he turned away from me when he said it, as if there was more to it than that.

"I'm glad you're here, Jan," I said, and left it at that. He nodded and I thought we were okay with each other. I got up to wash up the dishes.

My phone rang a little while later. It was my sweetie.

"Things have gone very well, and they can do without me for now. I'm on my way to the airport," Eric told me.

"Did Thalia call you?" I asked.

There was silence for a moment and then he said, "Is there a reason she should have?"

I considered my answer. "I think Claudine misses you."

"And what about Claudine's mother?"

"I am aching for the sight of you," I admitted, and his warm laugh in response sent shivers through me.

"I will see you in a few short hours, wife. Let me speak to Jan."

I just loved the way he sometimes called me wife, and I had a big smile on my face as I handed the phone to Jan and took the baby. Jan went outside to finish the call. I decided I wasn't going to worry about that conversation. Everything would be up to Eric now.

"Daddy is on his way home, angel," I told Claudine and danced her through the house. She did not look impressed.

It took about two and half hours for the trip to Shreveport if Eric had his plane on the runway when he got there, so a little more than three hours and he would be here. This had been the first time we had been apart for more than a few hours since Claudine had been born, and his absence had left me feeling like I'd lost a piece of my soul. The bond had allowed me to know that he was still alive, well not finally dead, but not how he was feeling. It was like when you misplace something in the house, and you know it has to be there, but no matter how much you search, you can't find it. I was so happy that he was coming home.

"Maybe we should have a bath, angel, and get dressed up for daddy. I bet he would love to see you in one of your pretty dresses."

Pam had picked out the cutest little smocked dress with a peter pan collar and matching diaper cover. It looked a bit old fashioned, and I thought that might appeal to Eric. Who knew what baby Vikings wore, fur skins? But, she would look adorable in it, and even if Eric didn't notice her outfit, I wanted to dress her up. At the rate she was growing, she wouldn't get to wear the dress many times in any case.

The baby seemed much happier about bathing since I had started washing her in the little baby bath tub, instead of just washing her with a cloth. She didn't like her hair to be washed, but what baby would? Claudine seemed to relax when I put her in the warm water and sponged her off carefully. Her back was looking almost swollen around her shoulder blades, and I could tell that the area was sensitive when I ran the cloth over it. Maybe I could give her a baby aspirin, although I suppose I should talk to the doctor about it first.

We managed to get through the bath and I had her dressed before she really started to cry. She looked so adorable, and the light blue of the dress went perfectly with her eyes. I would have to see what Thomas had done with my camera and get her picture tonight, maybe on her daddy's lap. I sat down in the rocking chair in the nursery to feed her, hoping I could get her down for a nap soon. I wanted to put on a pretty dress too.

There was still an hour to wait for Eric when I emerged from the bedroom. October nights were often cool, so I had put a little white sweater over my blue and white dress. My legs were shaved and lotioned and my hair was combed out in loose waves. I had gone light on the make up and put in some small gold hoops and a matching chain for jewelry. I figured I better just stick to low heeled shoes, since it was easy to lose your balance when carrying a baby around. I came downstairs to wait, excited as a teenager on prom night waiting for her date.

I just about had a heart attack when I opened my eyes to a very happy looking vampire. I had fallen asleep in the chair and been woken by a kiss.

"My sleeping beauty," Eric said as he pulled me up.

"Eric!" I shrieked as I threw my arms around his neck. "Hi Pam, Hi Jordun," I managed to call out over his shoulder as Eric grabbed me at the waist and flew me upstairs to the bedroom.

He pushed the door shut with his foot and carried me to the edge of the bed. Not giving me a chance to even speak, he had me on my back and was kissing me like there was no tomorrow, his hands pulling up my skirt. He seemed almost frantic at first, like a starving dog ready to tear into a piece of meat, but he stopped abruptly. I watched as, nostrils flared and fangs down, he shook himself and seemed to regain control.

His voice was low and hoarse as he said, "I am starved for you, wife."

"Take what you need, husband," I answered and began to unbutton my dress.

His boots flew across the room, followed quickly by his jeans and shirt. He hadn't bothered with underwear and I could see that he was indeed hungry for more than just blood. I pulled the dress over my head and it followed his boots to the floor. I was soon divested of my under things and his cool body was pressed against mine.

With the contact of our bare flesh, the bond flared between us and feelings of love and desire flowed over me. Eric began to kiss me again, tenderly this time, his mouth moving from my lips to my neck and to the sensitive skin of my breasts. He stopped there, his tongue licking and teasing for a long moment before his fangs nicked me lightly and he latched on to feed.

Each draw of my milk and my blood pulled on things lower down and I opened my legs, eager to feel him inside me.

His long fingers brushed against my folds, making me shiver in anticipation, before he positioned himself at my entrance. I pushed my hips up to meet his and moaned with pleasure as he began to push inside me. He moved slowly at first, giving me a chance to adjust to his gracious plenty, but when my nails dug into his back he threw caution to the winds and thrust forward.

It had been weeks since we'd had each other like this and we were both too eager to last long. His movements were quick and powerful and I was soon hovering on the edge of something wonderful. Just as I thought I couldn't stand another moment without release, he bit down hard. A wave of intense pleasure washed over me and I think I cried out. A moment later, I felt him shudder as he spilled inside me and collapsed on top of me. My heart pounded for a few more moments until it found its normal rhythm as I relaxed under the comforting weight of my vampire.

The room was cool, and Eric's skin was even cooler. I shivered a bit and he rolled to my side, reaching down to pull the blanket over us. I settled in next to him, my head on his chest and his arms wrapping tightly around me.

"I missed you, Eric," I told him.

"And I you. Tell me what you have been doing while I was gone. How is our little angel?"

Eric listened in his usual patient and attentive manner while I described the last few days. He looked concerned when I told him how fussy the baby had been and what Daniel had said.

"I will give her blood tonight. Perhaps if that does not make her feel better, we should have the doctor come to see her. It must be very hard for you when she cries."

"It just breaks my heart to hear her cry and not be able to do anything, Eric. I just feel so useless."

"She will be happier now that her father is home," he said confidently. "And her father will be happier too," he added, giving me a little squeeze.

"Tara came to visit today. It was funny, because I realized that she is the first human besides Amelia that I have seen in weeks."

"And how do you feel about being away from your own kind?"

I thought about that for a moment before I formulated an answer.

"You know, I guess I don't really miss them very much. Well, I miss Sam sometimes. I guess I even miss my brother once in a while. But they're not really human, are they? Sometimes I even miss catching up. That's what my gran used to call the local gossip. I really enjoyed Tara's visit today, but I'm glad to be away from all the petty hateful things I used to hear every day in people's heads."

"But you hear them anyway, in the newspapers," he said softly, and ran his hands down my arm as if he wanted to soothe me, or prepare me for bad news.

If he knew about the tabloid, chances were good he knew about my little scene with Jan earlier in the evening. Eric might listen to me too, if I asked him not to kill Arlene. But I guess I knew by the way he was trying to comfort me that it was already too late for that. He had assumed that stillness that usually signaled something I didn't want to hear.

"Was it Jan?"

"No," he said immediately, stroking my arm again. Then hesitantly he said, "Bill."

Bill? Visions of the night I had told Bill about Uncle Bartlett popped into my head. Uncle Bartlett, who had been killed that night during a "break in".

"Did you tell him to do it?"

"No. It was done before I even knew about the article, probably before Jan knew. I will punish Compton for this. It was stupid and will solve nothing."

Another person had died because of me. I thought about asking Eric to tell me how it had been accomplished, how she had met her end. But did it matter? Maybe it did; I didn't know anymore. I wanted to be angry with Bill, and I probably would at some point, but mostly I just felt guilty.

If I had made different choices, maybe Arlene would be alive now. Poor Coby and Lisa, what would become of them? For that matter, what had happened to Frannie and her poor crazy mother, when Quinn had died because of me too? I hadn't ever bothered to check, too wrapped up in my own life.

"People are always dying because of me, Eric."

"No Sookie. They made their own choices, and you didn't kill them."

But I had killed some of them. Lorena and Debbie Pelt had died from my own hand. But Eric was right. They had made a choice. Arlene had made a choice too, the choice to hate what she couldn't understand. And my choice? I had chosen to survive.

Gran would have said, "You make your bed and then you lie in it". Well, the bed I was lying in was the one I shared with Eric, and I knew damned good and well what I was laying next to.

"Maybe we should make a public appearance, Eric. We could let people see that Claudine is just a baby, that she isn't some kind of Spawn of Satan or something."

Eric propped himself on an elbow and looked at me thoughtfully, and then smiled in satisfaction. That hadn't been the response he had expected.

"Now you are thinking like a queen, Kjære," he said. "With the proper security, I think that would be a very good idea. She looks quite harmless after all, as do you."

"If they didn't know what you were really capable of" may have been implied, but he didn't say it.

"I suppose you might look harmless if you tried," I told him.

"I hope not!" he said, feigning indignation. "It would ruin my reputation."

"Well, I'm not afraid of you."

"Maybe you should be," he said, giving me a wicked smile and flashing his fangs.

He might have shown me just how scary he could be, if he hadn't heard the baby beginning to cry in the nursery. It was a good thing his hearing was better than mine; I hadn't heard a thing. I really needed to get one of those baby monitors.

"I'll get her," he said, jumping out of bed. I think he was actually anxious to see her.

"Eric, don't forget your pants," I called after him, and he snatched them off the floor, rolling his eyes and giving me an exasperated look. He really didn't care who he flashed around the house!

Claudine would be hungry again so I climbed out of bed. As I grabbed my robe from the closet I heard Eric calling me, his voice sounding alarmed, and I heard Claudine screaming.

"Pam! Tell the doctor to come immediately! The baby is bleeding."

My heart stopped beating and the world spun for a moment, and then I ran to the nursery.

"Oh my God, Eric, what's happening?"

"Her back is bleeding, but not enough to be life threatening. If I can get her clothes off, I can see what is going on."

Eric was standing over the crib, looking whiter than usual, his hands carefully trying to remove Claudine's pretty dress, now stained with blood around her shoulders. He didn't seem to know how to get the dress off without hurting her.

"We need a scissors," I told him.

"Where?" Thomas asked from behind me.

"From the kitchen drawer, next to the fridge."

Thomas vaulted over the railing and down to the first floor, landing with a loud thump as he rushed to get the scissors.

"The doctor is on her way," Pam said from the doorway.

Claudine was really screaming and her fists were clenched tightly. She looked so small and helpless. A knot of pain began to twist my insides as I looked at her. I bent down to pick her up, but Eric pulled my hands away.

"Shouldn't we take her to the hospital?"

"It might be best not to move her," he said, "until we can see what is happening."

Thomas was by our side then, handing Eric the scissors and Eric carefully cut away the dress to expose Claudine's back. Each snick of the blades was like a knife in my gut.

The little nubs between her shoulders were fiery red and something black seemed to be oozing out amidst the scarlet rivulets of blood slowly seeping onto her back. I gasped and my hand flew to my mouth. My poor baby! Eric might think it wasn't life threatening, and he probably knew about those things, but it looked like so much blood for such a small body.

"We have to do something, Eric," I said, barely able to speak as I choked back sobs.

Eric didn't answer, but he brought a finger to his mouth, pierced it with his fang and pushed it past Claudine's tiny lips. As the vampire blood touched her tongue, she latched onto his finger and began to suck on it, her cries damping down to whimpers. I reached to stroke her cheek, flushed and damp, and waited for the doctor.

Dr. Ludwig was all business from the moment she walked into the room. She looked at the group of vampires huddled around the crib and with a few motions of her wrist, shooed then back to make room. Jordun rushed to find a chair and when he tried to lift the diminutive woman onto it, had his wrist slapped soundly. Apparently she was stronger than she looked, because Jordun's eyebrows arched up in surprise.

"Let's see what we have here," she said after she had climbed onto the chair by herself and bent over the baby.

"Have you given her blood?" she asked Eric and he nodded.

"I can give her something for the pain, but she is very small, so I must be moderate with the dose. When did she eat last?"

I was calming down now, the confident tone of the doctor reassuring me. Surely she couldn't die from this while the doctor remained so calm.

"A few hours ago, I think, maybe two and a half? She was fine then. She had her bath."

"She will need to be fed soon. I think we can manage that. This may take a while and she will need her strength."

"But what's happening?" I asked in what was now mostly a whine.

"Her wings are emerging, child."

"But what is that black stuff, is it infected? Will she be okay?"

"That is the color of her wings," the doctor replied matter-of-factly and started rooting through her bag for a syringe.

The vampires had crowded back around again and I saw that they all had their fangs out. Surely Claudine's blood wasn't making them hungry? Not that I could hold that against them, if they didn't act on it. There were so many of them though. I couldn't think that way, or I would drive myself crazy.

Everyone was watching the syringe as Dr. Ludwig filled it from a small vial. Eric took my hand and I could feel that he was trying to send comfort to me, but comfort was in mighty short supply. His apprehension seeped through and if Eric was nervous, having his feelings wasn't going to help to keep me from losing it. I pulled my hand away and picked up Claudine's tiny clenched fist. I turned away as the doctor pressed the needle to her delicate skin.

Please God, I prayed, not really expecting God to be standing by ready to help. Right now, my money was on Dr. Ludwig.

Claudine barely responded to the sting of the injection, but within moments, the tension in her body eased and her crying began to wind down. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Can I hold her? She must be so frightened."

"I think that is a good idea," the doctor said. "You will have to have her over your shoulder, or face down on your lap. Let's not have any pressure on her back."

I watched as Dr. Ludwig used a few cotton balls to clean around the open areas of skin. Now that the smears of blood were gone, I could see a little more clearly what was really happening. The baby's skin had parted, and now there were two distinct openings. The skin between looked ready to give way. The wings would take up almost all the space between her shoulder blades then. Poking out from each opening was a finely tapered tip, looking somewhat like pieces of soggy wet satin. It was impossible to tell what texture the wings would have.

"Sookie," Pam prompted, and I turned to look at her. "Why don't you lie down before you fall down. You don't look well."

"Yes, maybe you're right, Pam." I wasn't feeling well. I felt disoriented and almost faint. I think I had been holding my breath.

"I will bring Claudine," Eric said with authority. "Pam, help Sookie to the bedroom."

"You won't leave?" I asked Dr. Ludwig.

"Not right away, dear. I wouldn't miss this. Now, you need to get off your feet, and your vampire will carry the little one. You!" she snapped, turning around and capturing Thalia at random with her gaze. "Get her something to drink."

Thalia, not particularly used to having orders barked at her, went blank for a moment, and then scurried to the stairs on her way to the kitchen. I knew I'd be getting milk.

I must have looked pretty bad, because Pam took the doctor at her word and got me off my feet. She picked me up, and surprisingly hugged me close for a second before she began to slowly walk with me to my room. As she cradled me in her arms, she began to sing.

Calling all angels

Calling all angels

Walk me through this one

Don't leave me alone

Calling all angels

Calling all angels

We're cryin' and we're hurtin'

And we're not sure why...

(Author's note: May I suggest Calling All Angels – Jane Siberry with k.

And again, thank you to Ms. Charlaine Harris for the loan of her wonderful characters.)


	51. Chapter 51

CHAPTER 51

Pam deposited me on my bed, and I realized that my robe was gaping open and I probably still smelled like sex. Actually the whole room smelled like sex. I was like a big vampire midnight buffet, and was surprised that Pam didn't make any bawdy comment. She did manage a lascivious wink, but since Eric was coming up right behind her carrying Claudine, she kept any comments to herself. I straightened myself up as well as I could and waited to take the baby into my arms.

As soon as Claudine was lying on me, on her tummy, she began to root around for her dinner. Whatever Dr. Ludwig had given her had calmed her somewhat, and though her body was still tense and a little rigid, she had quieted. I got her situated on my breast, being careful about her back, and started to nurse. Eric sat down next to us and put his hand on the top of my head. When the three of us were so close and touching, we all felt better I think.

Dr. Ludwig started pulling out assorted little bottles from her bag and then headed to the bathroom to prepare her medications. Thalia handed me my glass of milk, then went to her own room I guess, because she came back with Velma the doll. She glared at Thomas, as if daring him to say a word, then sat in a corner and looked gloomy. Sometimes it felt more like kindergarten around our house than a household of vicious predators.

Jan came in last and he was carrying a book. So we were going to read tonight, I thought, wondering what the selection would be. We had been in the middle of "The Hobbit". Considering Dr. Ludwig's presence, I didn't know how appropriate that would be. Not that the doctor actually was a hobbit, although who really knew. She certainly looked like she could have come from the Shire.

I had just about had it for the day and wanted to escape into the comfort of sleep. Now that Claudine was calm and in my arms, I couldn't feel anything but exhaustion. There was a time when I would come home so exhausted from Merlotte's that I would just brush my teeth, pull on my nightgown and sleep would overtake me by the time my head would hit the pillow. Long and peaceful hours. Warm under the quilts. My cat Tina curled on my feet. Waking up to the sunshine streaming through my window and one of Gran's hot breakfasts waiting for me in the kitchen. No vampires in my room.

"Sookie, open your eyes. Look!"

"It's too early for breakfast, Gran, let me sleep another hour."

"Sookie, open your eyes." The voice was insistent and was followed by a cold hand gripping my shoulder hard enough to get my attention.

My eyes felt hot and dry, the way they always did after a too short nap. I had a pasty stale taste in my mouth and my limbs felt stiff and sore. There was a crowd of too white faces in a circle around me and the salty tang of vampire in the air. Everyone might have been holding their breath, if they breathed, that is.

A strange sound brought my attention to Claudine, lying completely still on my chest. It was the sound of an ice cube when it was dropped into a glass of lukewarm tea, a wet crackle.

Someone had covered Claudine with a small blanket, tucking the corners of the pink flannel around her, leaving her back exposed. She felt warm and a little sweaty against me, the skin of her face pasted to the skin of my breast. Her eyes were closed as if in sleep, and her breathing was very slow and deep, but she was otherwise quiet.

From the split skin of the baby's back, completely separated now, I could see something emerging. Like the metamorphosis of a butterfly, dark wings emerged, pushing upward then inching out slowly. I recognized another smell in the air, the smell of magic.

We were transfixed by the wonder of it as a seemingly impossible amount of wing made its way out of Claudine's tiny body. A thin ooze of fluid coated what looked like feathers, silky wet strands as delicate as the baby's hair.

With a final gloppy sound, and a small whimper from Claudine, a mass of black burst out, almost too quickly to be caught by the eye. The resulting mass lay divided into two distinct shapes, covering her back from shoulder to hip. They rested there wet, heavy looking and motionless.

"Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea!"

"Pfffft!" was Dr. Ludwig's response to my outburst as she shooed Eric out of her way and climbed up next to me onto the bed. A quick check on Claudine seemed to please her, and she looked down at the baby and smiled, a facial expression that you didn't see too often on the doctor's face.

"She should do quite nicely at this point," she said. "I would expect that it may take a short while for the wings to dry, but I would leave them to do that on their own. When they are dry, I see no reason why you couldn't lay her on her back, for changing. She could probably use it by now. Keep her warm, and two drops of this every four hours if she shows discomfort. I think she should be fine now, though. Northman, I will send my bill to your office."

She put a small bottle and an eyedropper on the bedside table, and gathering up her bag, left the room. I called out a thank you as she left, then took a deep breath. Life just got more and more interesting!

"She's going to need her own personal tailor, Sookie," Pam said. "At least black goes with everything, we'd have a helluva time if the wings were turquoise or something," she added and laughed merrily.

Everyone smiled at that, and began to move about the room. Before long it was looking like a frat boy's dorm room with vampires draped over every piece of furniture, drinking and smiling. There was a celebratory atmosphere, probably motivated more by relief than anything else. Eric looked pleased and proud, like he'd done something clever and the mystery of the missing camera was solved when Thomas snapped a few pictures, almost blinding me with the flash.

"Put that thing away, Thomas," I scolded him. "I'm not even decent here."

It was one thing to be half dressed in front of the family, which I wasn't totally happy about. But it was another thing altogether to be in this state in the scrapbook on the coffee table.

"Eric, can't you do something about him?" I asked plaintively.

"I can remove a limb if you'd like, or chain him in silver. I think Thalia would probably take him out and thrash him if you'd prefer."

"Gads!" I said, rolling my eyes. Freaking Vampires!

Claudine slept peacefully for the next hour, oblivious to the merriment around her. As she slept, her wings slowly dried and seemed to take shape. They arched gracefully around her shoulders and flowed down to a thin tapering point over her bottom. They seemed to flex occasionally and fan out, fluttering at the ends. They had lost the look of a butterfly and were looking very much like the traditionally pictured angel wings, except for the fact that they were black.

"Do you think it means anything that they're black, Eric?"

"No, Sookie. You are stuck on the Christian idea that white is for good and black is for the devil."

I thought for a moment, and I guessed he was right about that. It did seem like angels were usually pictured all dressed in white with big white wings, and the devil wore black. I didn't know if that had always been the case or if it was a more recent concept. If you went back before Christianity were there even stories of angels? How much could you trust a story that was thousands of years old anyway? I couldn't even trust second hand gossip in Bon Temps. The story changed with every telling.

I was dying to touch the wings, but not knowing if they were all of the way dry or if they were sensitive, I hesitated. Of course, I would have to touch them. The baby would need care, and would need holding and cuddling, so the wings would get touched. Geez Louise, how was I going to give her a bath? Could I get them wet? Or was that even silly to consider? An angel would get wet going out in the rain. Birds managed fine with their whole bodies covered in feathers.

"So much for a nice picture for the press," I said.

"Yes, this does add another dimension to the issue. We will have to think of how best to handle this. I must admit I might be as you call it, stumped, on this one." But he was smiling as he said it, as if he had no doubts that he could come up with an idea.

I had lots of doubts, but now was not the time to voice them, and spoil what was left of the night with worries. A few hours before I had been distraught with anxiety over the suffering of my child, but now the baby was okay, Eric was home, and the family was together and happy. What more could I ask of life?

"You didn't get to see Claudine in her pretty dress. I was going to take a picture, but couldn't find the camera." I glared at Thomas for a moment. "I have no idea what to do about clothes."

"I'm afraid Pam was right about that. Shall I call Bobby and see if he can send my tailor over tomorrow?" Eric asked. "Perhaps he can modify some of the child's clothes until we can have new ones made. With the season changing, she will need warm clothing. My tailor is quite discrete."

"That might be a good idea. I can't sew at all. Gran could, but she never liked to sew. There is an old machine in Bon Temps, maybe I could learn."

"Certainly if you care to, Lover. But there is no need. We can well afford to have our child clothed."

Money sure did make a lot of things easier. But it wasn't going to fix the challenges of raising a child with wings! Eric seemed to be taking this in stride though. But he usually remained calm and collected, right up until he cut someone's head off. His calm seemed to be influencing me too, since I wasn't freaking out over this whole thing, as bizarre as it was. Maybe after several years of hanging out with the supes, nothing surprised me in quite the same way anymore.

While Eric went off with his phone, I moved Claudine so that she was lying on her tummy in the middle of the bed. She stirred a bit, moving her hand to her mouth and her lips made little sucking movements, but she didn't wake. Poor thing was probably worn out. I climbed out of bed and asking Thalia to keep an eye on the baby, I grabbed a nightgown out of the dresser and headed to the bathroom.

After tending to more pressing needs, I brushed my teeth and got into the shower. For once I hoped that Eric wouldn't join me, needing a little time to myself. I felt like I should make a list of all the ways my life had gotten freakishly out of my own control. Yeah, I had the most awesome Viking kick-ass vampire you could imagine in my bed every night. I had a pretty sizeable bank account, a beautiful house and my own cook. I was surrounded by people who wanted to spend time with me and take care of me. I even had a fairy tale baby. When I looked at things that way, there wasn't much to complain about.

But I was a babe in the woods around all of these ancient creatures. I hadn't had hundreds of years to practice adapting to just about anything imaginable. I had taken great pride in myself for managing to hold down a job and hold my head up high in the small town of Bon Temps. But standing up to the scrutiny of that same town now with a winged baby in my arms was going to take a little more guts than I think I had.

Well, I had an idea about what to do, but it would involve my brother. And I didn't know if Eric was going to like it. The alternative was to lock myself away from the world inside this house. Shit! Jason was going to freak when he saw the baby.

My heart lightened when I came out of the bathroom. Thalia was sitting on the bed, and apparently Claudine was awake. She wasn't quite smiling, but she was staring at Thalia with interest, her blue eyes wide and her lips pinched in concentration.

Of course any body would be fascinated by what was going on in front of Claudine. Thalia had Velma in her hands and was dancing her around, the doll's legs swaying from side to side lifelessly. I couldn't tell who was having more fun, Thalia or Claudine. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was the child around this house.

I sat next to them and reached over to touch the beautiful wings. They were silky smooth and very alive. As I stroked down the length of them, they moved in response. Where the feathers met the skin at the top of her back, it appeared seamless now, already closed and healed from the trauma. Definitely some magic going on here.

Thalia reached out to stroke them too and seemed as mesmerized as I was by their texture.

"She won't need much more for a Halloween costume," Thalia suggested.

"Thalia, you're brilliant!" I said, thinking about the upcoming holiday.

"What brilliant thing has Thalia done, Kjære?" Eric asked as he walked back into the room, sliding his phone into his pocket.

"She can be an angel for Halloween, Eric. We can have her picture taken then, for the press, in a little angel dress and maybe a headband with a halo. That will put them off for a while, don't you think? Although I suppose the black color would be unconventional. Or we could do a fairy outfit. Maybe something in black and pink with lots of glitter. Oh, she will look so cute!"

"That is actually not a bad idea," Eric admitted, not sounding sold on the idea, but not dismissing it out of hand. Of course, they will only be fooled for a short time, Lover. And then costumes will not be in evidence again until Mardi Gras. We could just as well wrap her in a blanket for a photograph, Sookie."

"Oh well, yeah, that's true, but if we can just put them off for a little while, it will give us time to make a plan. Maybe Amelia can do a disguise spell or something."

Eric was looking dubious, but I had had a few good ideas in the past, and this one might work. I had something else in mind that I wanted to investigate too, but there was no point in having that discussion until I talked to Jason anyway.

"A plan," Eric said, looking at me suspiciously.

"Yes, a plan. I am sure we will come up with something, Eric, since I have no intention of hiding in the house for the rest of my life."

"No, Sookie, that would not be acceptable. Talk to the tailor and see what he can come up with in the way of costumes. She will need something for the party anyway. And talk to your witch, although I am not sure how I feel about that yet."

Eric had been the victim of a witch's curse once, and was in no way a big fan of witch magic. But he wasn't the type to dismiss anything until it had been investigated either. He was very open minded about most things, and had been very impressed with Amelia's ability to shield my house in Bon Temps. He had since hired her to shield most of his properties.

"I'll call her tomorrow. I should really change Claudine's diaper," I added, to change the subject. "I need to see if I can't find something to dress her in too."

"I will leave that in your capable hands, Lover," he said.

Claudine seemed happy enough to be lying on her back now and kicked and squirmed happily as I changed her diaper. It was a little tricky since I was very afraid of bending her wings and damaging them, but with some trial and error it was managed. The onesies seemed like the best bet for clothing for now, at least after I took the scissors and cut a chunk out of the back. Sliding them over her legs and then up her arms, they at least covered her middle. I had to assume that the wings were meant to be left out and wouldn't be as affected by the cold. I might have to come up with some kind of cape or something to cover them during the winter though. I found the baby jeans that Pam had given her and put those on to cover her legs. Some booties for her toes and she was dressed.

"Well, miss, you are a little happier tonight," I told her, and got what might have been a smile.

"Eric? I think she just smiled at me," I called out to him.

Eric came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my middle. Looking over my shoulder, he watched as I tickled her chin and she smiled again.

"That was definitely a smile," he said as he turned me around to face him.

"And who wouldn't smile to look at you, My Love? You are so beautiful."


	52. Chapter 52

CHAPTER 52

"Good morning, Grace."

The smell of pancakes and warm syrup was making my mouth water, and the aroma of brewing coffee made the kitchen feel like a small part of heaven.

"I am so hungry I could eat a horse!"

"It's a good thing I made a lot then," Grace said. She turned from the griddle to greet me and dropped the spatula when she saw Claudine over my shoulder.

"Oh my," she said.

Surprise registered for a moment on Grace's face, then she quickly picked up the spatula, rinsed it off in the sink and flipped the pancakes.

"Oh my isn't the half of it," I said. "We had a pretty stressful night. But everyone is feeling much better this morning."

Grace slid the pancakes onto a plate and set it down on the table. Warm maple syrup, a bowl of cut up strawberries and a cup of steaming hot coffee followed the plate. I sat down, and balancing Claudine on one arm, took a big drink of the coffee.

Grace wiped her hands on the dishtowel and then offered to take Claudine while I ate my breakfast. I handed her over awkwardly, still unused to the wings and a little nervous about breaking something.

"She is so much happier now, Grace. It was pretty scary at first, she was crying so miserably. But Dr. Ludwig gave her something for the pain, and after a while the wings just sort of slid out. They're beautiful, don't you think? And she smiled at me and Eric last night, for the first time."

I wasn't sure which event was the most exciting. Obviously the wings were the most extraordinary thing, but somehow that first smile was almost more important to me, especially after all the tears of the day before.

Grace was running her hands over the smooth curve of the baby's wings with a look of amazement on her face. Claudine didn't seem to mind at all, and was cooing happily on Grace's lap. Now that her wings had come out, she seemed very content with the world.

"They are not at all what I expected," Grace said.

"Me neither. I mean, I don't know what I expected, but it was something more like Tinkerbelle, you know? I didn't expect angel wings. I have no idea what to do with them. I had to cut a piece of her shirt out to even get her dressed and I haven't been brave enough to give her a bath yet."

"I expect this will present a whole host of issues."

"We haven't really decided how we are going to deal with it publicly yet. I won't take her out until we can decide what to do, but at some point, we'll want to leave the house. I wish my great grandfather were here to ask him what to do. I'm sure he would come up with something. I think even Eric is a little stumped, and he always knows what to do about everything."

I took a few more bites of my pancakes and just enjoyed the sweet earthy taste of the maple syrup. Having a happy baby outweighed everything else for a while, and I felt confident and good about the world. There was a lot to think about, but I would think better on a full stomach.

"I called Jason and he is going to come over for a late lunch, if you don't mind."

"No dear, we can easily manage something for your brother. Does he know about this new development?"

"No one knows yet, except for the immediate family, the vamps I mean. I haven't even told Amelia. Eric's tailor is coming over this evening to measure her and come up with a plan for clothes, but I guess Eric will have him sworn to secrecy. He's worked for Eric for a long time, so he will keep quiet." If he didn't want to end up as someone's meal, I thought.

"So she hasn't been around any humans then?"

"No, well, except me, and my status is apparently pretty questionable."

"Hmm. I wonder if she will have personal glamour."

"Like being able to disguise who she is?"

"Yes, as the fairies do. The vamps have it too, I suppose. You can see the vampires glow, can't you?"

"Yeah, I can always tell a vampire."

"Well, most humans can't see that. The vampires are distinguished by other characteristics of course, their pallor and carriage, and of course their fangs."

When Jason had first met Eric, he hadn't recognized him as a vampire right away. And when Bill had first come into Merlotte's, only me and Sam could pick him out as a vamp right away. I had never thought of that as glamour.

"Niall used some form of that I guess. Humans couldn't tell he was a fairy, or just seemed to not notice him at all. I only saw him once without it, and it was amazing."

"Yes, all of the fairies are like that, I believe, or at least the ones that entered this world. They can dampen their essence. Most humans can't recognize a supernatural without some additional clue, or unless the fairy chooses to reveal himself. But Claudine is only part fairy, so she may not have that gift, or it may be something that will arise later. It may even be that she must be taught it."

"Kind of like the werewolves? Alcide told me that they don't come into their magic until puberty. If they are adopted or something, they don't even know they are weres until they change for the first time. How scary would that be?"

"I wish I could be of more help, dear. I'm afraid this may be quite a unique situation, and those who would have useful knowledge have left this world."

I had a feeling that not quite everyone had left, but I intended to find out. In the meantime, I planned to enjoy my morning. Thomas had left the camera in our room. Maybe Eric had finally threatened him with something he responded to, or maybe Daniel had managed to get hold of it. There were bound to be some good pictures on it, and Amelia had shown me how to download them to the computer. I was going to try to work on the scrapbook myself, hoping I wouldn't screw it up and get myself in trouble with Amelia.

I settled the baby into her little reclining seat with a few colorful toys to look at and turned on the computer. Before long I was looking at all of the pictures that Thomas had taken in the last few weeks. For a race that had for so long pretended that their existence could not be documented by photography, and had avoided cameras since their inception, vampires sure were hams in front of the camera now. Well, some of them anyway.

Pam and Eric were the worst. If they could manage to look sexy, sultry or intimidating in front of a lens, they would pose unashamedly. Eric had posed for several pictures with Claudine that I hadn't known about. He was holding her in his lap and was obviously trying to get her attention focused on the camera, with varied results. His face showed the pride and joy that any father would take in such a beautiful baby.

Once I got past the embarrassment of being underdressed in the next group of photos, I was glad that Thomas had taken pictures of the emergence of Claudine's wings. Since this was something that by all accounts was very rare indeed, it would be interesting to have the event documented. I wasn't sure that it could be shown to many people, but Claudine herself might be glad to have the pictures when she was grown.

As I printed out the pictures that included me, I noticed that the "angel spots" that had been in our wedding pictures and in all of the pictures of me when I was pregnant were now noticeably absent. I scanned through the pictures of Claudine, almost expecting to see it there over her shoulder, but it appeared to be gone.

For the millionth time, I wished that my Gran were still alive. She would have loved this. Not only would Claudine have surprised and delighted her, but the whole process of seeing her great granddaughter's face on the computer screen would have just tickled her to death, even if she couldn't have shown the pictures to all of her friends in a grandma brag book.

I picked out a few of the best pictures and then got out the supplies for the scrapbook. By the time I had them mounted, labeled, decorated and in the binder, it was time to feed the baby.

Claudine's wings were the softest things imaginable, and they seemed infinitely flexible, although I knew that probably wasn't really the case. When given room, they seemed to spread out beyond her body and up over her head. But when I would begin to cradle her in my arms, she somehow managed to compact them and they felt more solid and appeared to be smaller in size. They were still unmistakably wings though, and any hope I had that she could retract them completely hadn't materialized. The wings would be a problem, but they beat the hell out of fangs, at least while I was nursing.

Jason showed up that afternoon with his usual appetite, and I was relieved that Claudine was napping so that I could feed Jason before he saw her. Men always took news better on a full stomach, or at least my brother did. Having a beer with his chicken fried steak and potatoes didn't hurt either.

"This is quite a place you got here, Sook. Got quite a bit goin' on in the yard too."

"Thanks, Jason. We're fencing off a play area for the baby, for when she gets a little bigger. And Eric is having some more living quarters erected on the grounds, for guards and stuff."

"He treating you good?"

"He is great, Jason. And he is wonderful with Claudine."

Jason finished off his beer, set down the empty bottle and gave me his "time for something serious" look. "You heard about Arlene?"

I had been listening in a bit on Jason, knowing this subject would come up, so it wasn't hard to act as if I hadn't known anything about Arlene's death. I hadn't asked Eric for details, so I really didn't know very much.

"What about Arlene?" I managed to keep the usual disdain in my voice that I showed for my ex BFF since she had shown how truly hateful she could be to me.

"Well, I hate to be the one to bring bad news, but they found her night before last out on the road to her place, in her car. I guess she must have swerved to avoid a deer in the road or something, and just smashed right into a tree. They had to have the Jaws of Life to get her out, but she was dead already."

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed in real horror.

"Yeah, I guess she was drinking a bit and that old car of hers doesn't have air bags or nothing. The steering wheel just went….well, you don't want to hear that. She's got a cousin over to Metairie that came and got the kids. Anyway, I guess you won't be wanting to come to the funeral."

How could Bill do something like that, I thought. But then Bill was no stranger to murder, none of the vampires were. The vampires had had a lot of practice covering up the deaths of their victims. Bill had managed to fake a tornado to cover up the death of the Rattrays after they had almost beaten me to death. Now, he had managed to fake a car accident. Or maybe he had only had to appear in the road unexpectedly late at night, and Arlene had managed to run into the tree all on her own.

How had Eric known that it was Bill? Had Bill told Eric, thinking that defending my honor would please his King and put him back in Eric's good graces? Or did he want me to hear about it thinking that I would see him as my knight in shining armor? Well, Bill had never known me very well. It had taken me a while to discover that.

"No," I answered. "I don't think I could be there, although I would have liked to offer some comfort to her poor kids at their mother's funeral."

Arlene had probably turned the kids against me anyway, filling their heads with her venom. I was sickened at the thought of what had happened to Arlene, but what really broke my heart was remembering what it was like for a child to lose their mother. Jason was thinking the same thing and I could hear his sadness as he remembered the death of our parents.

I got another beer out of the fridge for Jason, and refilled my coffee cup while I was up. I could hear the baby stirring in the next room, and it was time to see how my brother would react before I introduced the real reason I had invited him over for lunch.

"Is that my niece fussing in there?" Jason asked as I set his beer in front of him. His sad look was replaced with a smile and I knew he was happy about Claudine and proud to be someone's Uncle Jase.

"Listen Jason, I need to tell you something about the baby. You know that her biological father was one of the fairies that attacked me."

Jason nodded, then furrowed his brow and raised the bottle to his mouth. My tone of voice had warned him that he might not be happy with what I had to say.

"Well, it looks like Claudine inherited some fairy characteristics, so I want you to be prepared."

"What? Like what you can do?"

"No, not like that, although she may have inherited that too, but we won't know for a while. No, Jason, it's something physical."

Claudine was starting to kick up a fuss and we could both hear her from the other room now, so I decided Jason could just see for himself and I went to get her. I came back in carrying Claudine over my shoulder and Jason gasped, choking and sputtering on his mouthful of Bud Lite.

"What the fuck, Sookie! Jesus H. Christ!"

"You watch your language in front of the baby, Jason," I admonished him, handing him a few extra napkins.

I sat down in the chair next to him at the table and planted a small kiss on the top of Claudine's head. Her wings were spread out in their full glory and Jason's eyes were just about bugging out of his head.

"She was born with little nubs on her back," I explained. "Dr. Ludwig told us that she would probably grow wings, but we thought they'd come in when she was grown up or something, we didn't know what to expect. Last night, the wings just sort of came out, like she was cutting a tooth or something."

Jason upended his beer and drank down the rest of it, slamming the bottle down to the table.

"That bastard that raped you had wings?"

"No, he didn't. We're not sure where the wings came from. I guess it's pretty much a rare phenomenon."

I had my own theory about the wings but there was no reason to go into that with Jason, who was staring fixedly at the wings. Claudine was squirming around as if she would climb right off of my shoulder and her wings were flexing, banging into my chin.

"Here, Jason," I said, extending the baby to him. "Why don't you hold her? She needs to get to know her Uncle Jase."

Jason, never one to shy away from small children, took Claudine into his arms and after settling her into his lap, ran his fingers over the wings.

"Well if that don't beat all!" Jason finally concluded. "You think she'll fly?"

"I have no idea, but I guess that's what the wings are for, so probably."

"That'll be a bitch for you to keep up with her. You're gonna need an awful big butterfly net to catch her," he said with laughter in his voice. As his hands stroked the silky feathers, the baby stilled and began to smile.

"Hey look, Sis. She's smiling at me."

"I'm going to take a picture," I said and ran for the camera.

"You know, Sookie, when I saw that picture in the paper, I almost believed it myself. But this is even weirder than fangs. The crazies are gonna have a field day with this."

"Which is why you can't say anything about it to anybody, Jason. I'm serious. You have to promise me you won't say anything."

"Sookie, I know I haven't been a good brother, but I'm trying to learn. Being around Hotshot has made me understand something about loyalty. I guess I can promise that I will keep my mouth shut. I wouldn't want anything to happen to this little cutie."

The little cutie was smiling up a storm for her uncle. Jason was like Eric. He had a way with women.

"But what are you going to do when the press starts knocking at the door? It's not like the two-natured, changing just at the full moon. You aren't gonna be able to hide this, Sis. Maybe with the weres coming out, they'll think she's some kind of shifter or something. Does she change or is she always like this?"

"We don't know yet, she's only had the wings since yesterday, but I don't think she's a shifter. I think it's just a fairy thing. That's why I wanted to talk to you. I was thinking maybe Dermott would know something about this, or he could find a way for me to talk to Niall."

"You should stay away from that Niall," Jason said. "He brought nothing but trouble when he was around, even if he is our family."

I found it interesting that Jason was acknowledging Niall as family, when he had not long ago professed that the fairies were no kin to him. Maybe that little legacy that Niall had left him had left an impression. Jason was easily swayed to change an opinion when there was something in it for him.

"Does Dermott still come around to Bon Temps, Jason?"

Jason looked a little guilty for a moment. He had mixed feelings about how right it was that he spent time with Dermott, since the half fairy had been involved in the killing of our parents.

"Well, yeah. He's been around. He's been sort of staying around my place, since he's got nobody else now. They left him behind, Sook, and I just haven't had the heart to tell him to go away. He did try to warn me about Mel, and I guess he's family."

Jason sat, looking down at his empty beer bottle as if he was waiting for a full one to appear. Since my brother was driving his truck, I figured he had had enough beer for the afternoon, so I got up and poured him a cup of coffee instead. When you're a waitress for as long as I had been, you think about things like drinking and driving.

"I want to talk to him, Jason, and find out what he knows about angels. Maybe he knows about some magic, something Claudine can use to hide the wings from humans. Or maybe he can get a message through to our great grandfather and Niall will know something."

"Something to hide the wings? Like a cloaking device? I saw that in Star Trek."

"Exactly! If she could hide them, then I could take her out and she wouldn't be such a target. With me being married to a vampire, the FOTS already has us on their lists. I want to meet with Dermott, but I have to know that it's safe and he won't be a danger to Claudine. I want you to ask him if he knows where the portal is."

"Okay. I'll talk to him about it. You got any anything for dessert, Sookie?"

"Grace made a pecan pie just for you, Jason," I said and got up to cut him a piece.

By the time Jason had finished his second piece of pie, and I had wrapped up some leftovers for him to take home, I was worn out and Claudine was ready to eat again.

"I'll call you after I talk to Dermott," Jason assured me as he kissed first the baby and then me. "You take care of my little niece now."

I changed the baby and we headed up to the bedroom so I could have a nap. Kicking off my shoes and jeans, I climbed in next to Eric. I unbuttoned my top and settled Claudine across my chest so she could nurse. It didn't take long before we were both asleep.

I opened my eyes to the sight of Eric lying on his side, leaning his head on one elbow and staring down at me and Claudine. The baby was awake and Eric was stroking her wings. Her little butt was wiggling and her little fingers had hold of my breast as if she wanted to make sure it didn't escape.

"What a beautiful sight to wake up to."

"Hi sweetie, we were just having a nap. Did you sleep well?"

Eric looked blank for a moment. Of course he always slept well, he didn't have any choice in the matter, but sometimes the standard greetings just popped out of my mouth without thinking.

"Yes, like the dead, but you would know more about that than I," he said with a smile. "How was your day?"

"It was great," I could honestly reply. "The baby was happy all day, she hardly cried at all. And Jason came over for lunch."

"Ahhh. And how did your brother react to our new developments?" Eric didn't think much of Jason, and always expected the worst from him. So far, Jason had mostly lived up to Eric's expectations.

"Well, he was pretty shocked as you can imagine, but Claudine smiled at him and he was under her spell. She's a little charmer."

"Like her mother," Eric said with a grin. "As much as I would love to stay in bed with my two charming girls all night, I believe we have an appointment with my tailor, Lover."

Evidence of how much Eric would like to stay in bed was pressed right up against my bare leg, and if we hadn't had the baby in bed with us, I would have said to hell with the tailor, he could wait. But I wasn't going to go there while the baby was awake. Actually, I was wondering how appropriate it was that Eric was bare naked while Claudine was in bed with us. I hadn't thought of it before.

"Eric, do you think maybe you should sleep in something, with Claudine here and everything?"

His eyebrows went up and he looked surprised and almost insulted at my suggestion. "Surely the baby is too young for nudity to be a problem. I am her father after all."

"I know you are, but don't you think it's a little indecent to be naked in front of your little girl?"

"Sookie, think about it. How do you think the world's population increased to what it is today when not that long ago, most families lived together in one room? Do you think babies were all born of immaculate conceptions? Parents had sex in the same room where the children slept, and the whole family bathed in the same room in front of the fires."

"So you would walk around naked right in front of the women in your family?"

"Well, no," he backtracked. "When the children were a little older, some degree of modesty was enforced, but certainly we would not worry about small babies seeing us. Of course, we were usually pretty much covered because of the cold, since we didn't have wonders like central heating systems."

I thought about it for a moment, and I could see his point. It wasn't like Claudine was old enough to know what was appropriate and what wasn't in terms of clothing, but I had been raised with very Victorian views on nudity. Maybe I was being old fashioned, but even still, if Claudine was going to be in our room, it seemed like Eric should at least be wearing underwear.

"I can see the wheels turning in your head, Sookie. How about this? If it will make you more comfortable, I will wear something when the baby is awake. But when she is sleeping, I would prefer that nothing come between us."

"I'd appreciate that, Eric," I said. "When she is a little older she can sleep in her own room, but I don't like her away from us when she is so small."

"I agree. She is safer here with us, but not only that, I like to keep our little family close."

Eric got out of bed and went to the dresser to get out some underwear. He came back wearing the little itty-bitty red ones that I had seen him in when he had lost his memory. He looked sexier in the underwear than he had looked naked.

"Am I decent enough for you?" he asked as he posed at the side of the bed. I just rolled my eyes in answer. Those same eyes didn't leave his gorgeous butt all the way to the bathroom door as he headed in to take his shower.

"You are incorrigible, Eric Northman."

"I will take that as a compliment, Mrs. Northman," he replied.

Mr. Johnson couldn't have been much older than I was, and he was dressed very stylishly in a gray suit and pale blue silk tie. His short spiked hair and multiple piercings in his ear changed the look from corporate executive to alternative lifestyle. He greeted Pam and Eric in a familiar but respectful manner and put out his hand to me when Eric introduced me as his wife.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am." His eye was running up and down my body as he greeted me and I was sure he already knew exactly what size I wore, from bra to shoes.

"Can I offer you something to drink, Mr. Johnson?"

"No thank you, Ma'am. What can I do for you this evening? Mr. Northman said you needed some items altered?"

"Yes, we have somewhat of a unique situation. It is really for our daughter. I think you will just have to see for yourself what you can do to help us."

Not knowing how to explain about Claudine, I just went to get her from the kitchen where she was being entertained by the rest of the family. Not surprisingly, the young man's jaw dropped in surprise when he saw the baby, but he managed to resume his professional demeanor as he opened up his bag and got out a tape measure. The question of personal glamour masking the wings had been answered, since Mr. Johnson was completely human. He saw Claudine for just what she was, a baby with a big set of angel wings.

"I can see that this would present a problem for off the rack," he said.

"I just hacked out a piece of material on her shirts to get her dressed," I told him. "I was hoping you could come up with some way to alter some of her things, or make something to custom fit."

"Hmmm. Perhaps we might lay her down and I can take a few measurements."

"The kitchen might be best," I offered and led the way. "Eric, maybe you could get us a blanket?"

Of course Eric looked sharply at Pam who snatched a blanket from the portacrib and carried it to the table. My vampires snatched up their glasses of True Blood and moved to the side to observe.

After a quick introduction to the rest of the family, the tailor took out a pad and pencil and recorded measurements of every part of Claudine, including her wings. The baby, lying on a blanket on the table, seemed surprisingly cooperative, as she had been throughout the day

"I think we might be able to adjust some of her things by taking out a piece in back as you did and adding a fastener at the neck. I can add a soft binding around the opening for the wings so the fabric won't chafe her skin. Of course, as quickly as children grow, her clothes will need to be replaced in a very short time. I'll probably have to measure her fairly regularly. If I might see her wardrobe, I could advise you on what can be altered for her more immediate needs. Some items, like dresses, might be a better fit if they were custom made."

"How soon do you think you could have something?"

"Within the next few days I should think, for the alterations. Since it is for the King's child, I will be glad to give it priority."

"That would be great. I wanted to ask you about costumes too. I had an idea for Halloween."

"For yourself or the baby?"

"For both of us actually," I said and described what I had in mind for the Fangtasia Halloween party. Mr. Johnson seemed confident that he could come up with something that I would be happy with.

The tailor took my measurements and then we went upstairs to the nursery to look through Claudine's things. He picked out what he thought might be successfully altered in her current size and a few things in the next size up that he would work on later. We made an appointment for the next day for him to bring back a few items and make sure they would fit properly. The rest would be sent over by messenger as he got them finished. The costumes would need a fitting too, but it would take a little more time to get them ready.

"You understand the importance of confidentiality in this matter," Eric said, a note of warning in his tone.

"Certainly. No one but myself will be involved in this work."

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Mr. Johnson. Thank you," I said as he turned to leave.

"It has been a great pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Northman, and your beautiful daughter."

"It's a good thing you're the King," Pam said to Eric after the tailor had left. "This kid's going to cost you a fortune."

"Speaking of which, we need to head over to the club. There are several important meetings to attend if I wish to maintain that position."

As much as I hated to see Eric go to work, at least he was here in Shreveport tonight and he promised to be back in a few hours. I planned to have my dinner in front of the television and enjoy a movie. It was my turn to pick.

"How are the preparations for the party going?" I asked Eric when he returned from Fangtasia.

"Very well. Jan has quite the sense of the dramatic and has designed a fabulous poster for the event. We expect it to be a big seller. Of course, your appearance at the party will be the big draw, since the press will be all over the place. We expect the event to be a sell out."

"That's what I'm worried about. Maybe it would be better to just plan a small press conference. I'm a little nervous about this whole thing."

"Your idea was a good one, Sookie. Having the baby at a party like that will give you an excuse to leave after a very short appearance and they can take their photos and be appeased for a while. The costumes and decorations will present a festive atmosphere and the press will be more likely to focus on the mystique instead of the danger."

"But it is the sense of danger that brings people to the bar, isn't it, and to all of the other vampire businesses?"

"Yes. The prey is strangely attracted to the predator. They like the adrenaline rush, and so do we. It makes the blood so much sweeter. But we are outnumbered, and humanity has become used to being at the top of the food chain. It's a fine balance that must be maintained if we do not want to become hunted again. It is like the difference between a fan club and a mob mentality. One is a nuisance, but keeps the bills paid. The other is a threat."

"So we hold off the press by disguising what Claudine really is. I'm thinking that it won't really make it safer for her if we can't come up with a more long term solution."

"On the contrary, first impressions are everything. If the newspapers show Claudine as an adorable fairy, which of course she is, most of the public will think of her that way. If she is never presented publicly, the tabloids will be the only influence on public opinion. As we already know, they will present her as menacing and a danger to society."

"I asked Jason to talk to Dermott about it," I said and waited to see what Eric's reaction would be. He might not be too happy that I hadn't talked to him about it first.

"Your brother maintains contact with him?"

"Jason said Dermott's been staying around his place, which I take to mean that he's been staying in Jason's house, although I suppose he could just be living in the woods somewhere. Jason feels sorry for him he says."

"I am surprised your brother would show that much concern for anyone besides himself."

"You don't give Jason enough credit, Eric. He always looked out for his friend Hoyt, and for Mel too after Hoyt didn't come around anymore. And I think he loved Crystal, in his own way."

I wasn't sure why I was defending Jason to Eric. Maybe because I wanted to think that Jason was better than he had proven himself to be in the last few years. Maybe just because he was the only brother I was going to have and no one else was going to defend him.

"In his own way is one way to put it. His way is to put himself before the people he loves, as he did with you, his only sister."

"I guess you're right, but I think losing his wife and child has changed him. I think he's lonely."

Eric didn't say anything for a few moments. He wasn't going to develop respect for Jason any time soon, but he could understand loneliness.

"Do you think Dermott will be able to offer any substantial information? What did Niall tell you about him?"

"Niall actually didn't say much at all. I don't really know what abilities he has, but he is the best source of information on the fairies that we will probably find. Mostly, I am hoping he will know a way to get a message to my great grandfather."

"I am no more happy about dealing with Niall than I am with Dermott. Fairies are nothing but trouble."

"Well, your daughter's one of them, at least half of her is. She deserves to know about the rest of her kind. I think Dermott will help her, since she's as much fairy as he is."

"Yes, I think you are right," Eric said and settled into a companionable silence. One arm was draped casually across my shoulders, and his hand rested on my thigh.

Claudine was having what I hoped was her last meal of the night, and the glances I was getting from Eric made it plain that he wouldn't mind a little of what she was having. He'd probably had a True Blood at the club, but I'd never known that to satisfy his appetite. He no doubt would be counting on me for dessert. Personally I was looking forward to his dining experience.

"It's so quiet in here tonight, where'd everybody go?"

"Jan is still at the club with Pam. I believe Jordun and Daniel have gone for take-out and I sent Thomas and Thalia out on guard duty."

"It's nice to have the house to ourselves for a bit. It reminds me of when you stayed with me in Bon Temps."

"When you yielded to me for the first time?" Eric's smile got bigger, as if savoring the memory.

"Yes, Eric, when I yielded to you." My smile matched his. It was one of my very favorite memories.

Eric slid his arm off my shoulder, and quietly moved off the couch. Carefully taking the now sleeping baby from my arms, he laid her gently into her portacrib. He walked back towards me, dropping articles of clothing in his path. I couldn't take my eyes off him, especially since he was still wearing the itty-bitty red underwear.

As he slid those down he said, "The baby's asleep, My Love. Perhaps it is time for some indecent exposure."


	53. Chapter 53

CHAPTER 53

One thing I could say about my Viking. When he wanted something, he wasn't shy about letting me know. And at least one part of him was definitely letting me know. I watched as he stepped out of his itty-bitty undies, knowing exactly what he wanted.

"Eric, Thalia and Thomas are right outside."

"Yes, Lover, of course they are."

"And Pam or Jordun might be back any time, or Jan for that matter."

"Yes, Lover, they might."

He was right in front of where I was sitting on the couch, and his second best asset was pretty close to eye level. It was an eyeful, that's for sure.

"Have you no shame at all, Eric?"

"None, Lover, since you have enough for both of us," he said with a grin.

He bent down and rested his hands on the back of the couch, his mouth approaching mine. I arched my neck to kiss him, and found that I might not have as much shame as he thought. My arms reached up and clasped him around the waist. His lips felt cool against mine, but heat ran through both of us as we made contact.

Before I could realize that he had moved, he was kneeling in front of me and his fingers were busy at the buttons on my blouse and then sliding around to my back to unfasten my bra. My shirt joined Eric's on the floor, followed soon after by my jeans and panties.

A hungry vampire is a dangerous looking thing, and I was not immune to that attraction. As Eric's mouth found my breast, I thought about how just how sweet I must taste, since I could feel the adrenaline in my veins as his fangs pricked the delicate skin. I ached for the feel of his flesh, and I wanted him right now!

Wrapping my legs around him, I invited him in and he took advantage of my welcome as our bodies joined. Feeling the fervor of my response to him, he moved quickly, almost harshly, and if he breathed, he would have been matching my panting breath as he slammed against me.

"Bite me," he said, almost growling. "Bite me."

I pulled him closer, and bit at random, my bite taking him high in the chest above his nipple. He gasped and stilled for a moment as my teeth worked to break his perfect smooth skin. As his blood began to flow into my mouth, he began to whisper in his native tongue and my mind reeled with the emotion flowing into me through our bond and with his blood.

His movements became purposeful then, each push forward calculated to bring us closer and closer, the tension in our bodies a quivering mass of energy. His blood was thick and salty sweet, and it pulsed through me, like fuel to a fire, until my muscles tightened around him. My mouth pulled away as I gasped for breath and he lowered his head to my breast and bit.

Pushed over the edge we both fell in wave after wave of sensation, the pleasure almost painful in its intensity as his mouth pulled on the small wound and his seed spilled into me. A flush of heat washed over me and then cooled as my body shook and then stilled under him.

"Perfect," he gasped and then collapsed on top of me, his weight a comforting pressure.

We lay that way for a long moment until he pushed his weight up onto one arm and looked down at me. Blood was smeared on his chest and over his perfect nipple, and his lips were red and glistening. He leaned down and licked the small wound on my breast, then licked around my mouth, cleaning his own blood from my smeared lips. Our bond hummed with love and contentment.

A voice rang out from the doorway. Pam.

"Can't we leave you two alone for a minute? I bet you made a helluva mess on the couch."

Eric growled, and if I hadn't already been under him, I would have crawled under him in embarrassment.

"Pam!" Eric snapped, and I heard Pam's heels clicking as she walked back towards the kitchen. Since you could never hear Pam move, I knew she was just doing it to annoy. She was humming again. I thought it might be 'Lay Lady Lay'. Pam was really stuck in the seventies. A moment later, Gran's ugly old afghan came flying across the room, landing on top of Eric.

"Eric, get up," I said, pushing at his chest, as if my pushing could have made him move if he didn't want to.

"Yes, dear," he said with a grin and popped up all at once, leaving me totally exposed for a moment, and then he had me covered with the blanket.

"Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea!"

"I don't think he will help you at this juncture, Sookie. Let me carry you upstairs."

I might have protested, but since there was no graceful exit at this point, I let him wrap me in the blanket and fly me up to our room.

"What about Claudine?" I asked as I stumbled, still slightly dazed, to the bathroom to clean up.

"I'll bring our little angel to her cradle," Eric said and went to get the baby. I rolled my eyes at the image of my naked vampire flying around the house, baby in arms. Indecent exposure indeed!

Claudine remained asleep through her relocation, and when she was tucked securely into her little bed, Eric tucked me into ours. He climbed under the covers, nestling in behind me. Within moments, I was dead to the world.

One of the things I still missed after moving in with Eric was the sun streaming through the window when I woke up. I didn't have the instinctual ability that the vamps had to sense sunrise and sunset. When I woke up, I could never tell what time of the day or night it was. I had put a clock on the table on my side of the bed, and the blue glow of its face gave an eerie light to the room and to the skin of the vampire sleeping next to me.

Eric had piled all of the covers on top of me, no doubt worried that I would be warm enough. He never seemed to think of the simple solution of turning up the thermostat, but then as he had said, central heating was something he had lived without when he was human. Since the cold didn't bother him particularly, and certainly wouldn't keep him awake, I was just pleased that he thought of my comfort as the nights became cooler at this time of year. I would have to remember to reset the thermostat myself.

Eric had taken my earlier concern to heart and was lying on the bed in royal blue silk boxer shorts. They would have looked great with his eyes, if his eyes had been open. Of course Eric looked great in just about anything, and even better in nothing at all.

Claudine was whimpering and I realized that I could feel her actual hunger and distress. More and more I was becoming concerned that she would inherit my telepathy. I hated to think of her suffering through the mundane worries and sometimes vicious thoughts of all around her, as I had. A gift it might be, under the right circumstances, but it was more often a curse.

I tried to project my thoughts to her, that mommy was coming to feed her, and she quieted. Well, that was something new. Perhaps she and I would be able to communicate, as Barry and I did, the same way I did with Hunter. Since she was still too young to use language as a communication tool, it would be hard to determine the full extent of what would happen.

I hauled myself out of bed, threw on a robe and quickly took care of my most pressing needs in the bathroom. A shower would have to wait, because the baby was not going to be patient forever. When she got too hungry, she let the whole world know. Looking at the clock as I headed to the cradle, I realized that she had actually slept for close to six hours without waking. No wonder I felt so rested.

Amelia was waiting for me downstairs and managed to spit her coffee half way across the table when she saw Claudine. I wondered if choking on beverages was going to be the usual reaction to my daughter.

"Oh my God, Sook! When did this happen? Why didn't you call me?"

She must have been pretty shocked because she didn't jump up instantly to clean up the mess on the table. It was pretty rare that anything trumped a clean surface in Amelia's book.

"Night before last," I answered. "I guess we were all so taken aback that it never occurred to me to call anybody except Dr. Ludwig. But Thomas got pictures!"

"Wow! I have to say that I never expected anything like this."

"No one else did either, but I'm getting used to the idea. Claudine seems perfectly happy about it."

"Well, hand her over. It looks like she's grown in just the few days since I've seen her too."

"Maybe. It's hard for me to tell, since I see her all the time. She better not grow too fast. I'm having to have all her clothes altered to fit over the wings, and I want to get a little use out of them. I can't even pass them down for charity when she outgrows them now."

I handed the baby over to Amelia and then went to get some paper towels to wipe up the table. Amelia, like everyone else, started petting the baby's wings first thing. Claudine smiled at her and it was like the sun coming out in the morning. We all felt good.

Amelia, in her pastel blue soccer mom outfit, looked comfortable and natural with a baby in her lap. She had never mentioned wanting to have a family of her own, but I thought she probably would make a great mom. Maybe the right man would come along, although maybe the right one had been the one we had so recently laid to rest.

"She's a magical little thing, isn't she?" Amelia said.

"I'm beginning to think so. She just charms everyone. But, what baby that age isn't charming when they're not crying?"

"I don't know, Sook. I have seen some butt ugly babies."

"Amelia! How could you say that about any baby? Gracious!"

"You're just the cutest thing ever, aren't you little angel, aren't you?" Amelia crooned at the baby. Claudine cooed back happily.

Amelia was going to revert to baby talk before long, the way she used to do with Bob the cat. I was guilty of it myself. I poured myself a cup of coffee and looked around to see what Grace had left for breakfast. There was a tray with sliced bagels, cream cheese, fruit and some thin slices of what looked like ham. I popped a bagel into the toaster.

"Grace went to the store. She was muttering about laundry soap or something, and Elvis's underwear. Is Bubba here too now?"

"Oh God, we better make sure Bob doesn't get out. I thought Bubba was in Mississippi, but maybe he came home. He mostly stays with Bill."

"I think maybe Bill is out of town. I went over to see how he was doing last night and his car was there, but the house was dark. There were a couple of newspapers on the porch like he went on vacation and forgot to have the paper stopped."

Or maybe Bill had pissed Eric off one too many times and wasn't coming back. I hoped he was just doing research for the vampire database or something and not locked away somewhere being punished. I didn't think he would leave the area without letting someone know to get his mail and stuff, and that someone would probably have been Amelia. I didn't think Eric would do anything irrevocable either, or at least I hoped not. I owed my life to Bill.

"You okay, Sookie? You look kind of pale all of a sudden."

"I'm fine. Just hungry I think. This nursing really takes it out of you," I said and turned away to put the cream cheese on my bagel. My appetite was actually not so good now, but I knew that I had to eat something or I probably would be ill.

I sipped at my coffee for a few moments, watching Amelia play with Claudine. The erratic uncontrolled movements of a newborn were being replaced by slightly more controlled ones, and Claudine seemed to focus on every word that Amelia said. Not that most of it made much sense, but I could almost feel the baby trying to make sense of Amelia's baby talk.

Bob seemed drawn in by Amelia's voice too, and came padding into the kitchen for a visit. He approached Amelia hesitantly at first, wary, his eyes fixed on her hands as she tickled Claudine. It was hard to tell sometimes how much of Bob the human was left in Bob the cat, but he had the good sense to be wary of Amelia.

"Well, Bob," Amelia said haughtily. "There's a big, bad vampire who just loves to eat cats hanging around these days. Maybe you should take a nice walk outside in the woods tonight."

"Amelia! Don't you even think about it! Bob's under my personal protection."

The moment I said that I realized I was even starting to sound like a vampire. It wasn't enough that I glowed like them these days from all of Eric's blood. Amelia just laughed.

"Oh, I won't let him out, Sook. But it would serve him right if I did."

Bob, perhaps thinking that it wouldn't hurt to get back into Amelia's good graces, tentatively rubbed his head against Amelia's leg, only to be rebuffed by her foot.

"You can try to make nice all you want, Bob, but you're still on my shit list, and don't you forget it."

Stalking away as if unimpressed by Amelia's rejection, Bob went over to his food dish and began to noisily crunch his cat chow. Cats!

"A waste of good cat food, Sook, that's my opinion."

Amelia gave Bob one last hateful look and returned her attention to the baby. I turned my attention back to my breakfast and managed to polish off most of it in a very short amount of time.

"Amelia, Eric and I have been talking about how to handle this new development with the press and the public."

"Oh, they're going to love the wings, Sookie! I bet there will be a thousand new web sites about angels the minute her picture hits the papers."

"I suppose. But it is going to make her more of a target for the hate mongers too, Amelia. You know it will. It's just one more thing for them to focus on, and since the wings are black, they're sure to come up with some story about her being devil's spawn or some kind of fallen angel of Satan or something. We won't have a moment's peace, and we won't be able to go out without drawing a crowd."

"Maybe I can come up with some spell to change them or something, Sookie."

"Amelia!! There is no way on earth you are going to work a spell to change anything on my daughter. Look what happened with Bob when your spell didn't go right the first time."

"Don't rub that in, Sookie. It sure worked right this time, and anyway, Octavia taught me how to reverse it."

Amelia still bristled whenever anyone mentioned "the mistake". But that one mistake was enough for me to not let her experiment on Claudine. Not that I wanted Claudine changed anyway. I just wanted her safe.

"Not going to happen, Amelia. I can't take the risk. Anyway, she is what she is. I don't want to change her, I just want to disguise it, so she can go out and we can have more of a real life."

"Maybe an aversion spell might work, Sook, something to get people to look away. Then the humans would just not notice her."

"My great grandfather could do that," I said. "Something like that might work if we can't come up with something else, but I had another idea actually. Do you remember when I told you about the conference in Rhodes? How King Isaiah had those Britlingens to guard him?"

"Oh yeah, you told me about that. They had an invisibility cloak or something. Very Harry Potter!"

"I don't think it was a cloak, but that's the general idea. Apparently a witch had to bring them over from their dimension or whatever it is. It's expensive, but we have money. I thought, if we could maybe get Batanya here, we could consult with her. Maybe it is something she could teach to you and we could use it with Claudine. If Claudine could just hide the wings, then I could take her out like she was a regular human child."

"That's actually a good idea, Sook," Amelia said and I was a little surprised that her tone sounded surprised that I might have a good idea. Some times Amelia was a little too full of herself.

"I could ask Octavia, I guess, but I don't know if she has dealt with anything like alternate dimensions. She might know a witch that knows how to do it. But why haven't you asked Mr. Cataliades, or King Isaiah? He would be the one to know since he hired the Britlingens for the conference."

"I wouldn't ask the King unless I was out of options. I don't think Eric or I want to owe him any favors."

"Didn't you save his life? He's the one that owes you."

"Yeah, you would think that. But I saw how Felipe de Castro paid me back for saving his life. I don't trust vampires."

"You're only living with about ten of them, Sook. If you don't trust them, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I don't know sometimes, Amelia. I really don't. But I trust the ones in our little family, and I guess I trust Bill too and even Bubba, as far as you can trust someone with such limited capacity. So, I guess it's just that I don't trust the ones I don't know very well. But I hadn't thought about Mr. Cataliades. He didn't really know anything about angels, but he will know about the Britlingens and might know how to contact them."

"So you talk to the demon, and I'll talk to Octavia, and we'll see what we can find out."

"I'll talk to Eric tonight about making an appointment with Mr. Cataliades. You know that you have to keep this confidential, Amelia. I think Octavia is okay, but not anyone else. It's important."

"I learned my lesson, Sookie. I really did. No one is going to hear about this from me. I would just die if something happened to this little baby because of something I said, so I'll be real careful," she said and went back to playing with Claudine.

Actually, that might just happen if something Amelia did caused harm to Claudine. Eric wouldn't forgive her twice for breaching security. But I was pretty sure that she wouldn't. I was betting our safety on it.

The tailor showed up later in the afternoon, after Amelia had gone home to call Octavia and discuss the situation with her. Mr. Johnson brought a portable sewing machine with him and carried a small suitcase full of trims and threads and fasteners. . He was again impeccably dressed in a well fitting suit. He took off his jacket and carefully draped it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs.

"If you don't mind, Ma'am, I can just set up on the table and I can have most of these taken care of in a few hours. I thought this might be easier than sending the things back and forth. I know how babies go through clothes. I have a couple of them at home."

Grace didn't mind giving up the kitchen table for a bit. She was still working on the weekend's laundry. Since Claudine went through clothes like they were going out of style, I was anxious to get everything altered as expeditiously as possible.

The tailor pulled out the pieces that he had finished, several t-shirts and onesies, and we tried them on Claudine. With the soft border he had stitched around the cutout, and the Velcro fasteners at the neck, the clothes fit well and looked like they would be comfortable for the baby. They could be washed with out the problem of unraveling, which had happened with the few items I had hacked up with scissors.

"Wow, this is great, Mr. Johnson. You're a genius with needle and thread."

"Thank you, Mrs. Northman. I take pride in my work. My father trained me. He's retired now and I have taken over the business. Our family has been in this profession for several generations now."

"And you usually have enough work?"

"Oh yes, especially since the vamps have come out. They love parties and ceremonies, and they really like to dress up. They have become some of our best clients now. There is always a lot of work around Mardi Gras too, even here in Shreveport. I've had to hire several assistants. But of course, I will take care of the King's business personally."

Mr. Johnson had everything set up quickly and began working on the stack of small shirts and pajamas that Grace had brought in from the nursery. He snipped and stitched while we chatted. I made lunch since Grace had enough to do and sat down with my sandwich at the other end of the table. Mr. Johnson declined my offer of lunch but gratefully accepted a cup of tea.

"I have everything lined up for your costume. There is a Mardi Gras costumer who will work on some of it of course, since I only work on the fabric components. There should be no problem having everything ready though. I think you will be very pleased."

"I'm sure I will. Are you doing Eric's costume too?" I asked.

Eric had been very secretive about what he was wearing for the Halloween party, although he knew about the costumes for me and Claudine. I had originally thought he would just come as something predictable like Count Dracula, but he looked offended when I suggested that.

"As if I would pretend to be someone of Dracula's eminence!" he had said.

Since I still couldn't believe that the Count was a real person, even though all of the vampires believed he existed, I thought that was a little ridiculous. I wasn't going to say that to Eric though.

"Yes, we'll be constructing the King's costume too. He will be most impressive I think."

"Oh?" I commented innocently. "What is he wearing? With all of the commotion over the new baby and all, I just never thought to ask him what his costume was going to be."

Mr. Johnson raised his eyebrows slightly, hard pressed to believe that I thought him so easy to fool with my ruse of innocence.

"Mr. Northman's costume is always a surprise. I'm afraid that I couldn't possibly say what it will be, even to you, Mrs. Northman."

Well, it had been worth a try, but like everyone else, I would just have to wait for Halloween.


	54. Chapter 54

CHAPTER 54

"What are these orange things, Sookie? Surely you don't intend to eat them?" Eric asked.

He had picked up one of the Cheetos from the bowl on the table, eyed it speculatively and then raised it closer to his face to sniff. The look of distaste on his face was disquieting to say the least. He set the Cheeto back in the bowl and then looked at his orange stained fingers. I pulled him to the kitchen and turned on the faucet so he could wash his hands.

"They're for Mr. Cataliades. He likes them. Diantha does too."

"Oh, well, in that case," Eric said, as if to imply that a demon would eat just about anything.

"It's polite to serve things your guests will like, Eric. I put out the fruit and nuts for the Britlingens. Grace said she thinks that pretty much all of the races will eat those, except vamps of course. I'm not sure about beverages though, but if they don't drink coffee or tea, there's always water. I know they don't care for coke. They call it the 'burping drink'. I have wine and beer too."

"Even vampires can drink water, Kjære. It is one of the main components of blood after all."

"Wow! I didn't realize that. I've never seen any vampire drink anything but blood."

"I'm not saying we would want to drink it, but we could if we were trying to pass for human. It wouldn't hurt us."

"You learn something every day, that's what Gran always said."

Eric was hovering, following me around the house as I got ready for our company. I was beginning to think that he might be jealous that I was so excited about seeing anyone but him. I had been out so little and seen so few people since the baby was born, that I had been looking forward to this for days. Eric would probably be happy if I never left his side for a moment and had no interest in any one but him and Claudine.

I grabbed the pitcher of tea from the fridge and turned around, almost running into my vampire, since he was standing silently right behind me.

"Eric, why don't you go play with Claudine or something? Don't you have work to do?"

"Yes, but I would rather be with you. Our angel is asleep."

I set the pitcher down on the counter and walked into Eric's embrace. His chin rested cozily on the top of my head and his arms encircled my waist.

"What's the matter? Are you hungry, sweetie?"

He seemed to consider that carefully before he answered.

"Not really, although I suppose I am always hungry where you are concerned. Sometimes…"

He hesitated, and then turned his face away for a moment, as if he was embarrassed by his thoughts, but it wasn't exactly lust he was hiding.

"Sometimes what, sweetie?"

"Our guests will be arriving soon I think, Lover. I will let you prepare while I check on the baby," he said and left the room.

Whatever he had been thinking, he had been careful to shield it from me. I wasn't sure how much he could shield his thoughts, but I had a feeling he had a little more control over our bond than I did, and had learned how to guard against my telepathy too. Well, I wasn't going to probe if he wanted to keep something to himself. I had enough trust to believe that he would tell me when he was ready. Vampires had random thoughts, just like humans did. If I judged by what people thought rather than by what they did, everyone would be considered a criminal.

I carried in the tray with wine glasses and set it down on the table in the living room. We had never had this much company before, and between all the guests and the family, we would go through most of the crystal in the china cabinet before the night was over. But the table looked nice with everything on it. There were the small bowls of snacks, glasses for the drinks, the snickerdoodles that Grace and I had baked that afternoon and a nice arrangement of flowers. The food wasn't fancy, but it would be good, and this was supposed to be a business meeting, not a dinner party.

Eric was sitting on the couch, apparently in down time, but looked up as I entered.

"I chilled the white wine. Do you think I should put it out now, or wait to see if they want it?"

"I have no idea, Kjære. Whatever you are doing is fine. They are not coming for the food."

"Well, thanks a lot buddy. I went to a lot of trouble, you could at least be enthusiastic."

Jan walked in then, with Mr. Cataliades and Diantha. Diantha looked radiant as always, in a hot pink tank, yellow leggings and some diaphanous green material that resembled a tutu around her middle. She was barefoot as usual. Jan looked pretty fancy himself, carrying a big sword, and loaded down with weapons, including a shoulder holster and pistol, an unusual choice for a vampire.

"My dear, how very nice to see you," Cataliades said, nodding his head to me and then briefly to Eric.

"Mr. Cataliades, Diantha, I'm so glad you could come. Won't you sit down?" You couldn't say I wasn't versed in Southern hospitality. I waved a hand to the sofa and the lawyer took a seat. Diantha, mumbling something like, "Nicetoseeya", found a place on the floor and sat down Indian style.

The rest of our guests followed close behind, surrounded by a pack of suspicious looking vampires. The whole family had insisted on being indoors for this meeting, and additional vampire security had been hired to maintain yard patrol.

"Batanya! Clovache! What a pleasure to see you again," I said to the two Britlingens as they came into the room.

"Mrs. Northman, my pleasure," Batanya said and extended her hand. At least four swords were drawn quicker than I could see movement, but at a nod from Eric, they stayed lowered.

Not intimidated in the least by my over protective family, I extended my hand to Batanya and Clovache in turn. They nodded to Eric, who gave them a nod back and signaled with his hand that they could sit. They didn't exchange pleasantries, but neither did they show any open animosity. I had learned that a nod was just as good as a handshake between vamps and other races.

"May I offer you a drink? I have wine, beer, coffee and tea," I said, hoping that we could start this out politely and comfortably. Eric appeared a little tense, as did the other vampires. Considering I had seen one of the Britlingens virtually decapitate a vampire with a throwing star in Rhodes, I could understand that this wasn't like having humans over for a visit. But I had been under the impression that when you hired them, they were loyal to your side and shouldn't be considered a threat.

"A glass of red wine would be very nice, dear," Mr. Cataliades said and the Britlingens nodded their heads to show that that would be fine. I poured three glasses, poured myself a glass of tea and asked if the vamps or Diantha wanted anything. They all declined.

"Perhaps we might get straight down to business," Eric said perfunctorily. "I understand from Cataliades that no Guild contract has been agreed to. Is that correct?" This was all news to me.

Batanya, being the senior, nodded and spoke. "Yes. A negotiation took place for the fees for our transportation of course, but since this was only a consultation, the Guild has agreed to consider this leave for a short vacation from our duties. Since a debt is owed to your wife, we wished to repay it in this small way."

I wasn't sure why they owed me a debt, but I didn't interrupt. I guessed they were referring to my warning them that the bombs were about to go off in Rhodes. That had allowed them to get themselves and their client, King Isaiah, out of the building without injury.

"While that is appreciated, we must be assured that this meeting will be held in the same confidentiality that a contractual meeting would be held in. Nothing that is discussed here tonight must leave this room unless I authorize it."

"That has been agreed, and it is on our word. The Guild honors that as equally binding as a financial contract."

I was watching this exchange, noting how Eric seemed to relax as soon as he heard that Batanya and Clovache's word had been pledged. Apparently their word was as good as anything on paper. Mr. Cataliades looked unconcerned, and had already found the cheetos. He looked up at me and smiled, as if pleased that I had remembered his fondness for them.

"You may have heard that my wife and I have a child," Eric continued. "Sookie, perhaps you might bring in Claudine now."

"Sure," I said and went up to the nursery to get Claudine. She was still sleeping, but I scooted my hands under her gently and she didn't wake. I carried her down the stairs over my shoulder and was surprised to see Batanya stand up from her seat on the couch when she saw the baby."

"An angel! It's true then!" she said, staring with her mouth gaping open.

Clovache looked equally amazed, her eyes opening wide. "Wondrous!" she said.

"What have you heard?" Eric asked, resting his hand on my leg as I sat back down next to him.

"Only that your wife had been blessed with a child. There is of course speculation about the father, but there are many ways to get with child. About the angel? Only that Niall Brigant had been working for generations to bring them back. Everyone believed that his hopes rested on his granddaughter Claudine though. I see that he has met with success."

"What do you mean my…?" I was cut off when Eric's hand squeezed my leg. "Ouch!" I squeaked.

Batanya focused her attention on me, noting Eric's hand, but said nothing.

"Perhaps you might elaborate on the rumors that you have heard concerning the fairy?"

I was dying to ask questions of my own, but Eric must have sensed that and kept a slight pressure on my leg. He obviously did not want me to mention that Niall was my great grandfather, since it wasn't common knowledge.

"There have been many rumors, but perhaps the most persistent is that the Brigants have been sending members of their family here to your world for many generations, trying to find any remnants of the angels. They hoped that one would have joined with a human and they could find a descendant of that race to breed with. They have also worked with their magic to evolve one of their own to that state, for there are stories that the original angels were an evolutionary state, not a separate race."

Clovache was still staring at Claudine, and when the baby shifted position, her wings fluttering slightly, Clovache's hand reached up, as if she wanted to touch her. Thalia's sword was almost instantly lifted in front of the Britlingen, not dangerously, but definitely in warning. Clovache sat back in her seat, folding her hands on her lap.

"So there really are, or were, angels?" I asked.

"Oh yes, at least according to the legends on all of the worlds. At one time, there were legions of angels. They were the great messengers and guardians of peace and goodwill between the worlds. They could cross freely into any realm and were welcomed. It is said that wherever they went, men dropped their weapons."

"But what happened to them?"

"That is not known. It is said the demons that inhabit the underworld were once angels, and that there was a great schism. Those that were banished underground became something else. Gradually the sightings of angels became rare and then they were gone. Occasionally someone will claim that an angel has appeared to them, but in a spirit form, non corporeal. So perhaps their souls are still alive."

Here, Batanya looked at Mr. Cataliades, to see if she was offending or if perhaps he had something to add on behalf of the demons. The half demon was listening with great interest, but apparently was not taking her story as personal insult.

"The demons have the same legends. But they consider the sightings of angels to be hallucinatory. They do not believe that even their souls have survived," he said. "And as to the banishment, that is greatly disputed."

I wondered why the lawyer hadn't mentioned any of this when I had asked him what he knew about angels. Maybe he thought old legends weren't really something to be taken seriously? He was a lawyer after all, and always seemed careful about what he said, rarely speculating about anything without at least some evidence.

"Do the fairies know about this child?" Clovache asked. "All of the portals were sealed by the Prince we had heard."

"As far as we know, they have no knowledge of this. The portals were closed before it was known that my wife was with child. There is no way to determine if they still communicate with anyone from this world."

"Just as well, perhaps," said Batanya. "The prince would certainly have taken her already."

"He might have tried," Eric said menacingly.

"Yes. He might have tried," Batanya conceded, not wholeheartedly, registering her own doubt about the outcome.

I was not comfortable with this conversation at all, and what it said about my great grandfather's motives in fostering a relationship with me. I was also realizing I might have been hasty about having Jason speak to Dermott about all of this too. Although surely Dermott wouldn't be in communication with Niall. Niall had been very adamant that he couldn't find Dermott before the portals were going to be closed.

"In what way did you think we could be of assistance with this?" Batanya asked, pressing the discussion forward.

"Our concern has been primarily to protect the child from the humans, who might interpret her physical shape to be some manifestation of their darker Christian beliefs. My wife, having noted your ability to disguise yourselves with invisibility, thought you might offer some knowledge of a magic we could use to disguise her wings. If she could be presented as a human child, we would be more likely to keep her safe and unharmed."

The fact that I had "seen" them when they were supposed to be invisible registered with the Britlingens, and I thought it took them by surprise. I guess that ability was not generally known.

"We would be happy to do whatever is in our power to protect the child. An angel would be a great treasure to all of the worlds, and would be honored in most of them." She glanced at Cataliades as she said this, as if in doubt that the demon's world would give Claudine the same reception. "The humans, with their indiscriminate breeding, have become a scourge and a threat to all of the other races. They must not be allowed to injure this child."

"Human here," I interjected. Ten pairs of shoulders shrugged dismissively, as if to say who was I trying to kid.

"Do you think your 'cloaking device' as Sookie calls it could be used for disguise?"

Bob came in about this time and began sniffing around the table. The smell of the cheetos must have been appealing since he put his front paws on the table. Diantha snatched him away from the table and placed him on her lap. The cat, distracted from the tempting snack, seemed happy to find someone in the house besides me who would give him attention and began to purr happily when Diantha stroked his fur.

"That is an interesting question. Can we assume that the promise of confidentiality goes in both directions?"

Batanya glanced around the room until each person had nodded in agreement before she proceeded.

"The magic that is involved is complex. It is the work of some of our most powerful witches. The spell is stored in a small orb, and it is released when called for with a special incantation. The orbs have a limited lifespan and must be renewed frequently. Perhaps the spell could be modified to make only her wings invisible, but that would be a question for the witches. It is generally not detectable when in use."

They both eyed me when Batanya said this. I guess I was the exception to that rule.

"So, if they could do this, you think they could teach a witch here to do it?" I asked.

"If they were willing to share the skill, and if a witch could be found that was powerful enough. Who did you have in mind? The witch that transformed that cat?"

So they could tell that Bob was not a real cat. That was interesting. Maybe they had some kind of amulet that detected magic or something. I hadn't thought that they themselves were magical creatures, but then how would I know?

"Who we would employ would be a discussion for another time," Eric said. "First we will have to determine if it can be done."

"You would give us leave to discuss this with our superiors?"

"On your assurance that only those involved would be informed and that they would contractually agree to her safety as they would any other client."

"Agreed."

"Then our business is concluded until you have discussed this with your superiors. Any discussion of financial arrangement will be handled by Cataliades," Eric said.

I was sure that I had more questions, but somehow I couldn't think of them right then. It was like my mind was reeling with their assurance that Claudine was a real angel. All of my ideas about angels had been so intertwined with my ideas of God. God made the angels and then he sent them as his messengers or as guardians or warriors. There were stories about them in the Bible. How did that mesh with what Batanya had said? It seemed like the legends weren't very specific about where the angels came from originally? And what did this have to do with my cousin Claudine, because I was sure in my heart that she and her baby had influenced what my baby had become.

The atmosphere lightened considerably as soon as all of the business had been concluded. I hoped that our company wouldn't just get up and leave, since I sort of liked the Britlingens and I had hoped to get to know them a little better. I wanted to show off Claudine too, who was stirring and would wake up before long. Angel or not, she was my little girl and I was proud of her.

Thomas, who never stood on ceremony for long, headed into the kitchen and brought back a True Blood a few moments later. This seemed to be the signal that it was time for refreshment, and Batanya and Clovache helped themselves to a cookie.

"These are very delicious," Clovache said.

"It's the cinnamon," Jan said, and Clovache looked at him closely as if he had just said something profound. Her eyes lingered for a moment on his face and then moved steadily downward as if taking stock. She seemed to like what she saw and gave him a warm smile. Jan's eyebrow went up for a moment and then he returned the smile, a hint of lust in his eyes.

Both of the women were wearing what I thought of as their uniform, but without quite the amount of armor they had been wearing in Rhodes. They carried a fair amount of weaponry, including a small crossbow that Clovache wore on her sleeve. I didn't doubt that they carried an equal amount that wasn't visible. They were the most muscular women I had ever seen, but they were still obviously women, and their tight clothing left little of the muscle or anything else to the imagination. Jan certainly seemed appreciative.

Cataliades seemed to have struck up a conversation with Pam, and was asking about the Halloween party which was scheduled for the following night. I listened attentively, since Eric had been so secretive, saying it would all be a surprise for me.

"Angels and Demons," Pam was saying. "So you can come as you are." She and the lawyer both laughed. So that must be the theme, I thought. Well, how very appropriate. Eric glared at Pam, but the cat was out of the bag. It made me really curious now to see what Eric would be wearing.

"You are hosting a party for All Hallows?" Batanya asked. "I have heard of this celebration."

"Perhaps you and your beautiful companion would like to be our guests, if you are not leaving this evening?" Jan offered gallantly. I guess I could see where this was heading.

"Perhaps we might. We are on vacation after all," Batanya replied and began to size up the men in the room.

Her eyes fell first on Thomas, obviously the oldest and most powerful male person in the room, besides Eric of course, who was not on the market. Thalia was no fool, and she stepped closer to Thomas in a possessive manner. Batanya, too wise to take on something like Thalia, quickly moved her glance to Daniel. He gave her a small nod and she sat back looking speculative. Okay, that was surprising. I would have thought most women would have looked at Jordun first, but to each his own.

Claudine, who had steadily become more restless, decided that it was time for her dinner. Her eyes opened and she began to screw up her face, ready to kick up a fuss. I got up to excuse myself to go feed the baby and was met with a protest.

"You don't need to leave the room because of us," Clovache volunteered. "We are not humans that would be offended by the sight of a child taking nourishment."

I looked at Eric to see what he thought. It had never occurred to me to breast-feed the baby in front of company, but he just smiled, letting me know that he was happy with whatever I was comfortable with. Regardless of what we did in the bedroom, Eric saw breast-feeding as the only normal and natural way to feed a child, and had been shocked when I had told him that it offended some people. I wasn't sure how Mr. Cataliades would take it, but I doubted he would feel any differently. The vampires were family and Diantha looked like she was asleep along with Bob the cat.

I figured what the hell, and lifted up my shirt. Claudine nuzzled and rooted for a moment and then settled down contentedly for her meal. Eric put his arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of Claudine's little head. He looked for all the world like the proud papa.

Daniel offered the ladies another glass of wine. They accepted and soon the vamps and the Britlingens were talking about Halloween customs. Not being a custom in their world, the two women seemed intrigued by the idea of costumes and trick or treat. I explained about setting out jack-o-lanterns and how much fun it was to get big bags of candy, then had to relate what kind of tricks were liable to be pulled. Jason's trick of throwing a roll of toilet paper onto someone's trees or shrubbery seemed to baffle them, but then I'd always thought it was pretty stupid myself.

I found myself really enjoying the evening, the first real social event that we had hosted in this new house. It made me feel so normal, just another wife hosting a social night for her husband's business associates, or just any married couple having a night of drinking and conversation with their friends. Looking at who the guests were, and the family for that matter, I knew that this was not your average cocktail party, but it was probably as close as I was ever going to get.

When Claudine had finished eating and had managed a nice big burp over my shoulder, I asked if Batanya would like to hold her. She seemed elated with the idea and as soon as Claudine was in her arms, she broke out in a smile bigger than I had ever seen on her face. Claudine returned the smile and Batanya laughed out loud.

"She is beautiful, don't you think, Clovache? And I see that she has already been provided with a demon mark of protection," Batanya remarked. I guess she was able to see that bit of magic too. She nodded approvingly to Mr. Cataliades.

The other woman was so obviously waiting her turn to hold the baby, that I suggested that Batanya pass her to Clovache. Clovache had the same reaction, and both of the Britlingens sat happily, stroking Claudine's wings and beaming. For two such ferocious looking warrior women, it was a strange and irresistible tableau.

"There can be no doubt," Batanya said. "You can feel her magic. She will be a blessing for all the worlds."

That seemed a heavy burden for such a small creature to me. I was more worried about getting her to puberty than on how she was going to affect the rest of humanity or any of the other races. But if she could bring this much happiness to even our small group, then she was indeed a blessing.

"If you are not in a hurry to be anywhere, perhaps you would enjoy a swim," Daniel suggested when I had resumed possession of the baby.

"That would be very enjoyable," both women agreed.

"I probably have a couple of suits that might fit," I offered doubtfully. My size eight frame (okay, sometimes a ten) seemed a bit more well rounded than the two females on the couch, especially in the bosom department.

They both shrugged, not concerned about whether a swimsuit was available and stood up, apparently ready for anything.

Mr. Cataliades and Diantha gave their excuses and offered to have a car sent whenever the Britlingens were ready to leave. Eric assured the lawyer that any necessary transportation would be provided, and the demons took their leave, with many thanks on my part for arranging the meeting.

The men lead the ladies out to the pool, grabbing enough towels for everyone. Thank goodness for Grace. There were plenty of clean towels. I should buy stock in a bed and bath store, I thought. The business from this household alone would keep a store going.

"Would you care for a swim, Lover?" Eric asked me.

"It might be a little cool outside for Claudine," I answered, but sensing that he would enjoy being with the rest of the family, I offered to sit and watch. I bundled up the baby in a blanket, clad myself in a light sweater, and headed out after Eric.

Everyone was already in the pool by the time I got settled in one of the chairs along the side. Eric, in keeping with the prevailing attire, pulled off his clothes and threw them in the pile that had accumulated on the deck.

Striding in all his glory onto the diving board, my vampire launched himself up into the sky, then turned mid-air to come plummeting down into the water. A laughing group of vampires and Britlingens dove to the side as he streaked into the pool. He popped up a moment later, golden hair streaming with water and pale skin glimmering in the moonlight. His face was filled with laughter and abandon and I was sure that it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.


	55. Chapter 55

CHAPTER 55

"Good morning everyone," I said as Grace handed me my first cup of coffee for the day.

Grace seemed to be in her element with guests in the house and was smiling happily. I think she thought that company was good for me. In any case, she had put on a spread fit for a king.

My suspicions about where the Britlingens had spent the night were confirmed when I joined them at the breakfast table. The two women, though they didn't look like they had an extra pound between them, seemed to be packing in just about everything Grace put in front of them. They both greeted me cheerfully, so I assumed they had had a good night.

Claudine was wide awake, well fed, clean and dry, so she had smiles for everyone. I put her in her little seat and joined Batanya and Clovache in wolfing down the sausage, pancakes and eggs that Grace heaped on my plate. I think Eric must have had more than his fair share the night before, since I was starving.

The night before had been interesting in more than one respect. I had left the poolside when it looked like the occupants were going to start leaving the water. It was one thing to see Eric's naked dive, and even to see the vague outline of everyone obviously naked in the pool, but quite another to hang out with them in that state of undress when they came out. I didn't know if I would ever be as comfortable with nudity as most of the supes were.

I was still a little surprised at myself that I'd gone outside at all, especially after lecturing Eric about modesty in front of the baby. But the baby had been wrapped up over my shoulder and…oh, I didn't really know anymore. More and more of the things that had seemed so black and white to me, were now starting to look awfully gray. There were other things to focus on besides that today though.

I had wanted to discuss the conversation with the Britlingens with Eric the night before, but my body had been too tired to stay awake. I didn't get to pick my sleep schedule these days. Claudine ruled the roost. Granted, I could try one of those methods some of the books recommended to get her to sleep on a "schedule", but that seemed wrong on so many levels. When a baby wanted to be comforted, to just let her cry herself back to sleep was something I couldn't do. So I slept when she slept, and sometimes that was when I had other things I should be doing.

Sitting there with a forkful of pancake halfway to my lips, my mind going over the incidents of the night before, I all of a sudden realized that I had been spoken to.

"Pardon me?" I said to Grace.

"Your brother called this morning," she said.

"Oh, thank you, Grace. Did he leave a message?"

"Just for you to call him back."

"You have a brother?" Batanya asked with real interest. She had finally stopped eating, maybe because there wasn't any food left in the house. Where did she put it? I could feel my breakfast going straight to my hips.

"Oh yes. Jason. He is a few years older than me. He lives in Bon Temps, where my family has lived for generations."

"Ah," she said and she and Clovache gave each other significant looks. I wasn't sure if the interesting part of my comment had been about Jason or about Bon Temps. What had Claudine said about Bon Temps? I tried to remember. Something about it being an important crossroads, between the three worlds? It was something like that anyway, and I was sure there must be a portal of some kind near there, since the fairies popped in and out of there so easily. I pulled my attention back to my company.

"He is like you?" Clovache asked and then looked at Grace as if to ask if it was okay to speak frankly in front of the housekeeper.

"Well, I guess he looks a bit like me, blond, blue eyes. That's about all the resemblance there is, wouldn't you say so, Grace?"

I threw that in, just so they'd know that Grace knew about all of the family's dirty laundry. That wasn't strictly true, but housekeepers found out just about everything, didn't they? And that was fine with me and Eric. We trusted in Grace's discretion.

"Jason is definitely his own creature," Grace replied cryptically.

I wondered what Jason had found out about Dermott. I needed to call him, but I was reluctant to say too much to him without Eric knowing what was going on. I'd put off meeting with Dermott for a bit, until we found out what the Britlingens could come up with.

Thinking of Jason made me think of the other member of my family, Hunter. I needed to call him too and let him know that I was thinking about him. He wanted to see the baby and I had held him and Remy off so far, saying that I wasn't quite recovered, but eventually I needed to address that issue. I had a feeling there was more and more reason to keep his existence secret from the supernatural community, and Hunter learning to control his telepathy was the only way to insure that it was kept a secret. I was the one that would need to teach him that.

I decided to change the subject from my concerns to theirs. They had asked about family, I could do the same.

"Do you have any brothers? Do the men in your…uh…world…also become…uh…warriors?"

I didn't know much about their world. I had heard it referred to as another dimension, but I couldn't quite wrap my mind around that concept. Wasn't that what Einstein was all about? I was never really good at science.

"Yes, I have four brothers," Batanya said, "all older. I am the only one in the family to join the Guild though. We have men in our ranks of course, and some of them are even good at what they do."

"Some of them," Clovache said, rolling her eyes. I guess they had the same Venus/Mars debate in their dimension as we had on ours. Obviously their women were "liberated" if they were allowed to work as paid bodyguards.

"I guess your world is pretty different from ours?"

"In some respects. We are a little bit more racially diverse and a little bit less dependent on technology. But the issues are the same: power, politics, social conditions, money."

"Life, death, love, sex, food," Batanya added.

"I guess all of that is universal," I agreed. "But the way the issues are dealt with is surely different."

"Some of that depends on the race of course. The vampires, for example, don't have to decide what to cook for dinner," Clovache said and we all laughed.

"That might make things simpler, but not necessarily easier," Grace chimed in from the sink where she was washing up.

"You hit the nail on the head," I responded to Grace, and got confused looks from the two Britlingens.

"One of the differences I guess. Idioms that don't translate very well," Clovache said.

"You don't need different worlds for that, you just need different languages."

I had found more than once that Eric, who had an amazing command of the English language, would be stumped by one of my southern sayings.

"Perhaps the most profound difference between your world and ours, is the acceptance of magic," Batanya said.

"Some of our world has accepted vampires, and now the two-natured," I said. "But I don't know if that acceptance will ever extend to witches and fairies, the ones that produce magic."

'Perhaps the vampires are already paving the way to acceptance," Clovache said.

"Unlike the vampires," Grace said, "I must decide what we are having for dinner, and head off to the market. Is there anything I can get for you? Will you be staying on?"

This remark was addressed to the two Britlingens and they looked at each other, holding the kind of silent conversation you often see take place between a long married couple. I suppose being partnered for a long time in life and death situations would bring about the closeness you might see in a marriage. A nod from Batanya prompted Clovache to speak.

"We would appreciate your hospitality for the coming night. It would be a shame to miss your delicious cooking at dinner, and the Halloween party of course. Tomorrow, we will return home and see what progress can be made on the task you have set for us."

The rest of the day passed quickly. We played with Claudine, compared battle scars (literally) and in general just enjoyed the girl talk. I got a chance to hear a little more about their world and some of the other races they had encountered. When it got to the differences between human males and some of the more exotic creatures that existed, the "differences" made me blush. The Britlingens found that extremely amusing. I might be bedding a vampire, but I was a babe in the woods next to these girls.

We were all skirting around the issues of angels and fairies. I was being cautious because Eric had seemed so concerned about giving anyone more information than was absolutely necessary, the loose lips sink ships kind of thing. I thought they were avoiding the issue unless Eric was present. They might be good at killing vampires, but no one really wanted to piss off Eric. I guess that in the supernatural community, I was sort of Eric's property, and he was the King after all.

After an early dinner -- the Britlingens again astounding me with their appetites -- I decided to call my brother back before it was time to get ready to head to Fangtasia. The party didn't start until nine, but we would go to the club at first dark to meet with the press and get into our costumes.

"Listen, Jason, I have a lot going on, so I'll have to get back to you about meeting with Dermott. I think Eric is going to insist on being there."

"Well, he says he'll meet you at Gran's place. He says he has a lot to tell you, and he said something about some key that's at Gran's. You know anything about that?"

I noticed he was calling the house Gran's place instead of mine. He was probably still mad that Gran had left the house to me, instead of to both of us, even though he had our folk's place. Well, I wasn't going to say anything about that. I'd had enough fights with my brother and I wasn't going to waste my time or energy over old wounds, especially since my brother couldn't see reason until it hit him in the face.

"The whole drawer of keys in the kitchen got melted, Jason. I threw them away when we tore everything down. Terry took all that stuff to the dump."

That at least was the truth, as far as it went. I had "the" key in my underwear drawer. Thomas had burned his finger on it the last time he'd been poking around in my stuff and I'd had to wrap the silver key up in a pair of socks, even though it served Thomas right if he was going to poke his fingers where they didn't belong. Until I knew for sure what it was for and why Dermott wanted it, I was keeping the key's location to myself.

"You know, sometimes I can't figure that guy out, Sis." As if Jason could figure out anything besides his truck and which way to point his shotgun. Actually, I was surprised he hadn't shot himself in the foot yet.

"You going to Sam's for Halloween tonight, Jason?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I guess. He's gonna do a party like he did last year. You goin' to that big thing at Fangtasia? Everybody's talking about it. I was thinking about goin', but it's all sold out. Can you get me in?"

"I think you'd better just go to Sam's, Jason, and you tell everybody there I said howdy."

There was no way I wanted to have Jason to deal with at Fangtasia, especially with the press there. I felt a little pang when I remembered the pumpkins and dancing skeletons we had used to decorate Merlotte's the year before. I missed the place sometimes.

"Okay, Sis. You let me know when you want to come see Dermott, and I'll tell him. And you give that baby a kiss for me. I'll come by and see her soon. Maybe that housekeeper of yours will have some of that pecan pie. She's an odd little lady, but her pie is almost as good as Gran's."

"Okay, Jason. You do that and I'll ask Grace about the pie. Bye."

The club was surrounded by guards when we arrived, the whole family plus the Britlingens driving up in a caravan. It had been a little bit of a challenge to get Claudine in her car seat for the drive.

"The baby will be perfectly safe in my arms, Sookie, and much more comfortable than in those restraints. I can hold onto her in a crash," Eric had argued with me.

Pam, who was getting into the driver's seat, had to throw in her two cent's worth.

"I've been driving since Henry Ford was alive, and I haven't had a crash yet, Sookie. I don't intend to start tonight."

"We'll get pulled over and get a ticket. The law says she has to be in a car seat, Eric."

"Any trooper that attempts to issue me a citation will live to regret it, Lover."

"Whether the policeman regrets it or not, Eric, is not the point. You aren't going to win this one, and I'm not getting into the car unless the baby is in her car seat."

Eric, looking exasperated, decided to give up. He knew how stubborn I could be when it came to the baby. He signaled Pam to get out and hand over the keys. I guess he figured if he wasn't going to win this battle, he was damned well not going to be a passenger in the car when he could be the driver. Pam, puffing up like a blowfish with indignation, handed over the keys and gave me the evil eye.

"She is so much trouble," she mumbled to Jordun, who was standing by the car looking amused.

"I heard that, Pam!" I said while I tried to figure out how to buckle in Claudine without scrunching up her wings too much.

Jordun had arranged for a weapons checkpoint, complete with bomb sniffing weres at the entrances, since this was a high profile event, and because I was going to be there with the baby. I was shuffled straight from the car into the employee entrance, with Claudine well covered by a blanket over my shoulder. Mr. Johnson would be meeting us inside to help us with our costumes.

Jan's original painting for the Halloween extravaganza poster now held a place of honor in Eric's office and I saw it for the first time. It was wonderful. Shining angels, one of them looking a lot like me, dominated the sky. Their multicolored wings were unfurled and their hands extended to the ground below, where devils, horned and tailed, reached up from the underworld. In the middle, the vampires danced in the moonlight, their fangs glistening. Along one side, white letters on a red background said simply, "Fangtasia".

It took a while to get dressed, and to get Claudine into her little outfit. . I had decided there was no point in going as fairies. We might as well play up the angel wings, making them look more purposefully part of her costume.

Claudine was dressed in a flowing gown made of a gauzy, shimmering fabric, hot pink with black trim and little golden sequins finishing off the edges. A golden halo fitted onto a little headband completed the look.

After I had the baby dressed, Mr. Johnson helped me to fit the harness that would carry my wings over my slip. My gown was the same as Claudine's, but where hers was pink, mine was black, with pink trim. The bodice was an empire waist style, the fabric drawn up under my breasts with a golden cord, the skirt flowing to the floor, almost concealing my gold sandals.

My wings were even more startling than the baby's. The feathers were dyed the same pink as the gowns, and extended from ear level to the bottom of my butt. They fastened to the harness between my shoulder blades. They were cleverly hinged, with small straps that went around my wrists so that when I moved my arms, the wings moved too. They were beautiful. After putting on my own golden halo, I stood in front of the mirror in Eric's office, holding Claudine. Our mother-daughter outfits just looked striking.

When Eric came in, all I could do was gape, my mouth wide open. Catching flies, Gran would have said. My vampire looked absolutely amazing. His lower body was encased in shimmering black dance tights, soft leather boots covered his calves and extended to a cuff just above his knees. His shirt was a tunic of a semi-sheer fabric, ending a little below his waist, which was encircled, with a cord matching the one fitted snugly under my breasts. His wings were the black of night and towered above his head, cascading in a veil of feathers to the floor. On his head, instead of the golden halo that Claudine and I wore, were two golden horns.

Eric surveyed Claudine and me in our finery and gave me a devilish grin.

"Heavenly," he said and kissed me soundly.

Jordun and Pam knocked tentatively on the door and after a "Come in" from Eric, strode into the office.

"Well, Sookie, don't you look good enough to eat," she said, earning a not too serious growl from Eric.

Pam and Jordun were in matching outfits (the uniform for the guards tonight, I thought) consisting of a stretchy black body suit and black leather boots. Pam was sporting a pair of small wings and Jordun was wearing a set of horns and a forked tail. After admiring how wonderful they both looked in their skin-tight outfits, I let out the laugh that had been building inside.

"Seriously, Jordun. How much did he have to pay you to wear that tail?" I asked.

"Not enough," Jordun replied.

Pam snuck up beside him and pulled on the tail and Jordun definitely looked as if he thought he should have asked for more. Eric ignored this interchange although our bond was humming with amusement.

"Are you ready for the reporters, Kjære?" Eric asked me. I nodded, although I wasn't sure that I would ever really be ready for this. I sat down on the stool that had been provided for me, since the wings made it difficult to sit in a regular chair. Eric stood behind us.

When Jordun opened the door, I could hear the beat of the music and the sounds of voices, talking and laughing from inside the club. The party had started then. Jordun signaled for the small group waiting outside the door to come in.

There were two women and four men, two of whom were carrying large cameras with microphones attached. They all looked excited and every pair of eyes widened when they caught site of Eric in his outfit, then drifted to me and the baby. As they filed in, Claudine smiled at everyone and was rewarded with an answering smile. I doubted there was anyone that could see the baby's smile and not smile back. Eric took the lead, but I knew that I would have to answer questions.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our Halloween celebration. I would like to present my wife Sookie, and my daughter Claudine. In consideration of the age of the baby, it may be necessary to limit the use of flash photography if it appears to upset her. You may ask questions."

Instantly the group called out with questions, and Eric signaled one young woman that he would take her question first. He gave her one of his big, beautiful smiles and she swallowed a few times before she asked her question.

"Mr. Northman, according to the American Vampire League, vampires are completely sterile, and yet you have a child. Is it true that vampires cannot breed?"

"Yes, it is true that vampires cannot reproduce in the traditional manner."

"Mrs. Northman, would you like to comment on that?" the next reporter asked. He was a middle-aged man whose waistline had seen better days, but his eyes were bright and alert with intelligence. I asked his name.

"Mr. Forbes, I'm afraid I'm not completely comfortable discussing such a personal matter with anyone besides my husband and my doctor." Actually I think my face had turned a little red, but I maintained my smile. "But, as my Gran would have said, 'There's more than one way to skin a cat.' Let's just say that Eric is not the biological father." That was pretty vague, but there was no way I was going to talk about how this had come about. Let them draw their own conclusions and assume it was in-vitro or something.

"Mrs. Northman, you were hospitalized and your grandmother was murdered by a man with a vendetta against women that associate with vampires? Are you aware of continuing threats to you or your daughter now that you are married to a vampire?" This question was from the other male, a tall, dark haired man with one of those faces that was completely forgettable, but who obviously spent his spare time on the track or in the gym.

"My Gran believed that everyone was created by God for a purpose on this earth. She felt that the vampires were a great source of insight into our past history, and that if we could set aside our fear of what we didn't understand, there was much that they could teach us. I miss her every day. I would hope that more people will come to see the vampires in the same light that my grandmother saw them, and that no one would consider harming this beautiful child."

"Mr. Northman, how are you adjusting to being a father?" the middle-aged blond woman asked Eric.

"Ms?" "Ellen Grainger," the reporter supplied. "Ms. Grainger, I believe it to be the most rewarding experience of any man's life. And it is very convenient that I am up at night, since babies do seem to like to be up at that time too," Eric said with a grin, putting his hand onto my shoulder and looking down at Claudine.

"And you believe that a human child is safe in a vampire family?"

"Absolutely. She has charmed vampire and human alike, and we will all do whatever we can to see that she reaches her full potential and lives in a safe and secure environment."

Ellen Grainger looked pretty charmed too, but with Eric I thought. Every woman appreciates a man that loves kids, especially when they also happened to look like sex on legs.

A tall man with a commanding presence stepped forward and signaled the cameraman accompanying him to move in a little closer.

"Would either of you comment on the rumor that the baby has fangs? And if so, what does she eat?"

Eric produced a very low chuckle before he took that question. "It is perhaps a good thing for my wife's sake that Claudine has no teeth at all yet, since Sookie is breastfeeding the baby. I believe it will be some months before we will need to be concerned with teething, and since she is not vampire, fangs will not be a problem."

"I'm just hoping she won't need braces down the line," I added and several of the reporters nodded in sympathy with that. No doubt they had had to deal with that expensive and uncomfortable situation with their own kids.

"Mr. Northman," Mr. Forbes asked, moving the subject away from the baby. "You will be opening another branch of Fangtasia in Las Vegas soon. Do you plan to expand anywhere else?"

"We will be opening that branch soon, and depending on its success, we are considering a branch in New Orleans. My wife and I will be spending more time in the Big Easy, and hope to do our part to help the city regain its former glory by investing in its future."

Claudine yawned about this time, and if there had been any doubts about her toothless state, it was plain to see that she didn't have fangs at least. Eric held up his hand to forestall any other questions.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, it is time for the baby to take a little nap, and time for my wife and I to greet our guests and join the Halloween celebration."

"You all are welcome to stay for the party. I am sure Felicia at the bar will be glad to fix something special for you," I offered with as much sincerity as I could muster.

A chorus of thank-you's came from the reporters and I stood up to give them each my hand as they filed out of the office. Not one had commented on Claudine's wings, and I think between their curiosity about whether she had fangs and the abundance of feathers that were present on our costumes, no one had really looked at them that closely at all. Nothing I had heard from the reporters' brains had seemed to indicate that they thought Claudine was anything but human. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

"I think that went well," I said.

"Yes, Lover, very well. They were very gentle with us. You both looked beautiful, and I think the press will be satisfied for a short while in any case. Now, I think it is time we made an appearance." He looked at Pam and she went to get Thalia.

There was no way I was going to take Claudine into the noisy bar crowded with drunken patrons, not to mention having her in that atmosphere was like an invitation to the press to find fault with our parenting. So, Claudine would stay in Eric's office while I went into the party for a while.

Thalia had been at cross-purposes who to guard while the baby and I were separated, but Eric had assigned her to Claudine. Not only was Thalia just about the biggest threat in his kingdom, but she really hadn't wanted to be at the party in the first place. Thomas and Pam were assigned to me and the rest of the family would be close by, enthralling the vermin as Pam said, in case of problems.

Thalia came into the office, looking sullen at having been made to wear her costume. Daniel came in behind her to take up his post as second guard. I choked back my laughter at seeing our "bull dog" of a vampire in her body suit and wings. Thalia's sullenness turned to pride when I placed Claudine in her open arms. She almost beamed at being chosen to babysit Claudine, if a vampire could be said to beam, that is.

Thalia stationed herself on Eric's couch and began to coo at the baby, while I explained to Daniel all the circumstances under which he was to come and get me immediately.

"I'll only be about half an hour," I assured Daniel.

I wanted to see the bar decorations and I wanted enough time to have a dance with my husband. It struck me that it had been a really long time since I had been out in the real world, away from my little vampire haven, and I wanted to enjoy it. I guess I was visibly nervous about leaving the baby though, because Eric assured me that everything would be fine, kissed the top of Claudine's head and steered me out of the door before I could change my mind about leaving the baby.

Pam led me to our reserved booth in the front of the bar, near where Eric would be making his grand appearance, and signaled Felicia to bring me a drink. Batanya and Clovache were already seated at the table, and it looked like they hadn't needed to get a costume, since their usual uniform looked like dress-up anyway to the humans. They were getting quite a few appreciative stares from the single guys, and I was too. Hot pink wings will catch most people's eye. I tucked the wings in as well as I could to fit my costume and myself into a seat. Thomas, not seemingly bothered by his devil suit, stood watch next to the table.

Felicia came scurrying over, making her usual obeisance and handed me a ginger ale. At least she was no longer under orders to only supply me with milk, although I would have loved to have a gin and tonic. I wasn't drinking alcohol while I was breast-feeding though. I thanked her and complimented her on how good she looked as an angel.

"Thank you, Mistress. We are very happy to see you back," she said, reminding me again that I had been a homebody for way too long. We definitely needed to find a way that Claudine and I could get out into the world more.

The vampires had gone all out to make the bar look especially good for the Halloween party. There were broad expanses of black and silver fabric adorning the walls, and orange fairy lights twinkled by the thousands it seemed. Each table was draped in black cloth and topped with fanged pumpkins and miniature coffins. There were bowls filled with small candies for the humans and the drink special for the night was a Bloody Mary.

The room was filled to capacity with costumed revelers and vampires, all of whom looked like they were having a good time. Many were dancing already to the selections of piped in music, although the all-vampire band had just set up and hadn't yet begun to play. I had barely gotten settled with my drink when an announcement came over the speaker welcoming everyone to Fangtasia for the "Angels and Demons" Halloween Party.

"We would like to begin tonight's revelry by introducing your host, Eric Northman," the speaker announced.

The music died, the lights dimming slightly, and the patrons aimed their eyes at the front of the room where the band was queuing up to play. Slipping quietly in from behind the stage's curtain in his dark costume, Eric winked at me and then propelled himself into the air.

His spread his wings and the spotlight caught his perfectly poised body as he flew into the room, the crowd gasping in surprise and breaking into cheers as the band struck up the chords of "Sympathy for the Devil".

Author's note: May I suggest "Sympathy for the Devil" by Guns N' Roses, or for those more traditionally inclined, by the Rolling Stones.

Thank you to Ms. Charlaine Harris for creating the wonderful characters in this story. All rights belong to her. I am just borrowing them.


	56. Chapter 56

CHAPTER 56

"I'm wondering if I will be able to believe anything that comes out of Dermott's mouth," I said to Amelia. "I mean, really, can I ever trust anyone that was involved in the death of my parents? Maybe I shouldn't even talk to him. What do you think?"

Amelia was playing with Claudine, holding up the little stuffed collie that had been a gift from Sam, and bouncing it around like it was running in circles. The baby kept her eyes focused on the toy and would make a squealing noise once in a while when Amelia would make the dog dive in the air. It was almost, but not quite, like Claudine was laughing. Soon, I thought.

"Amelia, are you listening to me?"

"What, Sookie? Oh yeah, sorry. This baby is so sweet. I can't take my eyes off her. She's as cute as a button."

"I know that, Amelia, but I need to figure out what to do."

"Well, if you're asking me, which you shouldn't -- I trusted Bob after all and look where that got us -- I don't know, Sook. I think all of the fairies are dangerous, well, except maybe your cousin Claudine."

"God rest her soul," I threw in. Not that I knew if fairies had real souls, and from what I had seen so far they didn't necessarily believe in the same God as the rest of us, but it was habit to say that.

"So, maybe Niall was just full of shit and everything he said isn't to be trusted either. Although, really, how much did he actually say? Not much. He pretty much kept you in the dark. But those fairies that hurt you, they blamed Dermott for your parents, didn't they? And why would they lie about it at that point?"

"I've accepted that Dermott had something to do with that, Amelia. That's not the question really. The question is whether he will give me the truth now. Jason says that Dermott is sorry about what happened, and now that he is left behind he wants to spill his guts or something. I don't know."

I was exasperated with the whole situation. The Britlingens hadn't been back and I was starting to doubt whether they would have any help for us. Although their witches hadn't given up, so it was still a possibility that they would come up with something. I had been looking online for anything I could possibly find out about angels and there really wasn't much.

"You wouldn't believe some of this stuff online, Amelia. There's someone who saw Jesus in a tortilla in Mexico, and all kinds of people that see ghosts in photographs. Actually they look a lot like the angel spots we saw on our pictures."

"Most of those people are a bunch of whackos, Sook. I think the ancient legends probably have more truth in them than most of that stuff. Look at the fairy tales. It turns out a lot of that might be true."

"I guess. Man, you can waste a lot of time on this computer. And each thing is more bizarre than the next. But really, there isn't that much about angels in legends either, so I guess I have to admit that no one really knows much at all."

"It really sounds like she's laughing, Sookie. Don't you think?"

Amelia had brought down an assortment of toys from the nursery to show Claudine. Now she was waving around a Tinkerbelle Barbie that Pam had brought home. Pam just loved Barbie. I think she was disappointed that she couldn't shop off the rack for Claudine, and now she was going to end up buying out all the Barbie outfits instead, to get her fashion fix.

"Did you take the shoes off that Barbie? She'll choke on them if she gets a hold of them, Amelia. I wish Pam would quit putting those in her room and wait until she's a little older. Pam just forgets about little things like mortality! Vampires!"

"She might not be mortal, you know, Sook."

"Of course she's mortal. You don't see any other angels around, do you? Something killed them off, so she's not immortal. I don't think anything is actually. It's just that some things live a really long time. Like redwood trees. Or vampires."

"I'm sorry that Octavia and I couldn't come up with something magical, Sook. But we haven't given up. It's just that we'd have to be so careful, it's not like we can experiment on her. Octavia's working with some chickens, but she says it's not working out so well. I just couldn't do that, even though Octavia says chickens get killed all the time for food. I guess she's eating a lot of chicken soup these days."

"Ewww, gross, Amelia! I wish you hadn't told me that."

"Sorry, hon. You should quit second guessing yourself. Eric thinks Dermott is the only source of information left. He'll make sure that you are safe. I've got that house warded every which way possible and there's no chance Dermott will get into the house unless you let him in. Even Niall said that the wards would hold out any fairies. Just keep him on the porch and everybody will be fine, so long as the vamps don't go nuts with the fairy smell."

"He can mask it, that's why Tray didn't know he was half fairy. Dermott wouldn't have agreed to let me bring my vamps if he thought they would have him for dinner. Everyone has agreed to a truce for this meeting."

I turned off the computer and went to join Amelia and Claudine on the floor. Claudine seemed to be getting more "interactive" every day, and was trying hard to vocalize. As much work as babies could be, I could see why so many moms hated to have their babies grow up too fast. She was just so darned cute at this age, interested in everything around her, but not mobile enough to be a nuisance or a real danger to herself. Before long I'd be chasing her round the house.

"Just leave the baby home, Sook. I'll watch her."

"I thought about that at first. I just can't explain it, Amelia, but I think if he sees her, he will want to help. She has this way with everyone."

"I know what you mean. It's like she's magnetic, everyone who sees her, loves her. Kind of like your brother is with women. Well, most women anyway."

Amelia was one of the few women that hadn't fallen for Jason in any way, even though she fell for just about every other handsome man that fell into her path. Okay, that was an unkind thing to think, but it wasn't far from the truth.

"What is she doing, Sook? It's like she's trying to reach out for something."

Claudine was arching her back and turning her head, and it did look like she was trying to get somewhere. Her attention had totally left Amelia and the toys and she seemed very focused.

"Eric must be awake," I said and a moment later, I could feel him myself.

"Does she always do that?"

"Just the last few days. She feels him before I do. They have a blood bond too."

"Is Daddy up, angel? Let's go see him. He will be so happy to see his little angel," I said to Claudine as I picked her up. I could feel her excitement to see Eric. She was definitely going to be a daddy's girl. I made our excuses to Amelia and headed up to the bedroom, stopping off to change Claudine and pack up her diaper bag for our trip to Bon Temps.

Eric was partially dressed in jeans and boots, his chest still bare. He held a brush in his hand as if he had been about to tackle his tangle of wet hair when we walked in. He laid down the brush and held out his hands for Claudine who was wiggling and cooing at seeing her daddy. I handed the baby to Eric and gave him a quick kiss.

"My little beauty, have you been a good girl for your mother today?" Eric asked the baby as he snuggled her in his arms.

"She's been an angel today, sweetie. We both had a good long nap and she's been playing Barbie with Amelia."

Eric rolled his eyes at the mention of Barbie, or maybe it was the mention of Amelia. I didn't press the issue. I had a feeling he placed them both in the same category sometimes.

"Sit down and I'll do your hair," I told Eric as I picked up the brush. Eric's hair lay sodden against his muscular shoulders. I grabbed a towel from the rack in the bathroom and dried it a bit, then took my time to smooth out the beautiful strands with the brush while he tickled Claudine. Perhaps it was just a delaying tactic since I was so nervous about our upcoming meeting with Dermott, but this family time in our room together had become important to all three of us.

"Her hair is the same color as ours. I think soon I will be able to put it in little pig tails."

"Little girls usually wear those silly little pink bows in their hair these days, don't they?"

"I'm surprised you'd even notice something like that, Eric. I didn't think you paid much attention to children."

"I like children, Sookie, not that I see many of them. Their parents tend to keep them away from vampire haunts, of course, as they should. And most of them are long in bed by the time we are out and about."

"To tell you the truth, I would never have considered bringing a child around vampires either, if my child didn't have a vampire for her daddy. Did you miss being around kids?"

His chest moved a bit and a sound escaped him sounding almost like a sigh.

"Yes, especially at first, although for a new vampire, no human is safe around us and I avoided anywhere they might be, when I could. Over time, you no longer consider them at all, at least most of us don't. There are exceptions to every rule, and there are some few that would feed on children. Most of us would disapprove and I would kill any vampire in my territory that would feed on a child."

"I would hope so! Do you think I should just leave her home tonight, Eric? Amelia offered to babysit."

He stopped playing with the baby and held her close against him for a moment before he spoke.

"I believe that he will be more amenable to offer assistance if he can see her. She has some magic of her own and it may charm even a fairy."

He paused for a moment and looked down at Claudine, who was nuzzling against him, her lips making little sucking sounds against his chest. Seemingly without thinking, he brought one of his fingers up to his mouth, pricked it on his fang and put it to the baby's lips. She sucked on it contentedly. The aroma of his blood filled my nostrils and my body stirred instinctively in response. I moved away from him. Later.

"We have arranged the terms very carefully. He is to stay outside and you are to stay inside. He has agreed to have three vampires to stand with him, and three vampires inside. He will have your brother with him, although not as hostage, and obviously not as protection."

Jason might be a panther, but he was nowhere near strong enough to take on a vampire or a fairy by himself.

"I don't want Jason to be hurt, Eric."

"He knows that as well as I, Lover. He hopes that Jason's presence will discourage any one from getting too enthusiastic in their disapproval, if he should be considered….disrespectful. But I have given my word that no harm will come to him this night if he makes no move against us in any way, to abduct or to injure or to alter in any form that is not agreed upon. I do not think he would have agreed to the terms if he meant you or the child harm."

The terms were definitely in our favor. I had seen that vampires were a real threat to fairies. Granted, this fairy did not seem sensitive to iron and might not be stopped by a squirt gun filled with lemon juice, but six against one were killing odds.

"And he has given his word," I said, and it wasn't a question.

"Yes, but I do not completely trust any fairy, although they rarely will give their word and, to my knowledge, it is held sacred among their kind."

One thing I had learned, and I had had to learn it the hard way, was that Eric did very little that was not well considered. If Eric thought we were safe, then I would trust that decision, but it didn't mean I wasn't still a little afraid. I knew how frightening fairies could be, but then I was usually surrounded by vampires, and they weren't known for their gentle ways either.

Claudine had finished her little snack, and was resting her head against the cool skin of Eric's chest. I wished I could just spend the evening curled up in his lap. Picking up my emotions from our bond, Eric extended his hand to me and kissed the tips of my fingers, one by one.

"Later," he said and I nodded.

The ride to Bon Temps was uneventful. Eric didn't even protest when I took the time to get Claudine settled in her car seat. The evenings were getting cold and I had asked our tailor to fashion something warm for Claudine that might encompass her wings too. She was in what basically amounted to a sack with arms. The soft, lined blue fabric cocooned her body, zipping up the front and her little feet kicked against it, making a swishing sound in the car. The only other sound was Thalia, sitting on the other side of the baby, tapping her nails against the hilt of her sword.

Jason's truck was already parked at the house, and he got out of the truck and walked onto the porch carrying a beer as we pulled in. Eric turned to me in the back seat and asked me to stay put as he and Thalia exited the car. Jordun and Thomas escorted Amelia to the house, giving her a moment to check that the wards hadn't been altered before all of the vampires surrounded me and Claudine as we walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Sookie," Jason said as he gave Claudine a little peck on the cheek, and then after a moment, he gave me one too. He nodded to Eric, and then put on his chick magnet grin for Thalia, changing it to a wide-eyed stare when he saw her big sword. He looked alarmed when he noticed Jan, who had pulled a small cross bow out from under his coat and was loading it with an iron bolt with a wicked looking point at the end.

"How's it going, brother?"

Jason turned his attention back to me. "Okay, I guess. I'm not sure what this is all about, Sook, but Dermott said he was staying in the woods until I called him over. What's going on? I'm here like you asked me. You're not planning to take him out, are you?" Jason actually looked concerned. I was beginning to think that my brother might have developed true affection for the half fairy.

"Thanks, Jason. I appreciate that you came, and no, we aren't planning anything violent. We just want to talk to Dermott and get some information. He wants you to stand with him, so he will know we mean him no harm. He knows I wouldn't want to lose you," I said, smiling, to reassure Jason who was looking very concerned at this point.

"Well, hell, I hope not, Sook, I'm your only brother! But this looks kinda serious. He just wants to talk to you, Sis. You're his family."

"And so were our parents, Jason." Jason looked a little abashed at that statement.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but I don't think he wants to hurt you, Sookie. And he wants to see the baby. I told him about her wings and he says she's something real special, an angel he says. He says no one would want to hurt an angel. Especially this little angel," he said, chucking Claudine on the chin and smiling at her. "She's gotta be the cutest baby ever, Sis."

"Listen, Jason. Everything will be fine. You go out and call Dermott, then just stand with him. Some of the vampires will be in the yard, but they won't start anything unless he goes after one of us. We're going to stay in here by the door where he can't get in and we'll just talk with him."

"Okay, Sis, I guess I can do that. I'm just gonna get me another beer," he said as he polished off the first bottle, leaving it on the counter. I rolled my eyes. My brother really was one sandwich short of a picnic. Jason walked out to his truck, grabbed a beer, and headed to the edge of the woods.

A few moments later, Dermott walked with Jason to the edge of the porch. Daniel, Thomas and Jordun flanked them, looking dangerous with their swords unsheathed. I took a deep breath, looked once at Eric and walked over to stand by the door.

"Niece," Dermott said to me and nodded. He didn't even bother to look at the vampires, as if they were of no concern to him. Standing next to my brother, it looked like he and Jason could almost be twins except for the glow that seemed to hover over the fairy. I wondered if Jason could even see that Dermott glowed. Probably not.

"Uncle," I replied and nodded back. He looked from me to Claudine, puzzlement in his face for a moment, until I remembered that she was still in her little snug sack. I handed her to Eric, unzipped her garment, and pulled her free of its enclosure. She fluttered her little wings out to their full expanse and Dermott's mouth dropped open.

"Father was right all along," he said, and it was my turn to be puzzled.

"Niall? What do you mean he was right? Right about what?"

A deep sadness seemed to fall like a shadow over Dermott's face and he looked away for a moment. Claudine, always one to want everyone's attention, made a small noise and reached out towards the open door, catching my great uncle's attention. The baby beamed a smile in his direction and he responded in kind, almost grudgingly at first, but then with his whole heart.

"He said he would bring them back, and I didn't believe him," Dermott said, his hand reaching out as if to bridge the distance between himself and the child. A sword, moving too quickly to be seen, was at his throat the moment his foot moved.

Jason gasped at the sudden movement, and turned to look at Thomas. The vampire's attention was totally fixed on the fairy and his eyes held death. Thomas might sometimes seem like one of "God's fools" as Bill had once called me, but he loved Claudine and he wouldn't think twice about killing in her defense.

"Hey man," Jason said, stepping forward. "He's not going to do anything. Back off!"

I was a little amazed at Jason coming to Dermott's defense, and even more amazed that he would stand up to an armed vampire. But my brother, for all that he didn't have a brain in his head, had always been a brave man, even to the point of foolhardiness. He was out of his league in this group, and I think he knew that, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from a show of bravado.

"Stackhouse, don't be foolish. Thomas, lower your weapon," Eric said, and Thomas complied instantly. I took a deep breath. Dermott stayed where he was and Jason visibly relaxed.

"Perhaps you would care to explain," Eric said to Dermott.

Jan brought me a chair, and I sat down to listen as Dermott began his story. My instincts had said to just invite him in, but Eric, as if again knowing what was going on in my mind, pressed his hand to my shoulder and shook his head.

"The angels, in their true form, have been gone for thousands of years, existing now only in legend, or so we thought. Their images survive in art and sculpture and they were beautiful beings, their bodies as exquisite as their wings. It is said that they did not speak, but they whispered in people's minds, influencing them for good. Your world too has retained the legend of angels, although the humans believe that they were servants of your god."

I noticed that he called it "our" world, even though now it was his too, since he couldn't return to the fae lands. Perhaps he thought he might still, and I was sure he would get to that. But for now, I sat on the edge of my seat, hoping that he could tell us what we had been yearning to know.

"The angels were not rulers, neither were they servants. They moved between worlds, bringing peace and prosperity with them. Some believe that they created the first portals that allowed the fae to enter this world. They were messengers and sometimes guardians for those that traveled here, as the creatures of this world were savages and war and ignorance reigned upon the earth. They brought fire and the tools of civilization to the humans."

"But what happened to them?" Jason asked, his impatience showing as Dermott paused to collect his thoughts.

"They began to fall from the sky, and as they died, the boundaries of the fae world began to diminish. No new angels were born, and very few fae. The fairies, who had thought themselves immortal, began to die out. Their lives were still long by human standards, but they began to slowly age, and they also began to take sides against each other, and more died in the wars that followed."

"And no one knew what was killing the angels?" I asked.

"No. Some believed that it was contamination from this world, and that the portals should be sealed. Others said that we would die out completely if we didn't establish strongholds in other worlds before ours died. It is an old argument, and there has never been an answer."

"But that was what Niall and Breandon were fighting over," I said, " and you too."

"Breandon believed that our world would not heal until we closed ourselves off from the human world and that the angels' downfall began when they mixed their blood with the humans."

"The Bible talks about that," I told him. "When the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown," I quoted. "And God punished the angels and locked them away until Judgment Day," I concluded, although I couldn't come up with a quote for that.

"We do not believe in this god of yours," he said dismissively.

"And what about Niall? What did you mean when you said that he was right all along?"

"He thought we could bring the angels back. There are those of our kind that carry a spirit with them. It is said that they are the angels' descendents and that the spirit is the soul of an angel. These he singled out to be guardians, and to practice the ways of the angels. He believed that if they could become one with that spirit, they might become angels themselves and with the return of angels, fairy would be healed."

"Claudine," I said, and he nodded.

"There have been others, too, and he set these guardians to watch over the descendents of the angels in this world. Others searched near the portals, and in places where magic seemed to linger, places like Bon Temps, where Fintan found your grandmother. Very few have been found."

"So Niall lied to me. Fintan didn't accidentally come upon my grandmother. He was sent to rape her."

"Oh no, child, Fintan would not have raped her. He would not have attempted to breed an angel with an act of violence. Perhaps Fintan used his glamour and without it, your grandmother would not have been so easily swayed, perhaps not. That we will not ever know. But he would not have taken her without her consent."

Well, an act of violence had certainly had something to do with producing my angel, although the rape itself might not have been the only contributing factor. It may have produced a child, a fairy child, but I truly believed that my cousin's act of sacrificing her own child to protect me had had something to do with Claudine becoming an angel.

"And how did he know that my grandmother might have angel blood?" I asked, but I suspected that I already knew – the fairies could see the angel spots.

"The spirit is sometimes visible, to those that watch for it," he said. And they didn't need a camera to see it, I guessed.

"But you didn't believe your father," I prompted.

"No. I thought we were weakening ourselves farther by mixing our blood with the humans, and that by broadening our interaction with the humans, we were hastening our end."

"But you are half human."

Dermott didn't reply to this, and my mind puzzled over what all he had said.

"Niall owned companies that did medical research. Did that fit into the picture somehow?"

Dermott looked surprised that I knew about that, but then he might not know that Niall had left those companies to me as part of his estate.

"Yes. Niall saw great promise in modern science. He hoped that the growing field of genetics might give him a tool to identify those that would have potential."

Like we were a bunch of plants and he was trying to breed insect resistant corn or something, I thought.

"Then he would breed them with the fairies that he chose," I said, my disgust at the thought leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

"Yes."

"And what about me? Did he have someone picked out for me?"

"He didn't know about you at first, about your gift. Fintan was able to keep your family hidden for many years, to protect you from Breandon, but it shielded you from Niall too. When Fintan was killed…"

I cut him off before he could finish that statement. I didn't really want to know anymore what Niall's plan for me had been.

"Did you help kill your brother?" I said in an accusing tone.

"No. I loved my brother, although I did not agree with him."

"But you killed his son, my father, and my mother too."

"I helped Breandon and his followers to do that. I see now that I was wrong." He looked again at Claudine, who had fallen asleep against my breast.

He didn't sound nearly apologetic enough to me, but then no amount of apology could make up for something like what he had done.

"I came here tonight to ask you to help Claudine, but I don't know anymore if I want your help. I don't know if I can ever trust any fairy ever again."

I was fighting back the tears --- tears of anger over the lies and betrayals, and tears of grief over all who had been lost. My cousin Claudine, my fairy godmother, must have known what the plan for me was, and she hadn't told me.

Eric had been completely quiet during this conversation, and I looked to him now to see what he wanted to do. If there was one person I trusted completely, it was Eric. He looked down at me, sending me calm and comfort before he took a step forward and addressed Dermott.

"What did you hope to gain from this meeting, fairy, that you would leave yourself in such a vulnerable position?" he said, and if he were a snake, venom would have shot out of his mouth with his words.

For the first time, Dermott acknowledged Eric, nodding his head slightly in a gesture of respect. I think it surprised Eric, although his face didn't show it.

"When first I heard about the child, I realized that my father must have been right after all. He would never have closed the portals if he knew about this, at least not without taking Sookie and the child. My life would be spared and I could go home if I came bearing this news. I know the secret of shielding her from the humans, and I hoped to trade that secret for the key, but now after seeing her…"

Only Amelia, Grace and Eric knew about the key, although Thomas looked briefly at the finger he had burned on it, and I could feel the wheels turning in his head. Eric made no acknowledgement that we had the key, and I followed his lead, controlling my facial expression. I'd had years of practice doing that. We waited for Dermott to continue, but he fixed his eyes again on Claudine and this time he looked ashamed.

"So, let me get this straight," Jason interjected. "Our great grandfather was going to whore out my sister to make these angels, so that you and your fairies could live forever or something. Is that about right? And you've just been hanging around with me, thinking you'd find this key or whatever, and you'd let those fuckers that raped my sister back loose on the world. I should kill you myself," Jason said.

The vampires as a group looked at Jason in surprise and with approval as he voiced the common sentiment. I was so proud of my brother that I didn't even yell at him for swearing in front of the baby. She was sleeping anyway.

"I think we are finished here," Eric said and I stood up, waking Claudine in the process. She whimpered and rubbed her face against my chest. It was probably about time for her to be fed, and I expected I would have to sit back down and nurse her before we began the drive home, but she had something different in mind. She arched her back, spread her wings and we all felt her magic as she reached out for Dermott.

"Claudine, no!" I said and tried to push her hands down, not wanting her to connect with my great uncle in any way, but it was too late. Dermott stood frozen, then dropped down to one knee and the magic spilled back in our direction, right through Amelia's wards.

"You have taken what I should have given freely," Dermott said to Claudine, bowing his head. "I offer you my loyalty and servitude, little angel."

The magic dissipated and there in my arms, looking for all the world like any other human child, Claudine smiled. Her wings had disappeared.


	57. Chapter 57

CHAPTER 57

"I'm going to make some coffee," Amelia said.

"You got anything stronger?" Jason called from the porch and headed into the kitchen.

"You're driving," I objected, but Amelia was already getting a bottle of whiskey down from the cupboard.

"He can sleep on the couch," Amelia offered and got out glasses for herself and Jason.

Eric looked stunned, and the other vampires were still standing over Dermott, ready to slice off his head at Eric's command. Dermott hadn't moved an inch.

"You might as well come in," I said to Dermott. I had no idea why, but at this point, I figured that the baby probably was as good a judge of the situation as I was. She seemed totally at ease, and was busy rooting around my breast for her dinner. I unbuttoned my blouse and began to feed her. We were all family after all.

Dermott, still on the ground, looked at Eric, and Eric looked at me, and then we all looked at Claudine, except my brother who couldn't quite get used to the idea of me breast-feeding. Eric finally stepped aside from the doorway, and Dermott rose to his feet and walked in. There was a moment of shuffling about as the vampires jockeyed for position. I think they each wanted to be the one standing behind the fairy, the one most likely to take his head if he proved dangerous. I watched the coffee drip in the pot, and waited for everyone to calm down.

"So we're okay again?" Jason asked. He had knocked back his Jack Daniel's in one swallow and was looking at his glass as if it would refill itself. His eyes were beginning to glaze already. He really wasn't usually a big drinker. Amelia set the bottle in front of him and knocked back her own shot.

"Yeah, Jason. I think we're okay," I said, more to assure Jason than anything else.

"Good. Then maybe you might want to put that thing away before you shoot somebody's eye out," he said to Jan, who was still holding the crossbow. I thought that was probably a good idea myself. Jason passed the bottle to Dermott, who didn't bother with a glass but just took a big swallow right from the bottle. My grandmother would have had a stroke right on the spot if she'd lived to see that in her kitchen.

Jason gave me a nudge and leaned over to whisper in my ear. His breath could have stripped the varnish off a footlocker.

"A cloaking device, just like Star Trek," he said, although he didn't quite get the whispering thing down. Of course the vampires would have heard him anyway. At least he wasn't stuck on his usual favorite, "The Godfather". What was it with men and those old movies and TV shows? Okay, I know, for me it was "Gone with the Wind" or "Pride and Prejudice". I don't think I'd ever seen Jason quite so talkative in a long time though, not since Crystal and the baby had died, so maybe this was a good thing?

"Have another drink, Jason," I suggested, and thought about all of this for a moment.

Claudine was still on my breast, although she had slowed down a bit, and at this point, I didn't think she was really hungry anymore. She just liked the feeling of closeness, and so did I. It felt weird though. Her wings weren't there, or at least I couldn't see them, but it sort of felt like they weren't gone either. Maybe Jason was right.

Eric was watching me, watching Dermott and surprisingly, watching Jason. I think he had been surprised as much as I had by how this was all playing out and was leaving it in my hands for the moment. I didn't know if that was a good thing, but I was glad he wasn't going all vampy or being Mr. High and Mighty. I wonder if he wouldn't have sat down and had a drink too right about now, if he could still drink alcohol. Of course, Dermott was sitting right there, and Eric could no doubt get pretty drunk on his fairy blood, even if it was only half strength. But we were under a truce still, or at least it seemed like we still were.

"So, will they come back?" I asked Dermott. Of course he would know I meant the wings.

"They are not gone. They are cloaked, as my nephew pointed out."

Jason drove his elbow into my ribs, as if to point out that he had gotten something right for once.

"Ouch! Jason!" I said, swatting him on the back of the head. I wondered if it wasn't time to get someone to drive Jason home.

"And how does she get them back?" I continued with my questioning.

"She can unveil them when she chooses to," Dermott said.

"Okay," I said, waiting for more information. When it was not forthcoming, I tried another question.

"So what just happened, or do you even know?"

He thought about that for a moment. I couldn't read his mind. Fairies were still a blank for me, but he seemed to have a little more body language than a pure fairy. And maybe, just maybe I thought, Claudine knew what he was thinking, and I could communicate with her. She was just a little baby, so language wasn't there yet, but something was, and that something told me he wouldn't try to evade my questions, but he might not know how all of this worked either. He had been taken by surprise as much as the rest of us.

"Our children, and remember that there are very few of them now, are taught this way sometimes. There is an exchange of power to demonstrate a skill, a 'taste' of it, you might say. I have not done this, having been around very few fairy children, but I have felt it before when I was young."

He was casting back over the decades (centuries?) to his youth, and his usually somber face seemed to lighten at some memory. Perhaps he remembered a time when he was not at odds with his father.

"Usually it is the adult that initiates the process, or perhaps a mentor. They will cast for ability, and then let the child feel the magic. Then the child may be set to practice and perfect the skill."

"So you knew how to 'cloak' yourself, and you showed it to Claudine?"

"She actively sought this knowledge and took it. It was quite surprising, for an infant so young. And she has adapted it already, since only her wings are cloaked."

"And how does she get them back?" Eric asked. "Do you need to teach her that too?"

It was the first thing Eric had said in this conversation, although he had been listening intently. He didn't seem particularly pleased by events, but he was not displeased either. It felt more like curiosity with a touch of wariness, and maybe with some excitement. His face didn't show any of this though, just the vampy creepiness that he saved for creatures he didn't care for. He looked at Dermott the same way he looked at Bob the cat.

"No, the magic is…" Dermott had to think about that again. Maybe this was something that had to be felt and wasn't so easy to put into words. "It is complete in both directions. She will know what to do."

Amelia had remained quiet during all of this. Her usual manner was to question or comment on just about anything, and the stillness that surrounded the vampires sometimes seemed to egg her on to be even more talkative, as if the silence made her nervous. Now, she began to bustle around, as if she had used up all the quiet that she possessed.

"I'll make you a sandwich, Sook. You should eat something," she said as she poured me a cup of coffee, set out the cream and sugar and started getting out the fixings from the fridge.

"Meat loaf okay?" she asked me, then remembering that she had other guests, looked towards Dermott and Jason. "Anybody else want anything?"

Dermott agreed to a sandwich, but Jason had his head in his hands, held up precariously by both elbows parked on the table. He didn't seem particularly responsive at that point. I noticed there wasn't much alcohol left in the bottle.

"Blood would be appreciated," Jordun piped up, "if there is any available." He glanced at the artery in Amelia's neck as he said this, and she gave him a once over look, but then headed to the fridge and got out some True Bloods. Before long, those that could were eating sandwiches and the vamps were sipping at their beverages. I looked around the kitchen.

Amelia had begun to make the old farmhouse her home, and little touches here and there had been added. A gleaming stainless steel rack near the stove held expensive kitchen knives and there were woven placemats on the table. Pots of herbs grew in the windowsill and there was a nice piece of lace over the window instead of the curtain. I didn't mind, I realized. This wasn't my home anymore.

"Where's Thomas?" I asked when I noticed that he was no longer in the room.

Daniel went off in search of him. He was probably looking through Amelia's closet or drawers or something. His curiosity about how humans lived was boundless, right up there with his infinite capacity to annoy.

"You think we can take my brother back to his place on the way home, Eric?" I asked, when everyone had finished eating. "And maybe someone can drive his truck back," I added. I didn't want Amelia being stuck with a semi-comatose Jason, but my brother would be pissed if he had to get a ride back tomorrow to pick up his truck.

"Certainly, Lover," Eric said. Without waiting for direction, Jordun and Daniel hoisted Jason up by the elbows, then stopped to look back at Dermott, offering him a ride too it seemed.

"Thank you, Uncle," I said, rising to see the fairy out the door.

"Niece," he said. Dermott nodded to Eric, who nodded back just enough to be civil, then my uncle followed the vampires out to the yard.

"Let's go home, Eric," I said, and he agreed. He looked tired.

Claudine was sound asleep by the time we got home, and I didn't even bother taking off her little cover-up, but put her straight to bed in her cradle.

"Let's not talk about any of this," I said to Eric. My mind had been going a mile a minute all evening long and I wanted it all to go away for just a little while.

Eric took me literally and went into the bathroom silently to run a bath, which sounded just about perfect to me.

"You know, everybody wants their kids to be smart, but I don't know if I'm going to like it if our kid is smarter than we are."

"Not possible, Lover," Eric said, eyes glinting with mischief as sniffed at the various bottles of bubbles I had next to the bath.

"I mean, really, I want her to be smart, and I guess I want her to be all that she can be. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't think I'm qualified to be the mom of somebody with all that magic, and really, how am I going to keep her from sticking her fingers in an electrical socket or something?"

"Didn't you and your witch spend days 'childproofing' our house, Sookie?" He was taking off his shirt, and was making a show of each button coming undone.

"You know what I mean!" I said. I really felt like pinching him. "How can I keep her safe when she probably isn't going to listen to me at all and will just go around pulling magical tricks out of her hat?"

Eric looked puzzled for a moment as he tried to reason out the hat thing.

"You will be the perfect mother, Kjære, as you are the perfect wife."

"Thanks sweetie, for having confidence in me. Flattery will get you everywhere."

"I hope it will get you in the tub with me, Lover," he said, turning around as he peeled off his jeans.

If the flattery hadn't had me heading in that direction already, that gorgeous butt would have. I peeled off my clothes and climbed down into the water.

Eric turned me around and sat me between his legs, my head resting against his chest, his arms enfolding me. I let the warmth of the water seep into my bones for a few moments, closed my eyes and relaxed for the first time that day.

"Good," Eric said, "you are mine now for a while."

He wasn't talking about the capital "M" Mine that he sometimes insisted upon, but the mine as in the 'finally getting around to noticing me' kind of way. I guess I had been so focused on the baby, that I had been neglecting Eric a little.

"Yes, all yours. What do you want to do with me?"

"I want to do this," he said and cupped my breasts in his powerful hands, squeezing just a little.

"And this." His cool tongue tingled against the skin of my neck, flushed from the steam of the bath.

"And perhaps this," he said, as his hands slid between my thighs.

A soft moan escaped my lips as he parted the delicate skin. I pushed back against him and felt him pressing against me, large and smooth and warm and felt his own weave of magic bring me close to the edge.

"The bed," he whispered against my neck, his voice husky with need, and I was scooped up and being wrapped in a towel.

He carried me to the bed, and never letting go, lay back against the pillows, pulling me down on top of him. My mouth covered his and I slid over him, pushing him deep inside, his skin still warm and wet from the bath. He uttered a low growl and his hands grabbed my hips, shoving me down further as I felt the sharpness of his fang against my tongue.

"Sookie," he said urgently, and I moved quickly, rubbing myself against him and pushing him deep. "Sookie," he called out again, and I pulled my mouth from his and offered my neck.

He bit down hard and I cried out as the first wave of pleasure crashed over me, heat coursing through my body as he shoved into me one last time and then went still. He fed for another long moment, little ripples of pleasure accompanying each draw of my blood. As his tongue lapped up the last few drops, I let my weight settle over him, my vampire still warm and wet inside me.


	58. Chapter 58

CHAPTER 58

"Do you like it when I'm warm?" Eric asked unexpectedly, bringing me back from the brink of sleep. Of course there was no right answer to a question like that.

"Isn't that a little like asking if your butt looks too big in that outfit?"

My voice was probably pretty groggy, but apparently that had come out clear enough. Eric appeared to be stumped for a response to my question for a moment before he burst out laughing.

"I thought my bottom was your favorite part," he said with mock defensiveness.

It was my turn to laugh. "Of course it is, sweetie, but you see my dilemma."

"Yes, dear," he said mischievously. "Isn't that the proper response?"

"You are such a brat, Eric."

"But to get back to my question," Eric persisted.

His hands were still slightly warm from the bath and he stroked my arms unselfconsciously. If I had been a cat, I would have been purring noisily.

"Yes, I like it when you are warm, but I like it when you are your normal temperature too."

"You are very diplomatic, Lover."

"I aim to please."

I was still lying on top of Eric, and since he didn't need to breathe, he seemed quite comfortable with me there. My head was parked under his chin, and when he spoke, the sound of his voice rumbled through me in a very pleasant way. We were both speaking softly, so as not to wake the baby.

"Will you come with me now to Las Vegas, Sookie? I am not content when you are too far away."

"I'm not either," I admitted. "I keep looking around for you and you aren't there. I feel like part of me is missing."

"Part of you is," he said. "We are no longer two separate people." His fingers traced their way down my spine, then back up again, soothing and calming.

I hadn't thought about it quite like that, but that was a pretty accurate description. The gentle hum of Eric's life force, whatever it was that kept him alive, seemed like oxygen to me now, and when he was gone, it was like I was always short of breath.

"Do you think she will be able to know when to hide her wings? She's only a little baby, Eric."

"Winter is almost here. We can dress her in her little sacks when we take her out. But I have a feeling that she knows more than she is capable of expressing, and will know when to shield herself."

"Yeah, that's kind of what worries me. Do you think she understands what we say around her?"

"Perhaps we should assume that she does," he said.

"I don't know if it's better to let Dermott teach her things, or if it's better to keep her away from him. Who knows what she picked up when they did that little magical thing earlier, although I suppose some of her magic just might happen anyway."

"I don't know. I have never met a fairy child before. The fae keep their young away from vampires, and humans too for that matter. And she is something different; not human, not fae, but something we have not seen before."

I could tell that Eric was not pleased that he was in unfamiliar territory. His preference would be to kill whatever might be a potential threat, but he knew that Dermott might have information that we would need. The half fairy had demonstrated that already.

"Sometimes she just seems like a regular old baby. Well, cuter than any other baby, of course, but like she's human."

"As you seem human too."

"Nothing is simple," I said and that just about summed up everything.

Eric eased me over onto my back and looked down into my eyes. "Some things are," he said.

His hands were cool now, and I squealed a little when he slid them between my legs.

"You will warm me up soon enough, Lover," he whispered against my neck.

The day after the trip to Bon Temps, I popped out of bed at Claudine's first whimper to see exactly what had happened with her wings. They were back in their usual place, and she did not seem happy that they couldn't be spread out in her little suit that she had worn to bed. When I had undressed her, she fanned the wings out and managed to swat me in the face with them several times before she seemed comfortable.

"Well, little girl, I am glad to see you back to your normal self," I told her.

I was actually relieved. As much as I had worried about her wings being something that would attract danger, they were very much a part of who she was, and I was glad to see them back.

"Now, if we can just get you to hide them at the appropriate times, we'll be able to go out whenever we want."

I really wanted to go out today, so I thought I would just give it a try. If she was in her little cover-up, then we could experiment in a store and see if she knew enough to put her wings away. I wanted to get a few new outfits for our trip to Las Vegas, and I knew Tara would have something I would like. And if the experiment didn't go well, then I could trust Tara to keep our secret.

Travis and Mark seemed as anxious to be out and about as I did. I think they were getting a little stir-crazy from being stuck patrolling my yard. Of course, boredom meant crazed fairies or power hungry vampires weren't attacking us, but even still, it is nice to get out once in a while.

Once I had gotten her settled in, Claudine seemed very happy in her car seat, and watched the treetops speeding by outside the window. I felt like I had just stepped out of a too tight girdle at the end of the day, a feeling of freedom and expansion. It had been too long since I had been on an outing that wasn't about dealing with the supernatural world. And I was dying for some new clothes. Everything fit just a little differently since I'd had the baby. Not that I had gained any significant weight, on the contrary, but I think I was just a little bit different shape. I felt ill fitted in my pre-pregnancy jeans and tops.

When we got to Tara's shop in Bon Temps, I tucked Claudine into her little stroller. It was the first time we had used it, and it took a few minutes to get it unfolded and get Claudine all settled in. Since she was all zipped in her little suit, you couldn't even tell that she had "extras". I was hoping I would be able to unzip her in the shop and she'd know what to do.

"Sookie! It seems like ages. Let me look at that baby girl. She got so big!"

Tara was all smiles to see me when we walked into her shop, Tara's Togs. She was familiar with the guards and managed to take it in stride when the weres stalked through the place, even the dressing rooms, checking for any hidden dangers. Since this hadn't been a scheduled trip, I thought the chances of a surprise attack were pretty slim, but it pays to be cautious, I'd learned.

"How are you, Tara? And how's Jackson doing? He must be huge."

"Oh, Sookie, he's gotten so big and he's just a sweetheart. JB is so proud, you'd think he was a peacock!"

"And how's everybody doing here at home? You see Sam much?"

"Honey, I hardly have time to sleep, much less get out to Merlotte's. I guess he's doing okay. JB goes over for lunch once in a while. He said something about some cousin of yours living over at Jason's, that guy Drake? He's says he looks like he's Jason's twin brother. I never knew you had anyone but Hadley."

"It's a long story, Tara," I said, not wanting to go into that.

So Dermott was still using the name Drake with the humans. Well, it didn't really matter what name he was using. I planned to spend as little time with him as possible, whether he'd pledged himself to Claudine or not.

"And where's Bill Compton? Did he move to Shreveport too? Nobody's seen him in ages. He usually lets me know when he'll be out of town, since he owns the building. You know what I think about vamps, Sookie, no offense intended, but Bill is about the best one I ever met."

"I haven't seen Bill in a while, Tara. I guess he must be traveling or something." Or something was more like it. I wondered what Eric had done with Bill, or if I even wanted to know.

"Well, let's get you set up. What do you need? I have some stuff you're just going to love," Tara said and she was off and running with what was new in the shop, and what I would need for the trip to Las Vegas. While Tara went to gather a few things for me to try on, I leaned over to talk to the baby.

"Now, let's see if you can repeat that trick from last night. We don't want anyone to see your wings right now, okay?"

As stealthily as I could, I began to pull down the zipper. I could feel the magic as soon as I did and knew that Claudine was going to manage this just fine. It was a little disconcerting to think that such a small thing would understand what was going on, but it was also a relief that our little problem was well and truly solved. Tara came back with an armload of stuff and never noticed a thing.

The back of the car was going to be filled with the bags from Tara's shop. I managed to find several cocktail dresses for parties and nightclubs, since the vamps were always throwing some kind of shindig. I had some new sweaters for the winter season ahead, new slacks to go with them and a few casual evening out dresses. The new jeans fitted better over my slightly widened hips and the tops would accommodate nursing. I was ready to get out and about in style.

We walked out of Tara's shop, and if it weren't for my two weres blocking her path, I would have walked right into the arms of Maxine Fortenberry. Maxine, one of Gran's oldest friends and mother of Jason's former BFF Hoyt, would have barreled right through Travis to get to Claudine, no doubt causing an incident, if I hadn't waved the were off and made the first approach.

"Mrs. Fortenberry, how nice to see you," I said.

I couldn't help the big smile that engulfed my face as I watched Maxine size up my guards and look approving. As old as she was, she still could appreciate a man "of substance" as she was wont to say. It would take a substantial man to deal with Maxine. The fifty something woman housed a lot of spirit in her stout and hearty body.

"Well, well, Sookie. Look at you! And pass that baby right over here. I heard you had a little one. I can't believe you haven't been over to show her off. If only your grandmother could have lived to see this," she said as she reached out to hold the baby.

I didn't hesitate for a moment. Mrs. Fortenberry wasn't a woman to be denied if there was a new baby or a good piece of gossip available, and I could just picture Gran showing off her new great grandchild to one of her oldest friends.

"Oh, isn't she just a doll! What's her name, Sookie?"

"Claudine Adele," I answered and saw her approving look at the inclusion of Gran's name.

"My, my. She looks just like you, doesn't she? And you're over to Shreveport now? Your man keeping good care of you?"

She gave me a sidelong glance that spoke volumes. Of course she would know that I had married a vampire, but she was on her company behavior, and was more interested in Claudine than in passing judgment at the moment. She would hold off on that until she got together with her own friends, and then it would be judgment day for sure.

"Oh yes, Ma'am. He takes really good care of both of us."

"Well, that's nice, honey. Now if only Hoyt would think of his poor momma and produce some grandchildren. I don't know why kids wait so long these days to have kids. It's not like I'm gonna live forever," she laughed.

Considering that Louisiana was pretty high on the charts for teen pregnancies, right up there with Mississippi, I didn't think she could generalize on something like that, but I didn't say anything. Maxine was tickling Claudine's chin, and the baby was doing her best to charm Mrs. Fortenberry right out of her support hose. I found myself basking in thoughts of what it might have been like to have my Gran showing off her new great grandchild to the whole town of Bon Temps.

"Now I saw that girl you got staying up at your place, that Amelia, the other day. She still got that big old tomcat of hers? She should get that cat fixed or he'll be roaming the woods and get eaten up by one of them panthers out to Hot Shot."

"No, Ma'am. I have the cat at my place in Shreveport. Amelia goes back and forth to New Orleans quite a bit, and worries about the cat, so I've been keeping him," I answered. That wasn't the whole truth, but was probably enough information to satisfy the Maxine's curiosity.

Poor Bob. Everyone seemed to think he should be neutered. Eric thought it would serve him right. But I figured he was already paying enough for his sins, and more and more I just thought of him as a plain old cat. Maybe I should plan to take him to Vegas, so Bubba wouldn't eat him or something while we were gone.

"Well, well," she said and her whole face lit up as Claudine laughed out loud. "I guess this is just about the cutest baby ever."

"Thank you, Ma'am, I guess you're right about that," I said and laughed along with her.

"Now you two don't be strangers," she said as she handed Claudine, a little reluctantly, back to me.

"Tell Hoyt and Holly I said hi. It was nice to see you, Mrs. Fortenberry," I said.

She gave my two men the once over and clucked a bit, her head swaying side to side, in what I took to be appreciation before she headed back on her way, smiling for all she was worth. Travis opened the back door of the car and I buckled Claudine into her car seat, giving her a kiss on the forehead. The baby was still smiling.

"Where to next, Ma'am?" Mark asked as we drove off from Tara's.

The original plan had been to stop at Merlotte's and see Sam before we headed back to Shreveport, but I already felt the pull of home, and Eric. Even Bon Temps was too far away from my vampire. It was a good thing we were all going to Las Vegas together.

Grace wasn't expecting us back this early, so I suggested we just get something to eat along the way home. The weres thought a hamburger sounded about right. I'd never met a were yet that would look askance at a piece of meat if they had a chance, so we stopped along the highway and ate in a small diner.

Mark carried Claudine in, still strapped in her car seat, and propped her up in one of the booths, farthest from the window. I noticed he unbuttoned his jacket and checked that his handgun was in easy reach as he scanned the room for any threats. The most threatening thing in the place was the surly waitress that stomped over to our table, menus in hand. She perked up a bit when she caught site of my two handsome weres. She moved her hand up to her hair, tossing the dyed black locks a little too carelessly over her shoulder. The men were more impressed with their menus than with the waitress's Tammy Faye makeup and two short skirt. She glared at me as if their indifference was somehow my fault.

"So when are you two headed off for your trip to the islands?" I asked Travis and Mark after our lunch arrived.

I took a big bite of my cheeseburger. The service might not be great, but the food sure was.

"Once we get you and the little one settled on the plane, Ma'am," Travis answered. "Trinidad and Tobago this year. We hear they're pretty tolerant of the two-natured there, and we plan to get in some spear fishing and maybe some hunting."

"Wolf or weapon?" I asked, since it seemed like they liked both.

"Weapons mostly," Travis answered. "Never hurts to get in some live practice." Mark, in his usual quiet way, just nodded with enthusiasm and took another bite of his burger.

I had absolutely nothing to say in response to that. I was familiar with the passion for hunting. Most of the men from my childhood were hunters, including my father and my brother. Personally, it never occurred to me to want to kill something that hadn't gone after me first. As to that, well, I had done my share of killing now, and I hoped I wouldn't be in that situation ever again.

"I hope you all get back in time for Christmas," I said finally. "I'm counting on you to help put up the lights. I don't think Eric knows how."

It would be Claudine's first Christmas, and come hell or high water, we were going to have a real Christmas celebration, complete with tree and presents. I'd have to get Amelia to bring over the boxes of Christmas ornaments that were up in the attic in Bon Temps. The Vikings may not have had Santa, and the fairies certainly didn't, but my daughter would have Santa, and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. Maybe we'd have to celebrate Dracula's birthday too, but it wasn't going to be all vampire, all the time!

"Sure, we can put up the lights," Mark said, and we spent the rest of our meal laughing and joking about Bubba draining the Thanksgiving turkey and picturing how the vampires might deal with Christmas.

"You might not want to mention to your husband that we talked about him in a Santa suit," Travis said with a grin when we had reached home and the weres had finished unloading the packages.

"Oh, I think we can keep that between ourselves," I said, laughing. "Who is going to be watching me when you leave?" I added, assuming it would be weres from our usual contingent of guards.

"I believe Mr. Northman has contracted with the Britlingens," Travis said. He was looking over his shoulder at the sun, easing its way to the horizon. It would be full moon tonight, and I imagined that his wolf persona was waiting eagerly to emerge and have its run in our woods.

"Really? Well, I hope it's Batanya and Clovache, they're really nice."

There were two vampires in our family that would probably be pretty glad to see them too, I thought. Whether the ladies would be as happy to see the vampires was anyone's guess.

Mark raised his eyebrows at the "nice" comment. I suppose the most lethal guards you could hire wouldn't usually be characterized as "nice", but I was already thinking of a girl's night out and how much fun that would be. Maybe we could get Pam to join us.

"I am sure they will keep you safe, Mrs. Northman," Travis said, and we left it at that.

By the time I had gotten Claudine bathed, dressed and fed and the new clothes were hanging in the closet, it seemed like a good time for a nap for both of us. I laid Claudine on the bed next to her daddy and she settled in, her wings spreading out across the bed, their inky blackness looking stark next to Eric's marble white skin.

I looked down at the two loves of my life, both beautiful in their own way, and both a part of me and of each other. Throwing off my shoes and jeans, I climbed in, pulled the quilt over all of us, and snuggled up next to the perfect cool body of my vampire.


	59. Chapter 59

CHAPTER 59

"So, Mr. Cataliades, did you find anything at all?"

The half demon lawyer was sitting across from me in one of the sitting rooms of Felipe de Castro's house, or de Castro's former residence I guess I should say, sipping his coffee. His niece, Diantha, had parked herself in one of the chairs for a change, instead of her usual spot on the floor. Her bare feet were tucked under her butt, her attention focused on her hand-held video game.

"I think I may have found what you were looking for. Only one research project appeared relevant to our situation."

I liked the way he called it "our" situation. I would probably not term the relationship we had with Mr. Cataliades as family, but he was certainly batting for our team. I had a feeling it was more than just showing loyalty to his current employer. The demon mark he had bestowed on Claudine seemed to indicate that it was much more than that.

"It is primarily genealogical research," he continued. "There appear to be nine subjects that are the current main focus, and one of them is you, my dear."

He handed over an accordion file that appeared to be pretty full. It was divided into sections, each one labeled with a name. I recognized some of them.

"The paper file contains personal information on each subject."

So that's what I was, a subject? At least I wasn't being classed as a specimen. He handed me another small box, which seemed heavy for its size.

"Records of the complete project are contained on this hard drive. Only myself and those actually working on the project have seen this, and your great grandfather of course."

"Nine subjects? What information do these files include?"

"Nine that are of current interest. The other files are designated as inactive. The files contain genetic code, genealogical records, physical characteristics and medical histories primarily, also some personal history. Of course, they were considered confidential files, but since you are the owner of the company now, it was not difficult to obtain copies of the records. There was some reluctance to reveal the existence of the project; perhaps some compulsion was used to ensure secrecy. But there are ways to unearth these kinds of things, once there is reason to expect to find something."

"I appreciate the effort you put into this, Mr. Cataliades. Eric and I will look at the stuff you brought." I didn't want to know the methods he'd used to unearth the information.

"Some of the research involves samples," he said.

He looked at me expectantly, as if this should have some significance other than the ick factor of knowing you were somebody's guinea pig. I must have looked blank, so he continued.

"In the wrong hands, those kinds of things can be used to bring harm. Witches, for example, can use blood or hair to fashion a spell."

"Oh," I said, no doubt showing the alarm I felt. "Are there witches working on this, at the lab?"

"Not that I have been able to determine. It appears that the samples are used for genetic analysis."

How would the fairies have gotten physical samples? From doctor's offices? I tried to remember the last time I had had a blood test. I was hardly ever sick, and rarely saw a doctor until I'd started hanging out with the vampires. Had they been in my house? Taking hair samples from my brush that was usually just sitting on the bathroom counter? It gave me chills just thinking of fairies coming into my house when no one was home.

"But that kind of thing, physical samples, can be used to track people too, can't it?"

"Yes. Do you want the samples destroyed?"

"Let me talk to Eric about that first."

"Are you aware of the purpose of this research?"

I hadn't really explained the whole story of my grandfather's hunt for the descendents of the angels to Mr. Cataliades. At this point, as few people as possible that knew about it the better. That was my opinion, and Eric's too. But Mr. Cataliades was the best person to investigate what was going on at the labs that Niall had set up, and that now belonged to me. He wasn't a scientist, but a lawyer could ferret stuff out, or knew who could. He didn't really need to know why he was looking for it, just what to look for. I had told him that I wanted any project that involved me or members of my family.

"Maybe we will know more when we have seen what's in the files," I answered vaguely.

"Of course," Mr. Cataliades answered, raising one eyebrow.

Hearing a knock on the door, I tucked the folder that Mr. Cataliades had brought next to me on the couch.

"Come in," I called out, knowing that Batanya and Clovache were on door duty and wouldn't have allowed anyone in unless they were expected. Grace came in, carrying a tray of sandwiches.

"Ah, Ms. Maclaren, lovely to see you," Mr. Cataliades said in his usual courtly manner.

"I thought you might care for a little snack," Grace said as she laid out the food and napkins. The minute I saw the food, I realized I was starving, as usual these days. Eating for three!

Grace had come with us to Las Vegas, since Eric was convinced that I didn't eat enough for a mother nursing a child. It was easy to miss meals when you lived with a houseful of people that didn't eat and that kept vampire hours. Grace always managed to show up with food for me when I was hungry.

Diantha perked up at the mention of food and turned off her video game, coming to join us around the coffee table and picking up a sandwich. I sometimes wondered how old Diantha was. She was only part demon, but I didn't know if that meant her life span was any different from a pure human. Sometimes she seemed like a child, but then sometimes Thomas did too, and he was close to a thousand years old. I didn't think Thomas was ever going to completely grow up, but maybe Diantha would? Or maybe she would always have a childlike nature. Maybe to the vampires, I was little more than a child too.

"How are you enjoying Las Vegas, Ms. Maclaren?" the lawyer asked.

Grace refilled the coffee cups, then sat down next to me on the couch with her own cup.

"Not exactly my cup of tea, I'm afraid. But there is plenty to keep me busy here at the house."

That had certainly been true for both of us. Although Felipe had spared no expense on the house in terms of furnishings and safety features, he hadn't spent much on maid service. The place hadn't met Grace's standards, or mine either. We had been pretty busy giving the place a good spring-cleaning, even if it was already the beginning of December. Of course, Eric would have hired someone to do it, but it was kind of nice to feel useful, and it gave me a chance to get to know the place and to see what was squirreled away inside of it.

"I hope you have been getting out a bit, my dear," the lawyer said, addressing me.

"Eric has been showing me the town at night," I said, "and Grace and I went to see the Hoover Dam yesterday afternoon. That was pretty amazing. But I will be glad to get back to Louisiana. It's so close to the holidays and it'll be Claudine's first Christmas, so I want to make it special. We'll have to get a tree and put up the lights, and I have to finish my shopping."

"Ahh, yes, that will be a very special occasion, I'm sure," he said, trying to sound enthusiastic and not really succeeding. I had a feeling that Christmas was not a very important holiday for the demons.

"You and Diantha are welcome to come for Christmas dinner," I offered.

"I'm afraid we must decline, but it is a very generous offer. We will be visiting with Diantha's mother, but perhaps another time."

I was still in a quandary about what to do about Jason for Christmas. I'm sure he expected to be at my place for dinner, but then what about Dermott? Since the fairy was pretty much living with Jason, it would be hard not to invite him too. He was my great uncle, and family is family when it comes to holidays.

"We'd love to have you any time," I said, and then got to the other matter I wanted to talk to him about. "Mr. Cataliades, if you wanted to keep something safe, really safe, and didn't want anyone to know where it was, what would you do with it?"

The lawyer, who was as well versed in keeping surprise off his face as I was, again raised his eyebrow slightly as he thought about my abrupt change in conversation.

"In plain sight," Diantha chirped up, her first contribution to the conversation of that day.

"A very good idea, niece," Mr. Cataliades said, patting her on the head like you might reward a pet that had done a new trick.

"But perhaps that would only work if the entities that were looking for it did not know its true guise," he added.

Now that was an interesting way to put it, true guise. So, if something didn't look like what it really was, through a magic spell maybe, you could put it just about anywhere. I didn't like the way he said "entities" instead of person, though.

"It might get thrown out by accident, during a spring cleaning perhaps," Grace commented.

Grace was a pretty practical woman. She'd have to be I supposed, to be a housekeeper. We had been considering what to keep from the de Castro house, and I had been ready to throw a lot of it into the charity box or garbage can. Grace had warned me that some of this stuff might be really, really old and have some value. She set aside stuff that looked like trash to me. I was learning to make sure of what something was before just throwing it away.

"Yes, certainly, or on purpose if it appeared to be something of little value. There would be many things to consider of course. How long would it need to remain concealed? Who knew of its existence? Would it need to be accessible? Would the object itself want to be found?"

"Hmmm, I hadn't thought about all of those things," I said, considering what Cataliades had just said.

I thought about Hadley hiding the Queen's bracelet in a can of coffee, and how I might have just thrown that out if I wasn't a coffee drinker. Then a picture of Gollum flitted across my head, and I thought about the evil ring wanting to be found. We had watched the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, extended version, like three times. Daniel just loved those movies. And of course, Aragorn and Legolas were to die for, so it hadn't been much of a hardship.

"If it was a matter of documents, or something of solely monetary value, a safe deposit box would usually be sufficient," the lawyer said. "I could arrange that for you, my dear, if you were concerned about your jewelry for instance."

He probably could guess it wasn't something so simple as jewelry, but he was very good at not asking outright questions, while giving me plenty of opportunity to volunteer information. He would have to be, in his profession.

Actually all of the supes seemed to be good at talking around an issue, well, maybe not the two natured. They seemed to be pretty blunt about most things. But the supes had all lived a life in the shadows, and hiding information came naturally to them after a while. Of course, being telepathic, I had more secrets than Mrs. Fields had cookies, so I was pretty good at concealing things too.

We managed to think of quite a few examples of hidden objects from movies and books, and that kept the conversation going until we had all finished our lunch and the demons got up to leave.

"Just let me know if I can assist you with anything else, my dear. I will do nothing about the matter we were discussing until I hear further from you or the King," Mr. Cataliades said.

"I really appreciate everything, Mr. Cataliades. I'm sure Eric will want to look through everything you brought, and we'll let you know what we decide."

"Nicetoseeya," Diantha blurted out, in her usual sing song manner before she scooted out the door behind her uncle.

"What do you think, Grace? Any of those ideas sound good to you?" Again, I looked to Grace's practicality, as I so often did these days.

"I think you must be sure of your goals before you do anything that is irreparable," she offered. "And then when you have decided what your goal is, and what you can live with, I would tell no one but your vampire. You and he cannot be parted now, and you must have the same goals."

With that, she picked up the coffee pot and the remains of the sandwiches and headed off to the kitchen, leaving me to wonder what my goals really were.

I wouldn't say that my life was particularly easy growing up; being a telepath surely presented a whole host of problems, for myself and for those around me. I couldn't say that I had had the worst of lives either. I had had my grandmother who loved me unconditionally, and I had had a few good friends and a community that accepted me, albeit with reservations. Not easy, but then it had been simple, as my goals were.

I hadn't planned too much in life, always knowing that I would probably never marry and have a family. I could have chosen a career path, but getting through college and holding down a professional job would have been next to impossible, being bombarded by all of the thoughts of those around me. But I had found a job that I could do well, and I had had a home, even if it wasn't quite up to the modern standards that I would have liked. And I had had those few good friends that seemed to make everything bearable.

Now, I had possibilities that I never would have dreamed. I had a family of my own, a husband that loved me, and a child. I had enough money to do almost anything I wanted, especially considering my recently limited expectations. But along the path to this new life, I had picked up a whole string of complications, and responsibilities.

Well, you don't get much in life that you don't have to pay for. But I really hadn't taken stock yet, and established any goals of where I wanted to go, or who I wanted to be in this new life. And now, I had to make some decisions about what I was actually responsible for, and what I could actually live with.

Niall believed that the fae's death knell had sounded with the falling of the angels, and he believed that fairy could be saved still, with the angel's resurrection. Perhaps it was just their time, and the angels had nothing to do with the dying off of the fae world. Maybe all worlds came to an end and mankind's last day would come too at some point.

The Christians had believed that Jesus would bring them salvation, and that the end of the human world did not mean an end to everything. We were taught not to fear the end of our lives, since that was just a beginning. The jury was still out on that, or at least I was beginning to think it was. We might look forward to being saved in the hereafter, but tell that to all the people that had suffered through and died in Katrina. Some of them would have chosen to survive.

Salvation and survival weren't necessarily one and the same thing. Not that I was comparing Claudine to Jesus or anything, but maybe to Niall, she would be their survival and their salvation. If Niall was right, then I held the key, literally, to bringing their world back to life. Of course, there would be a price to pay for that gift, and I would very likely be paying at least part of it.

And there was Claudine. As her mother, I knew that no price was too much for her life or happiness, even if the price was the whole world of the fairies.

If Niall found out about Claudine, then I would just be a brood mare to bring back the angels, and Claudine would be too, when she was old enough. There would be justification, in the fairy's eyes, to experiment further with those few that he had ferreted out as possibilities for his breeding project -- people like Barry, and my little cousin Hunter, both of whose names I had seen in that folder. The freedom to choose our own path in life would become secondary to the greater good of saving the fae world.

And there was Eric. He wouldn't take that standing still, and he would war against Niall if needs be, to keep me and Claudine. Would even the presence of an angel be enough to maintain peace in that situation? How many would die then? I thought that I might not survive, if Eric died. I might not even want to.

So, I guess I would say that my goal was to keep Niall in the fae world, and keep Claudine out. I couldn't prevent Niall from reopening the gates from his side, but I could keep the key out of the hands of anyone here, or at least I could try to. And hiding it in my underwear drawer was not the best solution.

I looked around the room until I found my purse, thrown casually onto a side table when I had come in last night with Eric. Feeling around the bottom, I reassured myself that the silver key was still there. I had thrown in it at the last minute, on impulse, when we had left for Las Vegas. I opened the door and called out to Grace.

"Grace? Did we manage to come across a phone book in all that mess we cleared out of the office this week?"

"Let me look, dear. I seem to recall that there was one."

Grace came in a few minutes later and handed me the yellow pages for the city of Las Vegas. I thumbed through until I found what I was looking for, and I ripped out the page and stuffed it into my purse. I picked up the files and the hard drive that Mr. Cataliades had brought, and carried them down to my bedroom, locking them in the safe. I gave my vampire a quick kiss on his sleeping face for good measure, pulled the quilt over him, and then locked the door behind me.

Claudine was still asleep in her little portacrib in the family room. She would be waking up before long, and I didn't want to leave Grace dealing with a crying and hungry baby. I picked her up gently, so as not to wake her, and carried her out towards the back door. It was four thirty, plenty of time to deal with this today.

"Grace, I'm going out. I won't be gone too long. If Eric wakes up, tell him I have my phone, and I can just meet him and Pam at the bar, okay?"

I checked for my phone, grabbed a cover-up for the baby, threw on my sweater and headed outside.

"Batanya? Can you and Clovache go with me to the bank?"

We were there in half an hour, and the security guard at the door pointed me in the right direction for the manager's desk. Batanya and Clovache had managed to secrete their weapons, although how they could hide that much stuff in their tight fitting uniforms was a mystery to me. Kind of like how they could carry that much muscle and were basically death come to call, and still looked sexy as all get out.

I handed Claudine over to Clovache and she looked slightly taken aback as she took hold of the baby.

"Can you just hold her for a few minutes, Clovache? I'm getting a safe deposit box, and I will have to go into the vault, and they're not going to want anyone to go in with me."

"I do not know if that is a good idea, Sookie," Batanya said as she scanned the room for any bank robbers or other malcontents that might be checking their savings account balance.

"It's the bank vault, Batanya. It's made to be safe and secure. I won't be a moment. Just watch the baby, will you?" I said and walked over to talk to the middle-aged woman sitting behind the biggest desk.

"Hi," I said, extending my hand. "I'm Sookie Northman. I have an account here and I'd like to get a safe deposit box. Maybe you can help me?" I looked at my watch, just so she'd know that I was on a schedule.

"I'm Stacey Chapman, the manager. If I could see some identification, we'll just look up your account and see what we can do for you," she said rather imperiously.

I didn't know if I really had to have an account here to get a box, but it never hurt to establish who you were if you wanted to get business done quickly. I dug out my driver's license and handed it to her, sitting myself down in the chair that she indicated with a gesture of her hand.

Ms. Chapman looked quickly at my ID and then began to punch in some information into the computer. Her eyes got big and she looked over at me and at my driver's license again. I guess the balance was impressive enough. I was always impressed when I saw the amount, and it was my money!

"Well, I'm sure that we can fix you right up, Mrs. Northman," she said, her tone changing to one of solicitude.

She explained the procedure to me, and the yearly fees. I would have a key, and I would have to show identification to access the contents of my box. A bank employee would have to use the bank's key at the same time to open the box and then I would be able to examine, add or remove contents in the privacy of the vault. Only my legal heirs or in some situations certain law enforcement agencies would be allowed to open the box unless I was present in the flesh.

I nodded to show that I understood the situation, then filled out and signed the application form. I arranged for the payment of five years in advance for the box, not having any idea how long I would want to leave the key there. I just knew I didn't want it anywhere too close to Claudine or to any other fae.

Within fifteen minutes, we were inside the bank vault, the manager escorting me personally, and I was using my key to open my new box, number 767. I felt like I was in the middle of a James Bond movie, just being inside of the vault. It was strangely impressive, especially since the equivalent of a safety deposit box for my family in the past had been a mason jar buried in the back yard by the pump house.

When I was left alone in the room, I dug around again in the bottom of my purse and pulled out the key to the fae realm. I felt the magic as soon as my fingers touched the key. At least it didn't burn me, as it had Thomas. Of course that wasn't the key's fault, Thomas was a vampire and sensitive to silver. But I sort of wondered if it would react to someone that didn't have any fae blood at all, if they would feel the strange pull of its magic. I pulled a clean tissue out of my purse, wrapped up the key and dropped it in the box, then called the bank manager back in.

When the key was safely locked up in its new resting place, I walked back out of the vault. My shields could barely hold back the manager's internal debate about how exactly a woman as unimpressive as myself could have ended up with that bank balance. She wasn't surprised that I was from somewhere like Louisiana (she'd seen that on my license) since I looked pretty unsophisticated. But then she'd learned that the rich often didn't dress to fit their budget. A lot of them were pretty cheap with their money, which is maybe how they got so much in the first place. Or at least that was how she saw it. Well, I hadn't been planning to go out until after Eric got up for the night. I'd dressed for a day at home, not being out and about.

Batanya and Clovache looked relieved as I walked back out into the lobby. I'm not sure what they would have done if I'd been there longer than they thought appropriate. I didn't really want to know. Clovache handed me back the baby and resumed her post in front of me, almost knocking over Ms. Chapman, who was apparently too close to me for Clovache's liking.

"Thank you, Ma'am for all of your help," I told her.

She looked back and forth between Clovache and Batanya, not really sure what to think of them, but she was mostly concerned that I was happy with their service. I was not a client that a bank would want to lose.

"It's been our pleasure to help you, Mrs. Northman. If there is ever anything I can do, just call," she said and handed me her card.

I tucked the card into my purse, extended my hand and turned around to walk out. I hesitated only a moment. It occurred to me that maybe I should just try to destroy the key, although that might not even be possible. It seemed to just be made out of silver, and could possibly be melted down. But then, it was a magical artifact, and who knew whether it would just melt or could withstand flame.

But I had a feeling that wouldn't be a good idea, even if it were possible. I wasn't going to live forever, and someday, Claudine might want or need to see the land of her ancestors. It could be that there would come a time when it would be the only safe place for her to go. I didn't want to destroy that chance for her; even though right now I thought going there was not a good option. Maybe, since she was an angel, and they were supposed to have built the portals, she wouldn't even need a key.

For right now I just needed it out of my house, and away from Dermott. This was just temporary, until we could decide the best course of action. There was no reason to think that Dermott would find it here. Thinking about the afternoon's discussion with Mr. Cataliades though, I just hoped that the key didn't have a will of its own. Well, if it wanted to be found, there was nothing I could do to stop it.


	60. Chapter 60

CHAPTER 60

The traffic in Las Vegas is horrendous, night or day. By the time we were finished at the bank, and had gotten a mile down the Strip, it was pretty much dark outside, or at least as dark as Las  
Vegas ever got. This place was almost as bright at night as it was in the daytime. It was like a big glowing bulb shining on the face of the earth. Amelia had shown me pictures of the effect taken from space, where you could see it glow. It seemed the better part of valor to just keep creeping through all the cars and pedestrians and head to the bar, rather than heading back home. Eric would already be up.

The revelers on the street reminded me of the crowds in the French Quarter late at night. Many of them were already on their second or third drink of the evening I was sure, and were headed for the next nightclub or casino. Some were laden with their bags from a day of shopping, probably wondering if they had the energy left to drop their loot back at their hotels before choosing which buffet to dine at. The pornslappers were handing out their trading cards on the street corners and the young service men on leave were snapping them up, their close cropped heads reflecting the neon that shone all around them.

"What a strange place this is," I commented to Batanya and Clovache. "And they think vampires are weird."

"Some would say your New Orleans is just the same, only with better music," Clovache said as we drove by a big sign announcing Barry Manilow's next concert.

"Yeah, I guess. This is just bigger, and somehow it doesn't seem so real as New Orleans."

Of course the realities of poverty, drug addiction and prostitution were just as evident here as they were in New Orleans, they were just set against a backdrop of shining marble, stainless steel and bright lights. New Orleans made this place seem like a movie set.

"It is a phenomenon the way you humans hold back your natural urges. You deny yourself pleasure, then store up the frustration until you can let it loose in a place like this, where it seems more like vice."

I had to think about that for a moment. "I guess that's true, although a lot of people never let it out at all. I don't know if that's a good thing or not."

"Oh, they let it out," Batanya said. "They let it out when they send their planes into the sky to drop bombs onto the heads of those that are different. They just don't take personal responsibility for it that way."

I really had to think about that. I know I never took responsibility when our country went to war. It always seemed like it was our government that was doing it, not me. And I had to assume that our elected representatives knew what they were doing, although every time I read the newspaper, I kind of thought that they had no idea what the hell the consequences would be.

"You know, my Gran always said you were never supposed to discuss religion or politics in a social situation. It always leads to trouble. People just never agree on this kind of thing."

"This is a social situation?" Clovache teased.

"Okay, point taken. I guess I just don't feel qualified to talk about that kind of thing. I am realizing more and more that I don't know much about the world at all. I mean, not much goes on in Bon Temps, Louisiana."

"Ha!" Clovache laughed. "You say that? I would say quite a bit went on in that little community, and from what I hear, you were right in the middle of most of it."

"Well, that wasn't my idea! I didn't want to be in the middle of anything."

"And yet, there you are, still. But we will not discuss these things, if it is not socially acceptable."

Clovache poked Batanya in the ribs, and gave her a little wink and nod. Batanya, who was driving, barely managed to keep the car from leaving the lane, almost running into a drunk that couldn't quite find the edge of the sidewalk. She winked back at Batanya and laughed softly to herself.

Okay, I was sensing a theme here. Let's all make fun of the country bumpkin who didn't have a clue about the real world. Like it was my fault that I'd been raised in a small town that had only one way to look at the world, and that was the only right way as far as the people there were concerned. Even Bon Temps had become a little more liberal in the last few years. They'd accepted Bill Compton as part of the community. Of course the fact that he'd fought on the southern side in the civil war had been a big part of that acceptance.

"You know, I think Gran was right about a lot of things. If we all were more careful of keeping the peace, with the little courtesies and the hospitality of the south, maybe we wouldn't get into these bigger battles with everybody."

"Yes, we would get out the good china and make a nice cup of tea and the weres wouldn't be fighting with the vampires, and the fairies wouldn't be trying to torture the humans. Oh yes, that would work."

"I think you're just making fun of me for sure now. I don't know why you're being so mean, Clovache."

"She is just frustrated, holding back her natural urges you might say," Batanya said, this time being the one to poke Clovache. "She is just disappointed that the assassin did not accompany us to Nevada. She had planned on examining the bolt for his cross bow I think."

"And a very nice crossbow it is," Clovache said, sighing a bit.

"Well, somebody had to stay home and keep an eye on things in Louisiana. Anyway, we'll be home soon. I hope you two are planning on staying for Christmas. You don't have Christmas in your world I guess?"

"No, we are not Christians. Your man, Jesus, if he came to our world? We would just consider him another crazy man with yet another interpretation of the gods. Like that one, over there," she said pointing to a man with a big sandwich sign on a street corner.

"The end of the world is near. Repent, brothers and sisters," the man's sign said. He was waving a bunch of pamphlets, but people were skirting around him, trying to not get too close. No one wanted what he had to sell.

"Yeah, well, I know lots of people aren't Christians," I said. That was sure becoming apparent in the company I'd been keeping lately. "But you can still like all of the lights and the tree. Grace is going to make a nice dinner, and maybe we'll sing carols too. Although really, I can't sing at all." And I doubted I'd get a lot of participation out of the vampires either, although Pam was always up for music.

"I think we might be around that long. Our guild is most particular that nothing should happen to the child. We are free to decide how long extra protection is warranted. They do not trust the Viking to provide enough security. What are a few were guards to a determined enemy. The vampires are always overconfident."

"Huh!" was about all I could say to that. I certainly thought I was pretty well guarded just about every minute of the day or night. Thinking Travis and Mark and the other weres were insignificant was kind of arrogant on their parts I thought. But I didn't want to say so. Anyway, I liked having them around. When they weren't picking on me that is. Between them and Pam I thought I might end up with a complex or something.

"It looks like your vampire is waiting for you," Batanya said as she pulled the car over to the handicapped spot in front of the bar. Sure enough, there was Eric, in all of his glory, waiting patiently for me to get there. He was never quite happy when I wasn't home when he woke up.

Eric walked around to my door, opened it, kissed me quickly on the cheek, handing me my coat, a folded up blanket and the diaper bag, which I had inconveniently left at the house. Then he closed my door again, and opened Batanya's door, gesturing for her to get out.

"I thought we might take a little drive, it is a nice evening," he said politely. "You may accompany us. You will be able to watch the car, in case someone wants to steal it."

Batanya snorted, rolled her eyes at Eric and then got out of the car. She came around to the back and got in on the other side of Claudine.

"Where are we going, Eric?" I asked.

Eric adjusted the rear view mirror so that he could see Claudine and me in the back seat. I would never be comfortable with how the vamps could drive the car and keep it on the road when they didn't even seem to be looking where they were going. Claudine had heard her daddy's voice, and was now wiggling and straining at the straps of her seat. She wasn't fussing though, although she must be getting hungry.

"I thought we might just see a little of the desert at night, Lover," Eric answered. "It is quite beautiful in its own way."

"I told Pam I would help her to pick out the chairs tonight, for the bar."

Pam had ordered some samples to be delivered, and was hoping I would give her some human input on what would look and work best for the new Fangtasia on the Strip. It was getting closer and closer to being finished, but there were still lots of details to work out. Pam had a better decorating sense than I would ever have, but she knew that I had plenty of practical experience with what did and didn't work in a bar.

"The night is long and she can wait," Eric said as he pulled onto the highway heading out of town.

He was right that the desert really did have a magical look to it at night. The glow of the city seemed to illuminate it for miles, with enough light that the few plants that grew there stood in stark silhouette against the sky. The stars could not compete with the man made illumination, and the lack of trees made the sky a vast emptiness in all directions.

We drove for a short while, pulling off the highway onto a side road and then up a slight rise to a place where Eric could pull over the car. He got out and opened my door, taking the baby when I handed her out. I grabbed my coat and pulled it on, then reached in for the blanket, handing it to Eric to wrap around Claudine. It was cool, but not cold, and the air was very still and quiet. The sounds of the highway not far from us quickly became background noise, barely noticeable, and the headlights of the cars were just part of the lightshow the city had to offer.

We walked a short ways, Eric steadying me when my feet slipped on a rock lying in the sand, and steering me around the larger ones that I didn't notice in the dark. When he thought we were far enough from the car to be private, he lowered himself to the ground, and beckoned me to join him.

"What's up, Eric?" He was so quiet, and the place was so still and strangely forbidding, that it almost felt eerie.

"I just wanted you to myself for a bit, Kjære, you and our angel. I missed you when I rose tonight."

I squirmed a bit until I got a little more comfortable, wishing we could have put the blanket down on the ground. I was really going to look great now, with a big dirty spot on my butt. But Claudine might be cold, so she needed the blanket more than my butt did. Eric, seeing my discomfort, handed the baby to me and scooted us both up onto his lap. I leaned my head back and rested it against him.

"We do not need to stay long if you are cold," Eric said.

"No, it's nice out here, although I don't think I can ever get used to the desert. I miss the trees."

Claudine, now that she was in my lap, started to root around for her dinner, and I pulled up my shirt, opening my bra so that she could nurse. She snuggled in happily, making little slurping noises as she got settled. Eric wrapped the blanket around both of us, making sure that we were warm.

"I am not a lover of the desert either, or Las Vegas, but for now at least, it is ours, and we should learn to see the beauty in it."

I wondered if that was how Eric had kept his mostly positive attitude after a thousand years. He must have been many places where he didn't want to be, and seen so much that he'd rather not have seen. But maybe that was the key to his joie d vivre, as Bill had called it. He tried to find beauty in whatever he had to live with. And I suppose there was beauty in many things in life that at first seemed bleak or unattractive, if you looked for it.

"I think I will have to look very hard to see the beauty here, Eric, but I suppose I should try. The lights are very beautiful, aren't they? Especially when you get away from all the hustle and bustle of town."

"Tell me about your day, Lover," he said softly, resting his head on mine.

I told him about having lunch with Mr. Cataliades and Diantha, giving him all of the details that I could remember of the conversation, what Grace had said, and what I had been thinking. It was nice to share all of this with him. He always listened so carefully and patiently, not trying to ask too many questions, and not commenting or criticizing.

"And the files he brought?" he prompted, when I had taken a break in my narrative.

"I put them in the safe in the bedroom," I said. "There was a file on me, on Hunter too, and on Barry the Bellboy. I didn't know the rest of them, but there were nine."

"All telepaths?" he queried.

"I don't know. I didn't look at them. I just read the labels. I thought you and I could go over them together, and see what they say, what data was collected."

"And there are samples."

"Yes, apparently for DNA analysis. Mr. Cataliades asked if I wanted them destroyed, because they could potentially be used to harm us, but I asked him to wait. I was thinking, if the others in the study didn't know what was going on, and if we needed to find them for some reason, Amelia could use those samples to track them."

"That is a good idea, however, we will need to remove them from the lab. It is not a good idea to leave them in the hands of people who do not have your best interests at heart."

"I was thinking that too, but I'm not sure what to do with them."

"We will think about that. And then where did you go, Lover, after Cataliades left?"

"Oh, well, I hope you won't think its stupid, Eric, but I had the key with me, here in Las Vegas."

"You brought it here?"

"Yes, on impulse really. I know our house in Shreveport is warded against the fairies, but I just didn't like the idea that the key was there with Dermott being so close and all. I know he pledged himself to Claudine and everything, but it just seemed like my underwear drawer was just not the best place for it, so I threw it in my purse before we left."

"And your purse is such a secure location," he chided me.

"Well, yeah, that was dumb, but I just threw it in, then sort of forgot about it until Mr. Cataliades was there today. And then we talked about what to do if you wanted to hide something. Then I took it to the bank. I got a safe deposit box, and I left the key in it."

"Ahh, well, there are worse places for sure, like your purse, Kjære."

"We can move it, but for now, it seemed like it would be safer here than in Shreveport. And I really don't know what to do with it, Eric. I have a feeling it wouldn't want to be destroyed."

"Wouldn't want to?" he asked, puzzlement in his voice.

"Yeah, maybe I've just seen too many movies or something, but I have this feeling. See, I think that it is maybe more than just any old key to a door, that it has some will of its own."

"It is always good to pay attention to feelings, Sookie. Maybe the magic that the key holds can speak to your fairy side. Maybe Claudine will be able to understand more about it when she is older."

"I don't want her anywhere near it right now, Eric. Who knows what would happen if she touched it. Better to leave it alone."

"I agree," he said. "But when she is grown, she may need it someday, so it is best not to try to destroy it. I trust your instincts on this, Sookie."

Claudine seemed to have finished on one side, and I adjusted her, putting her on the other breast, and resettling her under the blanket. Eric's chest moved, and I could tell that he was smelling the milk. He made a little noise, a sigh perhaps.

"Are you hungry, sweetie?" I asked him.

"Yes, but I can wait my turn, the night is long in winter. There are many hours yet in which to enjoy my dining," he said mischievously.

I smiled at him, wondering if he could see me. The sky had darkened appreciably, and the lights of the city looked brighter and brighter against the black expanse of the night.

"I am anxious to have the Christmas lights up at home, Eric. They will look so nice and cheerful. I love all the lights at Christmas."

"Yes, I like them too, although I have never celebrated that holiday."

"Well, you get to this year. I want Claudine's first Christmas to be special."

"Just having her will make it special, Lover. And you may have all of the lights that your little heart desires. I would light up the whole city of Shreveport for you, if I could."

I nuzzled closer against him, and looked out at the lights of the city, incongruously built in the middle of a desert. I felt so happy and complete, and I could see that there was beauty even here in this desolate place.


	61. Chapter 61

CHAPTER 61

"Sookie, your guests are here," Grace called from downstairs.

"Okay, Grace, I'm just about done up here. I'll be right down. Can you show them in?"

I was changing Claudine's diaper when the bell had rung. I knew it would be Remy and Hunter. The guards wouldn't have let anyone else up to the door without calling first to see if it was okay. They were about twenty minutes earlier than I'd thought they'd arrive, but the house was ready, and I would have been waiting to let them in if Claudine had been cooperating at all about getting dressed.

"Lay still, Claudine. You are such a wiggle worm. It's your little cousin Hunter, coming to see you. Don't you want to play with Hunter today? You're going to knock out a feather if you keep that up."

Claudine was not impressed, and squirmed just as much as I got her into her pretty pink dress and tights. She didn't need the little shoes really, since she could barely sit up, but they looked cute with her outfit.

"Come on now, let's go downstairs and see Hunter and Remy. You're going to like Hunter. He's one of us," I told her, although she would figure that out soon enough I figured. "But let's wait and surprise him, okay? Can you hide your wings for a while?"

She seemed to know what I wanted because the wings just popped away. I was beginning to get a good sense of what Claudine could and couldn't understand. She always felt when Eric was around, and could sense him waking. She seemed to know when it was important to hide her true nature. Who was family and who was a stranger was pretty definite too. In every other way, she acted just like what she was, a little baby.

That might be different if she was around other fairies, but except for Dermott, she hadn't met any yet. I was hoping it stayed that way, although she might feel differently when she was a bit older. She might want to meet her kin. Well, we'd cross that bridge when we got to it.

There seemed to be quite a commotion going on downstairs, so I snatched Claudine off the changing table and headed down to see what was going on.

"Hey Remy. Hi Hunter," I said as I came down the stairs. They were still standing by the door and I could see what the problem was now. Hunter's little dog Sam was with them, and Remy was trying to restrain the dog from going after Bob. Bob, not liking another pet in his domain, was hissing and arching his back about three feet out of range of the leash that was restraining Sam.

"Bob, knock that off!" I snapped.

"We brought Sam, Aunt Sookie," Hunter called out.

"Sorry, Sookie. He didn't want to leave Sam home, and I guess I should have called to see if it was okay to bring him. I can tie him to the truck outside or something."

"No problem," I assured Remy, although obviously it was. "We'll just put the cat in one of the bedrooms. Grace, can you take Claudine while I deal with Bob?"

After stomping my foot in front of Bob to get his attention, I gave him a strict lecture about his company manners, much to Remy and Hunter's amusement, and picked the cat up, hauling him upstairs.

"I'm going to put you in the bedroom, Bob. If you bother Eric, he'll just drain you dry when he wakes up, so you just chill," I warned him.

Bob had a strong survival instinct, if nothing else, so I put him in my bedroom, leaving a light on so he wouldn't be locked in the dark. He immediately got up on the bed and curled up in a ball, no doubt leaving cat hair all over the quilt. I rolled my eyes. Eric was so not going to like that!

"Well, so much for that little bit of excitement," I said as I walked back downstairs. "Come on in. I see you've met Grace and Claudine. Let's head into the kitchen. You all must be thirsty after that drive, and Grace has lunch ready. There's homemade chocolate chip cookies too."

I didn't know who was more excited. Hunter's eyes lit up about the cookies, and I was just happy as a clam to be having company, especially this company. Sam, once he was off the leash, went running around in circles to get my attention, bouncing up on his hind legs the way little dogs do, and Claudine just about propelled herself out of Grace's arms to get to the dog. I took Claudine and led the way to the kitchen.

It took a while to get everybody settled down. Grace looked a little miffed at the dog. I am sure she saw him as just a dust magnet that would make a mess of things, but she got a bowl out of the cupboard, filled it with water and set it out on a dishtowel on the floor for Sam. True to form, he lapped up some water, spun around and left a trail of water drops from the bowl to the underside of the table where he parked himself by my feet, his tail going a mile a minute.

After a quick tour of the house, making sure Hunter knew where the bathroom was, we managed to get settled at the table with our lunch. Everyone looked pretty happy, even Remy, who had been a little unsure about bringing Hunter to my house. He had his doubts about his kid visiting a nest of vampires, which of course was totally reasonable. But we had planned lunch when the vampires would all be sleeping and Hunter had wanted to meet his little cousin. Remy was thinking this looked like a pretty normal house after all, in fact, it looked pretty impressive, bigger and nicer than anyplace he usually went into, unless he was working on a construction job.

"Aunt Sookie, can we go swimming in the pool?" Hunter asked excitedly when he looked out the window at the back yard.

"Well, Hunter, it's awfully cold out there today, but sometime when it's warm, you can bring your suit and we'll go in the pool. I thought today you could just play with Claudine, and after lunch, I got a present in there for you for Christmas."

"Oh, can I open it today? Daddy says I gotta wait for Christmas to open my presents."

"Well, we'll see if we can talk your daddy into letting you open one early just this once. It's almost Christmas. But you better eat your lunch first."

"That baby's trying to talk to me, Aunt Sookie," he said, and Remy choked a bit on his coffee.

"Her name is Claudine, Hunter, and she's your cousin. She's like us, like you and me," I told him, and I looked over to see Remy staring at Claudine. He was thinking he sure hadn't known what he was getting into when he'd married into this family.

"Claudine's special in other ways, too, Hunter, but we'll talk about that after lunch," I told him.

I wasn't sure how I was going to introduce the whole concept of angels with Remy and Hunter, but if we were going to have any kind of family relationship, then they needed to see Claudine's wings. And Remy needed to know about Dermott and what I had found out about Niall's plans.

"I don't see any wings," Hunter announced. I guess he'd been picking up my thoughts, and instead of responding the same way, communicating with his thoughts, he'd just let the words come right out of his mouth.

"When someone has private thoughts, it's not considered polite to say anything about them out loud, Hunter," I said.

Remy was looking embarrassed about his son, and looking pretty puzzled about the remark about wings. That would have come out of mid-air for him, even if it did make sense to me.

"Son? What do you say?" Remy said, feeling that Hunter must have listened in to something he shouldn't have.

"Sorry, Aunt Sookie," Hunter said and looked down at his plate.

"It's okay, Hunter. After lunch, we'll talk about this. How's the construction business going, Remy?" I said to change the subject, and I heard about the new project Remy was working on for a while.

By the time we'd had our lunch and cookies and Hunter, prompted by Remy, had washed up his hands, we headed to the living room.

"You don't have any stuff on your tree, Aunt Sookie? Aren't you going to put lights on it?" Hunter asked.

Hunter's eager little face warmed my heart. He was dressed in a Christmas sweater with a big reindeer on the front, obviously new blue jeans and sneakers. When he was standing next to his handsome father, I could see the resemblance, but there was no doubt he was my cousin Hadley's son. I couldn't imagine how Hadley could have walked away from this little boy to be with Sophie Anne, no matter how much Hadley had loved the vampire Queen. I had given up a lot of my former life to make a life with Eric, but I couldn't imagine anything that would make me part with Claudine.

"We just got home from Nevada, Hunter. We got the tree last night, but we're going to do the lights and ornaments tomorrow. Your present is under there though, do you want to open it now?"

"Daddy?" he asked eagerly, his eyes shifting from the present to his father and back again to the wrapped gift under the tree.

"Okay, son, just this once," Remy said, his voice kind and indulgent.

Of course, the words were barely out of Remy's mouth and Hunter was dashing for the package. When he'd gotten all the wrapping torn off, he dove into the box and pulled out the train set. It didn't take long before the wooden tracks were laid out on the floor and he had the brightly colored cartoon train engine going round and round.

"You said you had some stuff you wanted to talk about?" Remy said when Hunter was settled with his new toys and we were having our coffee in the next room.

"Yes. I want to tell you what I've found out about my heritage, and Hunter's too," I said.

I told him what I had learned about Dermott, Niall and the "fairy tales" about angels and about the files that we had found at the labs owned by my great grandfather.

"So you're saying that your daughter is an angel?" Remy asked, disbelievingly.

"Well, according to Dermott, that's what she is. She is more fairy than she is human, and if the angels really are just some form of fairy, then yeah, I guess she is an angel."

Remy looked at me like I was from the planet Venus or something. "This is just really hard to believe," he said shaking his head. "But then, it took me a while to really believe that Hunter was what he is, too. Maybe if I hadn't met you, I would never have really let myself believe it completely."

"My mother never wanted to believe it either," I said and I couldn't hold back the sadness in my voice. Her reluctance to accept what I was had caused so much grief for all of us. But denying the truth wasn't going to change reality.

"You have to accept it, Remy, for Hunter's sake. My grandmother accepted it for the truth, and that's what got me through childhood with some semblance of sanity. I know all of this sounds crazy, but everyone thought the vampires and the two natured were just legends until they came out."

"So, you say they had files on Hunter? Is someone going to come looking for him?"

Remy's face looked stricken and his eyes betrayed his fear that something might be a threat to his little boy, something he might not be able to defend against, something that he couldn't really even understand.

"Listen, Remy. I don't think Hunter is in any danger. I think Niall has given up on his plan and that is why he closed the portals. I don't think the fairies ever will reveal themselves, and they may never come back to this world. I hope they don't."

"Then why are you telling me this? Don't you think I have enough to worry about? It's not like I would tell a kid any of this. He's better off just not knowing."

Remy looked angry now, and was glaring at me as if somehow this was my fault. He thought maybe if I had never searched them out, Hunter wouldn't have gotten involved in any of this fairy business and they could just have a normal life. Of course he knew that wasn't true. Life would never be "normal" for a child like Hunter, but at least it hadn't seemed dangerous in quite the same way before. He hadn't really seen the vampires as a real threat, although I had warned him that the supernatural community would want to use Hunter if they knew about him. And I had told him that Eric would do all he could to protect the child from the other vampires. None of it really seemed real to him, although Hunter's telepathy was making it more real to him every day.

"I'm telling you all of this because there is no way to know what will happen in the future. I want you to be aware. There are things I would have done differently if I had known the whole story, if I had really understood what was going on. Or maybe I knew enough, and just didn't want to deal with the reality. I don't know. But I want you to know what I know. I hope you and Hunter won't have to deal with the supernaturals, but I can't guarantee that you won't."

"I thought it would be better for him, you know? To have someone like you, to guide him a bit, and to help me understand him. But I'm having second thoughts about this. Maybe we should just go somewhere else, move to a new place and start over where no one knows who we are."

"I would hate to lose Hunter, now that I've found him. You have to do what you think best, Remy, but if you leave Eric's territory, I don't know if we can offer protection for you. The vampires are very territorial. And Hunter will be alone with his telepathy, with no one like him. I remember what it was like when I was a child, thinking it was only me."

Remy's mind was racing now, and I couldn't listen, it was like hearing a trapped animal, he felt so desperate, his life spiraling out of control. I was familiar with that feeling, and I hated it. I doubted myself for a moment, wondering if I should have just kept quiet about everything. Ignorance is bliss, isn't that what people say? But I had been kept in the dark, and it hadn't helped me in the long run. All's well that ends well sounds good, but I didn't want anyone to walk the path I had walked, no matter where it had ultimately ended up. I didn't want Hunter's blood on my hands too.

Claudine had been sitting quietly in my lap while I talked to Remy, but was becoming increasingly restless. We had never really tested how long she could keep her wings veiled, and there was no way of knowing if it tired her or made her uncomfortable in any way. Maybe it was time to let Remy see just how real all of this was. In for a penny, in for a pound, I thought, and I focused on Claudine.

"Do you want to show Remy your pretty wings, angel? I think it's okay now," I said, and Claudine, understanding my tone if not my actual words, unfurled her wings.

"Holy shit!" Remy said and jumped out of his chair, knocking it to the floor. The noise brought Hunter running in from playing with the train.

"You're not supposed to say that, Daddy," he said and then noticed the chair on the floor and Claudine's wings.

His eyes got big, the way kid's eyes do when something amazed them. He forgot about his Dad's bad language and walked over to his little cousin.

"Wow, Aunt Sookie. Can she always do that? Can she fly?"

"No Hunter, not yet. She's too little. Maybe when she's bigger?"

Of course we assumed that she would one day be able to fly, but really had no idea. Eric's idea to drop her ten or twenty feet to see what she would do, with someone ready to catch her of course, was so not happening.

"That's pretty neat, Daddy. Maybe I can bring her for Show-and-Tell at school instead of bringing Sam."

Even Remy, as astonished as he was, had to smile at that. I laughed out loud at the thought of Hunter showing off Claudine's wings to his fellow kindergarteners. It certainly wouldn't be any laughing matter when the kids went home and told their folks though.

"Hunter, Claudine's wings are a big secret, kind of like you hearing what people think in their heads. It's very, very important to keep her secret. We can't tell anyone except for family."

"People get scared when somebody's different, don't they, Aunt Sookie?" the little boy said. He was learning the hard truths about the world and its cruelties at a very young age. My heart bled for him.

"Yes, Hunter, they do. And sometimes when people are frightened, they do mean things. So this will be our little secret, between you and me and your Daddy."

Remy still hadn't said anything, but sat listening while Hunter and I talked about Claudine's wings. He was as stunned as when my cousin Hadley had told him that she was leaving him and Hunter for someone else, and that someone else was not only a woman, but a vampire.

"I'm sorry, Remy," I said, not exactly sure what I was apologizing for – maybe for not allowing him to remain in that blissful ignorance, even though all of this could someday show up and bite him in the butt.

"I guess I just didn't understand, not until just now, not really. It's all true then, all of it!"

"Yes."

"Well, I'll be damned!"

"Daddy, you're gonna have to put two quarters in the jar for swearing today," Hunter said and gave his Dad a stern look.

"Well, I guess I will, son," Remy said, then beckoned Hunter to his outstretched arm and hugged him close. Hunter snuggled in his father's arms for just a moment and then wriggled out and over to Claudine.

"Can I touch 'em, Aunt Sookie? She doesn't care if I touch 'em," Hunter told me, and I had to assume that somehow Claudine was able to communicate with Hunter in a way that she couldn't with me. Maybe it was because they were both children, or maybe it was just all about body language, since Claudine's wings were spread out in inviting way, and her face was all smiles and giggles.

"Sure, Hunter, just be gentle. She's just a baby."

Hunter touched Claudine's feathers with one fingertip, and Claudine flexed her wings out, smacking me right in the face and causing me to utter a surprised "Hey!" Hunter sure got a kick out of that, laughing at my predicament, and they did it over and over. Even Remy was smiling by the time Hunter had tired of the game.

Remy and Hunter didn't stay long after that. I figured Remy had a lot to think about and since it was about time to feed Claudine and put her down for a nap, I didn't try to get them to stay any longer. Hunter would no doubt fall asleep in the car on the way home, since he looked ready for a nap too. I filled a bag with the leftover cookies, and handed them to Remy to take home.

We made a tentative plan to get together again after the New Year, so I could help Hunter with managing his shields, although I wasn't sure if Remy really wanted to see us again. There had been a lot for him to take in, and he hadn't even met Eric yet! I walked them out to the truck, and said my goodbyes while Remy strapped Hunter in, his new train engine on his lap, and Sam sitting next to him on the seat.

"Merry Christmas, Hunter," I called to him from my mind as he waved to me from the car window, and walked back into the house.

"Let's go lay down with Daddy, Claudine. I think I'm ready for a nap. How about you?"

Claudine didn't answer, but the sight of her big yawn was answer enough. We headed up to the bedroom and I unlocked the door. There, in the middle of the bed, lay Eric. His big arm was wrapped closely around Bob's furry body. Bob purred away as if he was happy to be sleeping with the vampire that wanted to nail his hide to the garage wall. Maybe Bob's survival instinct was not as good as I thought.

"I'm sure Eric would rather be caught dead than be seen cuddling up with you, Bob," I told the cat.

Okay a little late for the dead thing where Eric was concerned, I thought to myself. Smiling at the picture the two of them made on the bed, I went to look for the camera.


	62. Chapter 62

CHAPTER 62

"Jason, seriously, it's not like I've never been up on a ladder before," I said to my brother.

"Sook, don't embarrass me here. Geez, I'm your brother, and these gals are gonna think I never took care of you."

"Huh!" I said, which was probably the only safe thing to say at that point.

There was no point dragging out the past and all the years I'd been up on the ladder putting the star up on the tree. If Jason wanted to all of a sudden play big brother, then I was up for that. I never liked ladders anyway. At least this one was not old and rickety, like the one I had at Gran's house.

"Fine, Jason, but get it on straight!"

Jason had always kept himself in very good shape, but he was even more graceful since he'd become a panther. He was definitely safer up on the ladder than I was. He was being a lot more cooperative about stuff too these days, and I thought a lot of that might have been a result of becoming a part of the panther community out at Hot Shot. Under Calvin's leadership, Jason was learning to be a man for the first time in his life, instead of a spoiled little boy.

"You ought to have an angel on top," Thalia said. "I thought we were going to have an angel on top."

Thalia was in her usual guard mode, holding her big sword and pacing around, although with Batanya and Clovache in the room, she wasn't really needed. No one was about to tell her that though.

"Is it straight?" Jason called down. I went to the far side of the room and looked carefully at the star.

"Yeah, I think it's fine now. Thanks, Jason."

Jason scuttled down the ladder and came to stand next to me, examining the tree, as if he couldn't trust me to tell whether it was straight or not. "I think it's straight, Sook," he said.

"It should have had an angel on it," Thalia mumbled.

"She's kind of an odd one, don't you think, Sook?" Jason whispered in my ear. Of course Thalia could hear a pin drop in the middle of a thunderstorm, and she glared at Jason as if he was something stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

"Sorry Thalia," I said as an aside to the vampire, giving Jason my own glare, and then refocused on the tree.

"Okay, let's turn them on," I said, and Jason went over to the octopus of wires under the tree and flipped the switch on the power strip.

"It's beautiful!" I said. "Just the right amount of lights."

"Yeah, it looks good. You gonna put the ornaments on now?"

"No, we're going to wait until everybody gets back from the office. Are you going to stay and help, Jason?"

"No, I got a date. I met this girl while I was over at the Bottle Barn yesterday. I gotta get going or I'll be late picking her up. You don't want to keep them waiting too long you know."

"Thanks brother. I appreciate you coming over to help," I said as I gave Jason a quick peck on the cheek.

Jason walked over to Claudine, who was sitting happily in Batanya's lap, and bent over to give her a pat on her head.

"You are some kind of cutie," he said to Claudine, but looked up at Batanya, as if to say that she could count that as a compliment to herself if she chose to. Jason would never give up, even though he would be biting off more than he could chew if he ever got hold of one of the women in this household. Batanya gave him the same look Thalia had.

"Okay, sis, I'm gone. You ladies enjoy your evening," he called out to the Britlingens.

Batanya and Clovache made some noncommittal grunts, but otherwise ignored my brother. They were not above admiring his backside while he'd been up on the ladder, but neither one of them thought much of his charming personality. No matter how hard he tried, Jason had made little headway with the women in this household. When they paid attention to him at all, they treated him like a naughty child.

I followed Jason out the door to take a look at the lights outside. Travis, Mark, and Jason had gotten them strung all along the eaves of the whole place, and down the posts on the front porch too. It looked real nice.

I'd been surprised when Jason had offered to come and help the weres put up the Christmas lights. Weres didn't generally think too much of the other two natured groups, but they had a smidgeon of respect for the panthers at least. Jason, being only a "halfie" as he called it, wasn't very high up on anybody's totem pole, but he was tolerated, being my brother and all. Actually, the men had all seemed to get along pretty well that afternoon, and Jason was not so stupid that he tried to pull rank. When he wasn't being a pain in the ass, my brother could actually be a lot of fun.

"You got lights up at home, Jason?"

"No, but we got some out at Hot Shot. It'll be quite a celebration out there I guess."

He planned to have Christmas dinner with the Hot Shot community. At first I'd been a little sad that we wouldn't be together at Christmas, but I knew that Jason would never be completely comfortable with my new vampire family. To be honest, I was kind of relieved that Jason wasn't coming. It meant that I could leave it up to him to deal with my great uncle for the holiday. I hoped he didn't just leave the fairy home alone though.

"Well, I hope you all have a good time. You say hi to Calvin for me. Merry Christmas, Jason," I said as he got into his truck.

"Merry Christmas, Sis," he said.

I stood for a few minutes in front of the house, reflecting on what a difference a year had made in my life. Instead of dragging home from Merlotte's to an empty house anticipating a frozen pizza and "It's a Wonderful Life" replaying for the thousandth time on the television, here I was, my home aglow with the colorful lights of the holidays, waiting for my husband to come home to decorate a tree for my child's first Christmas. I felt like the luckiest woman alive.

"You want these boxes brought in now, Ma'am?" Mark called out from the yard, scaring me just about half to death.

"Oh, you scared me, Mark. I didn't see you out here. I guess we should bring those in now. We're going to wait for Eric to get home before we put on the ornaments."

"Yes, Ma'am, that should be interesting," he said with a smirk.

"Well, I'll have fun, even if no one else does. Listen. Is there anybody that could do a run to Wal-Mart or someplace? Eric will have a fit if I go out now, since he's expected home."

"Sure, I can send somebody. What do you need?"

"One of those angels that go on top of the tree. I'm sure they'll have them at Wal-Mart. They have those ones that light up, you know?"

"Okay, I'll just bring those boxes in and get somebody right on that."

"Thanks, Mark. I don't know how we'd manage without you," I said and got a big smile in return.

I came back in and shut the door firmly behind me. It was sure getting cold out at night these days. The weres didn't seem to mind, or the vampires, but the Britlingens and I were happy to be staying indoors where it was nice and warm.

"I don't understand the significance of the tree," Clovache said as soon as she saw that Jason was gone for good.

"Well, I don't really know, Clovache. It's just a tradition, from Germany I think. I guess we could look it up, but you know something? I don't even care. I just think it's beautiful."

"Beauty is enough reason," Jan said from behind me and I yelped.

"Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea, do you guys always have to be sneaking around and scaring people half to death? I know what you should get for Christmas, a collar with a bell on it, like they put on cats!"

Clovache's eyes got big as she looked at me and then at Jan and then she burst out laughing. Jan looked less than amused, but walked over to Clovache, pulled her hair aside and ran his tongue over the length of her neck. She quit laughing.

"Sorry, Jan, you just scared me, that's all. I'll get you a blood," I said as I walked out of the room and towards the kitchen. "Speaking of cats, where's Bob? I think Bubba's outside."

"He's under the tree, batting at the wires," Batanya called back. "Maybe he'll bite one and get a good shock," she said, sounding like that might be a good thing. Nobody liked Bob but me, I guess, and I was the one with the least reason to like him.

Good Lord, I thought. This place was like a three-ring circus, vampires coming and going, cats in the tree, and who knew what next. Sometimes I missed the solitude of living alone, although I wouldn't want to actually go back to that. Maybe a few hours though, sitting with a cup of coffee and a good romance novel. I sort of missed my trips to the library too. Well, the grass was always greener on the other side, my Gran would have said. I put the blood in the microwave and waited for the beep.

By the proverbial stroke of midnight, the whole family was assembled in the living room. I set out the Christmas cookies on a plate, and everyone had their choice of beverage, the blood poured out in the good crystal. Jordun set about lighting a fire in the fireplace while Eric strode around the room with Claudine over his shoulder, watching me, his glass of blood ignored.

Daniel put the first box on the coffee table. Gran's crabbed handwriting on the side identified it as "Xmas Ornaments". He wiped the remaining dust off the top of the cardboard box and cut the tape with a dagger that he pulled out of his boot. One of the nice things about this group was that there was always a knife handy when you needed one.

Pam went to the stack of Christmas music CDs that I had put next to the stereo, and after careful consideration, and not a few exclamations of distaste, chose one by Aaron Neville and popped it into the player. The sweet sounds of his voice announced the birth of the savior with the strains of "Oh Holy Night". There may not have been any other Christians in the room, but not many could fail to be moved by his soulful rendition.

There was one more thing before we started the decorating. I went to the kitchen and retrieved the Wal-Mart bag that Mark had left on the table for me. Taking it back to the living room, I handed it to Thalia, who was sitting quietly next to Thomas, periodically glaring at the star on top of the tree.

"I sent the weres out to pick this up, Thalia. Maybe this will look better than the star."

I pulled the angel out of its bag and handed it to Thalia, who was soon stumped by the clamshell packaging. Even vampires had trouble with the plastic they made that stuff out of. I attacked it with Daniel's knife, and managed to get it open without even cutting a finger. Just what we didn't need was me bleeding all over everything in a room full of vampires.

The packaging looked sturdier than the contents inside. The way things were made anymore, it would probably last longer than the angel would. But by the satisfied look on Thalia's face, if it only lasted one night, it had been worth the trip to Wal-Mart.

The plastic angel, that really looked a lot more like Claudine's Barbies than anything from the angelic host, was substituted for the star. When everything was plugged back in, it looked very pretty. The angel's wings seemed to glow, a rainbow of lights, and somehow it seemed the perfect addition to our tree.

"Thank you, Mistress," Thalia said, cheerfully for once, and Eric beamed at me as if I had done something he could be proud of.

The boxes were stuffed full of odds and ends of ornaments, each carefully wrapped in tissue paper, with leftover bits and pieces of shiny tinsel and even a few dried needles, remnants of past trees. Gran had always saved all the tissue from packages, smoothing out each wrinkle and folding each piece, to reuse. "Waste not, want not," she would say. I liked to think that she was the original recycler, but of course, everyone from her time had used and reused until there was nothing left to waste. They had lived through the depression, and many of them, like Gran, had had a lifetime of scrimping and saving to get by.

Now I looked at the tissue, and in honor of Gran, I carefully unwrapped the first ornament, laying the tissue to the side for smoothing and saving. Inside was a fragile ball of red glass, its surface crazed with age, its metal hanger dingy with corrosion. It might have hung on our tree when I was just a baby, or even when Gran was a child. I handed it to Jan, and he looked at it like it was something from another planet, but he held it carefully, his deadly hands no threat to the fragile glass.

I unwrapped the next one. It was the twin of the first, only in blue this time, with a band painted around its circumference, the shiny gold long since chipped and dulled with time. I offered that one to Jordun. He looked at the ball, and then with the same care shown by Jan, he took it into his hands and held it gently.

I watched the vampires, and the Britlingens, as I handed out the colorful glass balls and the silly Santas, the plastic icicles and the garlands of dyed macaroni that Jason and I had made in school. I was sure Gran could have told me where every one of these ornaments had come from, and something about every Christmas that they'd hung on one of our trees.

Eric took his ball, one of the newer ones, still shiny and bright. Claudine saw the glint of light reflecting off its shiny surface and reached out for it with one small hand. Eric snatched it away, dangling it just out of reach to tease and entertain her.

Claudine's wings were growing faster than she was it seemed, and were now down to the backs of her knees. I had no idea how big they would get, but I thought they might end up down to the floor by the time she was grown. When she was excited, or some toy caught her attention, they would fan out behind her. As Eric played with her, she moved them unconsciously, creating a slight breeze that ruffled wisps of Eric's golden hair.

The stack of tissue paper grew and when each of us had an ornament in hand, I took the lead and hung my glass ball on the tree.

"I like to put the smaller ones at the top of the tree," I instructed. "It makes it look a little more balanced, and if we put the ones that aren't glass near the bottom, maybe Bob won't break too many of them."

The pesky cat had already tired of batting at the lowest branches and was busy chasing a stray piece of tinsel around the floor. He seemed more and more like a cat every day, and less of the treacherous witch that had caused me and Amelia so much grief.

"Don't you think some of these balls look a little battered, Sookie? Surely we could afford something a little newer?" Pam asked.

"I know they probably offend your delicate sensibilities, Pam, but they are keepsakes. Some of them are really old, and I couldn't just replace them. I've had some of these my whole life."

Of course my whole life was just a blink of an eye to the oldest vampires in the room, and didn't amount to much stacked up against Pam's three hundred odd years either. They would probably all have been born before the tradition of glass balls and Santa Clauses hanging on a Christmas tree, and certainly before the strings of electric lights that I took for granted.

We repeated the same routine over and over, until the tree looked just about right. I had thought Batanya and Clovache might have frowned over decorating the tree. It might have been below their dignity, seeing as how they were such top dollar guardians and all, but they seemed to be more in the spirit of the thing than I would have expected. Pam was soon over her disdain for the "antiquity" of the baubles and hummed along with "Blue Christmas". It made me think of Bubba again, and I wondered why he hadn't come in to participate. He was sort of a loner sometimes I guess.

I rummaged around in the last almost empty box, trying to find the final addition for the tree. I knew Gran would never have thrown it out, no matter how damaged and worn it had gotten over the years. I had made it in first grade, a ring of pretzels, the small twisty kind, tied together into a wreath with ribbon. Glued to the back, so my little smiling face showed prominently in the center, was my school picture for that year. My mother had labeled it on the back with a pencil. "Sookie, age 6 years."

"This one is my favorite, I think," I announced as I hung it on the tree, high enough up to keep Bob away from it, unless he climbed the whole darned tree.

It was looking pretty battered, the pretzels chipped around the edges, the picture a little bit faded and sagging with age and the ribbon pretty frayed around the ends. But it hadn't molded away, and the mice hadn't gotten to it, so I hung it up just like I had almost every year since I'd made it and proudly presented it to my Mom and Dad for Christmas.

"Now it's perfect," I said, choking up a little, and before I could stop myself I burst into tears.

I don't know why I cry at times like that. It must be hormones or something, but I'm just a crier. Whether I'm drunk or sober, when I'm really mad, or really happy, or just feeling a little sentimental, the tears just come out like I turned on the faucet.

"She's leaking again," Pam said, as if it wasn't obvious to everyone in the room.

The Britlingens looked puzzled, like they didn't get it, but the vamps just took it in stride anymore. Not that seven pairs of fangs didn't pop out at the sight and smell of my tears. I figured I might just step out of the room until the waterworks were over, so I excused myself, grabbing a tissue out of the box I always kept handy.

"Excuse me. I'm just going to get some air for a moment," I said and headed toward the front door. I noticed Eric handing Claudine over to Jordun before he followed behind me.

"What's wrong, Sookie?" he asked, his voice a little puzzled, since he too couldn't always figure out what set me off. He might feel my emotions through the bond, but they were so often such a jumble of conflicting feelings, that it would take a better mind reader than I was to sort them all out.

"Nothing. Really, Eric. It's just that I was thinking about my Mom and Dad and Gran and you know, how beautiful the tree is, and how we are all together here now, a real family, even if it is a bunch of vampires and it's Claudine's first Christmas and all."

"Ahhh," Eric said, smiling as he wrapped his arms around me. That smile wouldn't necessarily be a comforting sight to most people, seeing as how he still had his fangs run out, but it was to me. "That makes it all clear to me, Dear One."

"Are you making fun of me, Eric?" I said, pushing him back just a bit so I could bring the tissue up to my face. "It's not like I cry on purpose you know. It just happens."

"Yes, Lover, I know," he said, pulling my hand back down, and wiping the tears away with his fingertips. He popped his fingers into his mouth and made a little sound of satisfaction.

"And there is nothing funny about you in tears," he said as he pulled me in a little closer. I rested my head against his chest, and he breathed in sharply, inhaling my scent. A shiver ran through him. He stiffened, almost imperceptibly, and went very silent for a few moments.

"What is it, sweetie?" I asked, pulling back a bit to look at his face.

"Sometimes," he began, but didn't finish saying whatever was on his mind.

He turned his head away for a moment, and then he put his hands on either side of my face, covering my ears. "Don't listen," he said, tucking me close again, so I couldn't watch him.

I knew he didn't mean not to listen with my ears, and I held my shields firmly in place, so he could keep his privacy while he gathered his thoughts. I remembered back to the time when he had lost his memory. Jason, Pam and Chow had been discussing the payment for his safekeeping at my house, and I had covered his ears, knowing all along that he could hear everything, but embarrassed that my brother was not only managing my business, but setting a price on Eric's safety.

"You are so beautiful to me, so filled with human emotion, so full of life, and so vulnerable," he said in a faraway voice, almost as if he were talking to himself.

He paused for another moment, his hands still firmly covering my ears, his chest expanding just a fraction, as if he would take a breath.

"And sometimes, I want you so much. I want that life -- your life. Your blood calls to me, like a siren's song. I crave the taste of it in my mouth. I want to feel it in my veins, the heat of it, the humanity of it. I want to fill myself with you."

I was about to say something, to tell him he need only ask, that I would give him blood, but he moved one hand to my mouth, and shushed me with a touch of his fingertips.

"You don't know how hard it is sometimes, to not just bury my fangs into your beautiful skin and drink from you until you are gone, to drain you until there is nothing and all of the life that is in you would be mine. You would fear and hate me if you could ever comprehend how hard it is sometimes not to kill you."

I felt a shudder pulse through his body, and even though my shields were firmly in place, a wave of intense emotion flooded over me. It was a hunger so deep and a passion so tightly reined in that it was painful. But it was something else too: the wildness of the hunt, the lust of battle, the desperation of a caged animal. I froze with an instinctive fear of the predator, my skin tingling down the length of my spine and a fine rivulet of sweat trickling between my breasts as Eric lowered his head to my neck. His fangs brushed against my skin, but he didn't bite.

We stood motionless like that for a long moment, my heart fluttering like a bird's, Eric's cold lips still pressed against my neck, and I felt the tension slowly ease up as he collected himself.

His hunger for my blood morphed into another hunger, and I felt the evidence of his appetite pressed against me.

"I don't think that I could ever hate you, Eric, even though I know that sometimes I will fear you," I said as his tongue flicked across the vein in my neck.

"I want you, Sookie."

"I know, Eric. I want you, too," I said.

I stretched up on tippy-toes to meet his lips, kissing him long and deep, tasting my own blood on my tongue as it brushed against his fangs. I thought of him taking me right there, on the porch, against the railing. They would hear us inside if we weren't quiet, and it was so hard to be quiet with Eric. I thought of the feel of his sharp fangs piercing the tender flesh of my breast, the pain and the pleasure indistinguishable. I thought of how it would feel if he didn't stop, the ecstasy of it. I thought of Claudine, hungry, waiting for her mother inside the house. This time it was me that shivered.

"You must be cold, Kjære," Eric said, his voice a little unsteady.

"Come on inside, Eric," I told him, as our lips parted. I took his hand, and led him to the door. "We have carols to sing, and I have some Christmas cookies to eat."

END OF PART THREE

Authors notes: Thank you for the continuing encouragement that I have received from the FanFiction community. It has made this story a very positive experience for me and I hope for the readers as well. Please watch for Part Four, coming soon.

I know it may not be Christmas time when you read this, but may I suggest: Christmas Lights by Donna Lewis.

And of course, there is nothing that reflects the heart of Louisiana at Christmas time quite like the soulful voice of Aaron Neville, a native son, singing "Oh Holy Night".

Or, for those of a less sentimental disposition who would like to hear what I consider vampire music, a song from the Lost Boys, Cry Little Sister by Gerard McMann.

My thanks to Charlaine Harris who created most of the characters in this story. They are her property, and I am only borrowing them for this transformative work.


	63. Chapter 63

PART FOUR

CHAPTER 63

"It's about time you woke up, Eric. You won't believe what your daughter did today!"

I turned away from Eric, who was looking a little blank, and not altogether awake, and set Claudine down on the floor by the bed, going down on my knees.

"Now, sweetie, show Daddy your new trick. He is going to be so proud of you."

I looked over to Eric, now propped up on one elbow on the bed, to make sure he was looking. Then I pulled Claudine up to her feet and held her by the waist, letting her get her balance. Then I let go. Claudine stood there, all on her own, for a long moment, her face registering uncertainty, then she flapped her wings out, looked startled and plopped down onto her butt on the carpet. I snatched her up into my arms before she could even decide whether she was hurt or not (she had after all landed on her butt which was well padded with a diaper) and gave her a big hug.

"Well, what do you think of that, Dad?" I asked Eric.

Eric's smile couldn't have been bigger if he was looking at a severed artery on a fairy. He clapped his hands and reached out for Claudine.

"Well, aren't you the most accomplished child in history," he said. "Standing up all on your own. Soon you will take that first big step, and then your poor mother will have no rest keeping up with you running through the house."

Eric clasped Claudine to his bare chest and hugged her close, cooing and humming to her as she snuggled against him. His face beamed with pride and Claudine squirmed and wiggled, laughing at the attentions of her father.

"She just did it by herself today," I explained. "She pulled up on the edge of the sofa, like she's been doing, and then she just let go. I thought I'd have a heart attack. I was sure she would fall over backwards and break a wing or something, but she landed on her butt and only knocked out one feather. I put it up on the mantle. You think it will grow back?"

"Yes, lover. I am sure it will. Birds lose feathers all the time, and you don't see them flying around with big bare spots, do you?" But I noticed that he ran his hands down her wings, as if checking to see if it was noticeable where the feather was missing.

"Yeah, I guess I know that, but it's just kind of weird you know? I guess it's sort of like when kids lose their first tooth or something. Well, maybe not quite like that. I mean, it's not like most babies have feathers, Eric. Anyway, I am going to save the ones that fall out."

"Before long we will be chasing her. I think it will be time soon to teach her to fly."

We had had that discussion several times. Eric seemed eager to see his daughter up in the air, something I was not looking forward to at all. I couldn't help but imagine her plummeting down to earth and that was just too scary to think about. And then there was the whole idea of her flying away and how the hell would I get her to come back if she didn't want to.

"You can take her up anytime you want to, Eric, but if you let her go, you will be answering to me. I'm serious," I added, since he was grinning at me mischievously now.

"I will certainly take your threat into consideration, wife. Your wrath is a terror I do not wish to contemplate. However, at some point, the mother bird must let the fledgling try his, or her, wings."

"I know," I admitted resignedly. That day would certainly come, as it should, but I wasn't going to rush it.

I went and sat down on the bed next to Eric, and kissed his cheek. "Did you sleep well, sweetie?"

"Yes, Lover, as I usually do. How was your day, besides the obvious feat of acrobatics performed by our daughter?"

"It was okay. Oh, I got a call from Mr. Cataliades this afternoon. He wants to meet with us privately tonight if that works with your schedule. He seemed quite insistent, so I guess it's something important, but he didn't want to tell me what until he had us both together."

Eric's eyebrows rose a bit at this, and he looked thoughtful.

"I told him that he could come by the house. That's okay, isn't it? He wanted to come here instead of the office. We can just send everyone outside for a while, maybe?"

"Yes, that will be fine. There is nothing at the office that Jan cannot handle."

"Maybe he wants to talk about the stuff we found at Niall's laboratory."

We had had the box of files for months, but I hadn't done anything with them yet. Eric had insisted that all the "samples" be moved to a safe location, and I had left that to him, but he hadn't really shown much interest in anything else. At least not that he had told me about anyway.

"I wonder if we shouldn't look those people up, Eric."

"To what purpose, Lover?"

"Well, to let them know what's going on for one thing. And maybe there will be another telepath. They might all be telepaths. Barry doesn't even know about Niall."

"And if Barry doesn't know about Niall, then his master will not know about Niall. There is no benefit to be had from exposing any more of your history to the other vampires, Sookie. Enough is known already. You must understand that it cannot be in the others' best interests to be discovered. If they were in my territory, I could influence the situation, and offer protection. But they are not."

"But if they are telepaths, maybe I could meet them. It would be nice to meet more of my own kind, Eric."

"And what do you consider 'your kind', Sookie? Are you finally willing to admit to yourself that perhaps you are not quite human?"

He looked at me indulgently, like he was talking to Claudine or some other small child. I didn't care for that look at all, and I was tempted to protest it, but he had a point. I did manage to cock my elbow on my hip and give him my best glare though.

"You don't have to look at me like that, Eric. I am not totally stupid, you know."

He modified his look a bit, but he now looked long suffering, as if he had heard that last statement a few too many times. No doubt he would be rolling his eyes at me next.

"Okay, I'll admit that I don't know what I am. I guess I'm a little bit of a lot of things, but I don't know what that adds up to. I'm mostly human. But that is not what I was talking about. I was talking about being telepathic."

"Yes, a very human trait I am sure," Eric said sarcastically.

"Argghhhh!" was about all I could say to that.

"Do not fret, Kjære. I knew that you would be curious about them, so I have someone working on it. But this must be handled very carefully, not like…how do you say it? Not like a cow in a pottery shop."

"Like a bull in a china shop. And what do you mean you are working on it?"

"I have someone making discrete inquiries."

"So, how are you managing that? You mean like an investigator?"

"Yes, our district investigator is on assignment, and will report back to me when he returns. Working on his vampire database gives him a good reason to be in the territory of other vampires with their permission. While he expands his database, he will also collect data and hopefully observe those in Niall's laboratory files."

"You sent Bill? Oh! I thought maybe you had Bill locked up in some creepy dungeon or something."

My voice may have telegraphed sarcasm, but actually I wouldn't put it past Eric to have a dungeon somewhere. I never wanted to see the inside of that.

"Amelia told me he was out of town months ago, and when he didn't return, I thought at first maybe you had killed him. But I think I would have known if you had done that."

"The possible impact on you is why he has not yet met his final death, Lover."

Eric stood up and handed the baby to me, and headed over to the closet to get out his clothes for the evening. He no longer looked indulgent or anything even remotely tolerant. He just looked extremely annoyed.

"So, you didn't punish him for killing Arlene?"

"I didn't say that, Sookie, but he has recovered enough to manage some travel."

Eric had his back to me as he slipped his jeans over the black silk boxers he had been sleeping in. If he thought I would drop the subject because of the nice view of his backside, he had another thought coming. I wasn't going to ask what kind of punishment he had inflicted on Bill. There were some things I just didn't think I could stand to hear, and I doubted Eric would tell me anyway.

"I don't see why you would punish him at all, Eric. Would you have punished Jan for doing the same thing if I hadn't stopped him?"

Eric turned and glared at me. "That would not be the same thing at all. Jan is part of our nest. Compton is nothing except my minion. If the woman needed killing, it was not his right to have that privilege."

Eric reached back and pulled a shirt off its hanger. Slipping it on, he began to do up the buttons.

"Your minion?" I snapped back. "How can you just dismiss him like that, like he is nobody? Your minion! Bill would give his life for me."

"Only because his life holds no value, even to himself. Surely you can see that, Sookie. He hates what he is, and the others of his kind. The man would be glad to die a martyr so that his pitiful existence might prove to have some meaning."

I was ready to tell him that at least somebody was willing to give his life for me, but I shut my mouth at the thought. There had been more than one person that had given up their life to save mine, and although I was mighty glad to still be among the living, I still had my doubts whether saving my life had been enough reason to sacrifice so many. And it wasn't like Eric hadn't stood in the line of fire for me more than once. He might not have said it in so many words, but he had demonstrated how much he valued my life with his flesh and blood more than once.

He probably wasn't far wrong about Bill either. As I had come to know some of the other vampires, I could now recognize the self-loathing that haunted Bill. When I had been dating him, I had seen it as something that set him above other vampires in my estimation. Maybe that was because it was something that I recognized in myself at the time.

Claudine, who was yanking on my hair, snapped me out of my reverie. Her face was screwed up in a pout, and she looked on the verge of tears. She didn't like it when I was unhappy.

"We can discuss this when we are alone if you feel the need to continue this discussion," Eric said, looking pointedly at Claudine.

He could see she wasn't happy that we were disagreeing, although you couldn't really call this a fight. Eric and I didn't really get into it very often. He would indulge me on most issues; my wish was his desire kind of thing. When we had a real difference of opinion, he would listen to me seriously, taking my thoughts into consideration.

One thing he didn't do was just dismiss me very often. But when he felt strongly about something, usually his honor or Claudine's or my safety, he just did what he thought best. Not so different from me, I suppose. I did what I thought I had to do too. Damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead. It wasn't like two people could live together for over a year and agree about everything anyway.

Eric was watching me, a look of concern on his face. He didn't like it when I wasn't happy either. It seemed like my mood set the temper of the whole household, and sometimes everyone else's happiness sat like a burden on my shoulders. Bill wasn't worth brooding over and upsetting everybody, so I let it go.

"Come on, sweetie. I'll warm you a blood, and we can see what Mr. Cataliades has to say."

"I will be there shortly, Lover," he said and turned away, picking up his phone from the bedside table.

In the kitchen, I plopped Claudine into her high chair and got the box of Cheerios out of the cupboard. Since she had started eating some solid food, I found that I could often keep her entertained if I let her feed herself. Of course, that usually left her and the kitchen in a sorry state. While the baby shoved her mouth full of cereal, I got out bottles of blood for the family and started to heat them up.

It was getting rare for all of us to sit down to the table together these days. With three states to manage, and everyone's personal obligations and entertainments, it was very often a small group that ended up sleeping at home. About the only ones I could always count on when we were in Shreveport were Thalia and Jan. Jan had pretty much taken over the running of Fangtasia, since he seemed to like being around the "vermin", if for no other reason than having the opportunity to use them as models for his paintings. Thalia just liked being around the baby.

I had been dying to know what Thalia's story was since she had moved in, but hadn't been able to learn much of it. Eric thought she must be one of the oldest vampires in existence, but he couldn't say for sure. Using the argument that I was as close to a vampire as someone could get without being dead, I had talked Jordun into giving me the password for Bill's database, even though only vamps were supposed to get access to it. Bill had her listed as part of Eric's retinue, but there was no history to speak of. There wasn't even a picture. Knowing Thalia, she had probably threatened to take Bill's head off the minute her picture showed up on the disks he sold, which was ridiculous, since there was a website devoted to her with her pictures all over it.

Amelia and I had spent an hour or so one afternoon, looking up everything we could find on the name Thalia. Apparently Thalia in mythology had been one of the Greek muses, the muse of comedy. No one could convince me that that could possibly be our Thalia, no matter how old she was. But we were guessing that she might have been Greek.

There seemed to be plenty of myths centered around creatures that drank blood or returned from the dead in Greek folklore. There was a creature called a Lamia, always a woman, that had a deformed body, the lower limbs often serpentlike. Then there were the Vrykolakas, another type of undead that rose as a result of a curse or from possession by a spirit or demon. The early Greek creatures had slowly evolved under the influence of the Christian churches into a more modern day version of the vampire myth. Maybe our Thalia or her sire had played some part in the creation of those myths?

Whoever her sire was, or whatever the circumstances of her turning, she refused to talk about it. Amelia thought it was just a matter of time and we would get her story, but I didn't want to push for the information. Maybe her story was too painful for her to voice out loud.

Thalia was turning out to be a godsend though, since Claudine just loved her to death (no pun intended). As dour as Thalia tended to be, she would smile and laugh when she was playing with the baby. As deadly as she was, there was a softer side to the vampire. I knew that there wasn't much that could get through Thalia, so I could entrust her with Claudine's safety.

When Thomas wasn't around, Thalia tended to be a little grumpy, but then I guess I got that way when Eric was out of town too. Those days were rare now, since I usually just traveled with him. Thomas was home tonight, so there was every reason to expect a nice peaceful evening. Grace had prepared some snacks for me to serve Mr. Cataliades and Diantha, and all I had to do was lay them out on the table.

Batanya and Clovache were nowhere to be seen, so I assumed they were out patrolling the grounds. I still wasn't exactly sure what kind of arrangement Eric had made with them. I knew that Britlingen guards were inordinately expensive, and things had been so peaceful lately that I didn't think we could justify having them. It appeared that they were staying more by choice than as employees. Perhaps they found our men, at least the dead ones, more appealing than the men in their own world. They wouldn't give the time of day to human males or the two natured.

The two Britlingens seemed pretty much like soul mates, or at least like an old married couple. They stuck together no matter what, except in the bedroom. Batanya was nominally the senior in position, age and experience, but rarely pulled rank. They bickered and bantered like sisters, and shared like the best of friends. They never seemed to harbor jealousy of each other, or possessiveness, but were fierce in defending the other's honor or safety. They were also fiercely protective of Claudine. So even though Daniel was off to New Orleans to handle some business there, Batanya had stayed home with Clovache.

I set out the plates and glasses for dinner, and sat in my seat next to the highchair, munching on Cheerios with Claudine while I waited for the vamps to come downstairs. I liked Mr. Cataliades, but I had a bad feeling about his impending visit.

Everyone was fed, the dishes were washed and put away, and Claudine was nursed and in her jammies by the time the part demon lawyer and his niece showed up at the door. After the usual round of greetings and pleasantries, Claudine showed off her new trick for our visitors, earning a round of praise. Then Mr. Cataliades asked that he might have a private conference with us, and everyone left the room except for the two demons, Eric, the baby and me.

I noticed that Diantha, who usually dressed like a bird in mating season, was wearing a dress appropriate for a senior prom. I had never seen her in an actual dress before, and even considering that her feet were bare as usual, she looked quite nice. I complimented her on her lovely gown and she looked uncomfortable and uneasy as she mumbled something that sounded vaguely like "Thank you".

Mr. Cataliades, as well turned out as always in his usual suit and tie, looked over at his niece, nodded his approval and scooted forward in his seat. He completely ignored the snacks on the table, even though I had made a point of putting out the Cheetos he always seemed to prefer. He did accept a glass of wine, but he didn't drink any of it. He removed a small wooden box from his pocket and placed it on the coffee table.

The wood of the box was of a black color striated with a lighter grain of pale gray, highly polished, and deeply carved with what looked like runes. Not that I knew anything much about runes, but I had seen pictures of that ancient writing, and I had seen Amelia and Octavia use similar symbols for their magical enchantments. Claudine, who had been sitting on the floor with a few toys, immediately focused on the shiny new item in the room, and crawled over to the table.

"I am here tonight as an emissary. The Prince has tasked me with delivering a gift to your daughter and has asked if he might meet with you to discuss a matter of some import."

Eric, so quickly that I barely registered his movements, had Claudine in his arms and away from the table. He and Mr. Cataliades launched into some kind of negotiation. Eric's voice had that ice cold edge that I usually only heard from him when someone was either about to die, or about to wish that they had died. I couldn't quite take in what they were saying, since nothing had quite registered with me after I'd heard the lawyer mention the "Prince".

"Oh my God!" I thought. "Has Niall returned?"


	64. Chapter 64

CHAPTER 64

"Just hold on a minute," I finally managed to spit out. "Is Niall back? Has he opened the portals? You think he'll come and try to take Claudine?"

I think my voice might have held an edge of hysteria, and I know my hands were shaking. If Niall was back, there was no way that we could keep Claudine safe from him. If he was to take my daughter, I didn't know if I could survive it. Eric would surely end up at war with him, and there was no way to tell if Eric could actually defeat Niall and all of his fairies.

Eric and Mr. Cataliades stopped talking, and both of them looked at me. I think Eric took in how upset I was and attempted to send some kind of calming feelings through our bond, but I knew that he was not exactly calm either. And he looked baffled by my remark.

"This has nothing to do with your great grandfather, Sookie."

"But you said the Prince," I said, cutting him off, "and isn't Niall the only Prince left?"

"Cataliades was referring to the Prince of the Demon Realm, Lover, not the Prince of Fairy."

I looked at Eric as if he had just grown another head. The Prince of the Demon Realm?

"Just what the hell are you talking about, Eric? The Demon Realm?"

I had this crazy urge to start chanting, "Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!" I was definitely not in Kansas anymore.

"Maybe you better start at the beginning, Eric. Who is this Prince and why is he sending presents to our daughter? What's going on?"

I looked at the occupants of the room, and waited for an explanation. Mr. Cataliades, who had been so vocal a moment before in his discussion with Eric, quietly took a long drink from his glass of wine. Diantha curled up in a ball on the sofa, tucking her bare feet under the voluminous skirts of her gown, and Claudine continued her squirming, trying to free herself from Eric's grip to get to the box on the table.

"Perhaps you might take the baby, Sookie, and if the…gift….was out of sight, she might settle down a bit."

He held out the baby, and I took her into my arms, surprised at how difficult it was to keep hold of her when she wanted to be somewhere else. It wasn't that she was particularly strong, but it was kind of like trying to hold onto a wiggling eel. Hold too tight and you would squish it, too loose and it would just wiggle its way right out of your hands. Only this little eel had wings that were flapping away at the same time.

"Claudine, you just stop that right now before you end up in your crib," I told her sternly, and she began to cry.

"Good Lord!" I exclaimed, and held her close to comfort her. I didn't often speak to her quite so harshly, and I always felt vaguely guilty about it when I did.

Mr. Cataliades, who I noticed had now polished off the whole glass of wine, tucked the box carefully back in his pocket. He did not look happy about the situation, although I had no clue as to why or what the situation was.

"Now," I said, as Claudine quieted down against my shoulder. "What's in the box and who is the Prince of Darkness or whatever he is, and what the heck is all of this about?"

Eric sat back down, and following the lawyer's lead, picked up his glass from the table and drained it.

"The Prince of Darkness as you have so aptly titled him, Lover, is Jerahmeel, the high Lord of the Realm of Demons. It appears that our little angel has come to his attention."

"And where is this demon realm? Is it another world, like the land of the fairies? And is this a good guy or a bad guy?"

"As to the first question, yes, it is another world in the same sense as the fae world, or even the world of the Britlingens, although I have heard that it holds little resemblance to either of those other worlds."

Mr. Cataliades nodded to confirm, but didn't offer any other details. I wanted to ask him if he had been there, he was half demon after all, but Eric was already continuing with his explanation.

"I of course have not been to those realms, as those of my kind are not welcome there. The demon realm is ruled over by the Prince Jerahmeel, who holds a position comparable to your great grandfather. This prince has sent a…gift… for Claudine."

Again I noticed the hesitation when Eric referred to the box as a gift. Okay, there was something going on with that for sure.

"Okay, so is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Well, that is yet to be determined, Lover. This is not necessarily a question of good or bad at this point, however, it is perhaps never a good thing to be brought to the attentions of such a powerful creature."

"Creature?" I looked at Mr. Cataliades and Diantha. Diantha was certainly not your typical human being, especially with her pointy teeth, but Mr. Cataliades looked pretty much like any other slightly overweight middle-aged businessman. I had never thought of them as creatures.

"Okay, lets define creature and get that out of the way first."

Mr. Cataliades took the lead on this. "Many of the demons are similar to humans in appearance in much the same way as the pure blood fairies, my dear. There are variations, as there are with the fae. Some of the demons would be considered quite alien here, not so much because of their appearance, which is as varied as the multitude of life forms that we have on this earth, but because many more of those life forms hold intelligence more on the par with humans than with the lower animal forms."

"Okay, so like the demon hellhounds look like a big version of our dogs, but they're a lot smarter and they have magic and stuff."

"I think you must not confuse the mythologies of hell with the true nature of the demon world, my dear. It is true that some of those stories may be derived from brief glimpses of the demonic beings that humans have encountered, but I assure you that the demon world has nothing to do with the Christian notion of punishment in the afterlife."

"So, it isn't like all fire and brimstone? Have you been there?"

"The demons may be said to be creatures of fire, in the respect that many of them have an innate mastery of that element, but the world itself does not limit itself to that element."

I noticed he hadn't answered my question about whether he had been there, and I wasn't exactly sure that he had given a complete answer to my other question either, but he was a lawyer after all. They made their living making sure that they answered questions without actually giving away any information. I had seen both Mr. Cataliades and Diantha generate fire in their hands though, so I got the gist of what he was saying.

"So, no offense intended," I said, giving a nod to the fact that our guests were both part demon, "but are these the good guys or the bad guys?"

"It is not quite as simple as that, Lover," Eric said and that patronizing look was back on his face.

"I know that, Eric, nothing is ever simple anymore. It's not like this is an old western and the good guy is going to come riding in on a white horse so we all know what he is, but I guess I'm asking if this guy is likely to be friend or foe."

Eric looked a little puzzled at my old western movie reference. Maybe he missed them the first time they went around, and never subscribed to Turner Classic Movies. We didn't actually watch much television, since we were usually too busy, and everyone in our family preferred to read it seemed. Bill had been a big fan of the movies I remembered.

"He is likely to have self interest as his priority, Sookie. That may or may not intersect with what benefits us. I highly doubt that the Prince has sent a gift out of the kindness of his heart. Demons don't do baby showers. They rarely give anything for free and dealing with demons is notoriously difficult, as they are masters of bargaining and negotiation."

"Okay, well that certainly fits the mold of legends about demons," I replied. Actually it sounded pretty close to a lot of the vampires that I had met too. "So, this gift would have strings attached, and we need to make sure to know what those are. I can see that. We don't even know what the gift is. Is it going to be something that could harm Claudine?"

"I have been given assurances that the gift carries no taint whatsoever," Mr. Cataliades interjected. "Given my position of trust with the vampire race, and the fact that maintaining that trust is crucial to maintaining my position, I would not have been chosen as emissary if this was other than what it seems. The Prince has no wish to harm the child."

"And what of obligation? I would not willingly be indebted, or have my child indebted, to anyone, much less such a formidable ruler."

Eric was fiercely independent, and I didn't blame him, after seeing how the world of vampire politics worked. He had managed to reach a position of autonomy in our part of the world, and he wanted to maintain what control he could over himself and his kingdom. He also wanted to see that Claudine and I had at least some control over our own destinies.

"The Prince wishes to honor the birth of this special child with a gift. Acceptance of the gift carries no obligation or indebtedness. He has also requested that he might meet the child and discuss her future with both of you. Your acquiescence to his request is not contingent upon your acceptance of the gift."

I thought about that for a moment, not sure if I quite understood what he meant, but I gathered that we could take the gift and still not agree to the meeting. No doubt that would set the Prince's nose out of joint though. And no doubt, pissing off a high-ranking demon was not a good thing.

"So, answer me this, Mr. Cataliades. You put that demon mark on Claudine when she was just born. Does that carry any weight with this Jerry guy, or does that just sort of get ignored when we're dealing with the big guns?"

Eric nodded and raised his eyebrows, as if he was pleased with my question and wished he had thought of it himself. I managed to keep the smugness I was feeling from showing on my face.

"Prince Jerahmeel has acknowledged the mark, and has agreed to abide by its promise of protection, although my mark would generally only be considered binding to the demons that reside in this world."

"So you didn't have his permission before you gave it?"

"Although it is rare, humans have been marked by our kind before. It is not of any consequence to those that live in other realms, and usually does not come to their attention."

Okay, again, not a full answer to my question, but enough of an evasion that I thought maybe the Prince hadn't been altogether ecstatic about hearing about the mark after the fact. The full demons probably didn't pay much attention to what their part blooded relations did, as long as it didn't affect them. I hoped Mr. Cataliades hadn't gotten into any serious trouble over it. I also wondered just how much under this Jerahmeel's thumb the lawyer was. I had always thought of him as a somewhat neutral agent, and not as a subject to another power structure.

"So, let me get this straight. Prince Jerry wants to meet and greet with me and Eric, and he wants to see Claudine for himself. He sent a gift, sort of like a 'we mean you no harm' gesture, and he doesn't expect anything in return. Nobody knows what he wants to talk to us about, but he has recognized and acknowledged the demon mark that you put on Claudine, and that means that he is obligated to protect her no matter what we do. It would probably be taken as a personal insult though, if we just blew him off with a thank you card and a 'don't bother to drop in' message. Since Eric and I don't have those marks, it might be a good idea to see what he has to say. Does that about cover it?"

"My dear Mrs. Northman, in a nutshell, yes."

"Do you think we should see what the gift is, Eric?"

I had to admit to a certain amount of curiosity about what a demon Prince might send to an angel baby. I doubted it was going to be a gold plated rattle or a fancy tooth fairy pillow.

"Yes, Lover, I suppose we should see what the Prince has sent to Claudine."

With that, Mr. Cataliades took the little wooden box back out of his pocket, and set it back down on the table. Eric picked it up, since I was still a little reluctant to touch it.

"Do you know what those runes mean, Mr. Cataliades? Is that some sort of magic spell, or some kind of demon writing?"

"I believe the King might be better able to interpret them, my dear," the lawyer answered.

It took me a moment to realize he was talking about Eric. For a moment I found it strange that he thought Eric would be able to read ancient runes, then I remembered that he probably learned that stuff as a child. Jesus Christ!

"They are from the language of my ancestors, Lover. It has been many centuries since I have communicated in this fashion, but I would interpret it to mean something like 'The deep ice of the glacier gives way to the heat of the volcano'."

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"In other circumstances, I would say it might be considered a love poem, Sookie."

"Oh man! This is just weirder and weirder, Eric. Just open the damned box and let's see what's inside."

Eric spent another long moment gazing at the runes, then after taking a moment to figure out the latch, pulled back the hinged top. His eyes opened wide as he looked at what was inside, and he passed the box to me.

"Holy shit! Is this for real?"

"I am sure the Prince of Darkness, as you call him, would not send an imitation jewel, Lover."

"Geez, Eric, this should be in the Smithsonian or something. It's got to be as big as the Hope Diamond."

Inside the little box, resting on a bed made of folded black satin, was a square cut emerald that was over an inch across. After a brief hesitation, figuring if it was real and I wasn't going to break it by picking it up, I took it out of the box and lifted it in the air. The light reflected off its cut surfaces sent rays of bright green luminescence throughout the room. Claudine's little hand tried to grab the flickering brightness as I moved the stone around. She was squealing in delight.

"The Prince is extremely generous," Eric said, but I wasn't all that sure that he sounded happy about it.

Maybe emeralds this size were a dime a dozen in the depths of Hell, but they didn't grow them this big in Louisiana. I doubted there was another cut emerald of this size on the whole planet. It certainly was not something that you just gave as a gift to a baby. Holy shit didn't even begin to cover it. I mean, really, was there any thank you note made by Hallmark that covered a gift like this?

"I don't know what to say, Mr. Cataliades, but thank you, I guess."

"I will properly convey your appreciation of the gift to the Prince," Mr. Cataliades said, his eyes still glued to the stone in disbelief.

I put it back into the box, out of Claudine's reach on the table, since she was almost climbing out of her skin to get to the shiny object. Gads, it might choke her to death if she put it in her mouth, although as big as it was, she probably couldn't actually swallow it.

Since it looked like we were going to accept the gift, all that was left to do was negotiate the terms of the meeting with Prince Jerahmeel. I left that to the men, since they were no doubt much better at anticipating any threats or misunderstandings that might arise if things weren't handled properly. I took Claudine with me into the kitchen, where I found a clean glass, the gin and the tonic, and poured myself a drink.

Mr. Cataliades and Diantha left not long after, all of the arrangements having been set for the meeting with The Prince of Darkness as I was now calling him. Even Diantha looked worried when I referred to him that way, but I assured her that I had no plans to call him that to his face.

"I don't like this whole thing, Eric," I whined as we climbed into bed.

Claudine had been wound up with all of the company, and it had taken forever to get her settled down enough to go to bed. She was now sleeping peacefully in her crib, and I could hear little wet noises periodically that made me think her thumb was in her mouth again. Gran had always thought that would give a baby crooked teeth, and had always made little tsking noises whenever she saw a baby sucking their thumb, but all the baby books seemed to think it didn't hurt one bit, and I was glad that she had a way to comfort herself.

"I wish everyone would just leave us alone. We would be perfectly happy without all of these people butting into things."

Eric was curled up behind me, his hand stroking down my arm to comfort me. Maybe I was the one that should be sucking my thumb. If I hadn't been nursing a baby, I wouldn't have stopped at the few swallows I took of my gin and tonic. I would've comforted myself right into a stupor with a few more drinks.

"I think it is inevitable that this would have happened eventually, Dear One. We are not your typical American family, and we cannot escape notice by the others in the supernatural communities."

"Yeah, I know, but this Prince guy just sounds scary. I'm tired of being afraid, Eric."

"I know, Lover. Perhaps he will not be quite so scary after we meet him," he said and snuggled up a little closer. I could feel him pressed up against my back, and I moved a little against him.

"The Devil you know? Ha! I'm not buying that."

"Then buy this, Lover," he said as he reached around to my breast, running his finger around the sensitive skin of my nipple.

"You're charging me now, sweetie?" I asked, my voice coming out a little breathless as I responded to the cool touch of his hands. "I hope I will at least get the sale price."

"I think I might be persuaded into giving you a free sample," he said and after I took advantage of his free trial offer, I made sure that he knew I would continue to be a loyal customer.


	65. Chapter 65

CHAPTER 65

The two days after Mr. Cataliades' visit went by in the blink of an eye. Since our expected company was so important, Grace and I scrubbed and cleaned like there was no tomorrow. Not that the house was dirty, but I guess I was channeling Gran, and important company had meant serious cleaning to my grandmother.

We had no idea of what kind of snacks to provide, or if a meal was more appropriate to offer, so we decided to just settle on cake and coffee, with an assortment of wines to choose from. I hadn't heard anything to lead me to believe that demons drank blood, or required live sacrifice or anything gross like that, so human food would have to do. The demon could take it or leave it.

Mr. Cataliades had come over the night before and given us the rundown on how to deal with a demon Lord. Apparently demons were very precise in their negotiations, and once someone made a bargain, considered it the ultimate insult if that promise was not fulfilled. Demon honor demanded that an "oath breaker" be dealt with harshly and the consequences of going back on your word with a demon were probably not survivable.

"You must be careful to not imply any obligation or indebtedness in response to any offer that is made to you," Mr. Cataliades had warned.

"You want to give me an example of what you mean by that?" I had asked him.

"You may convey gratitude for a gift or boon bestowed, such as the emerald that was given to your daughter, but you must not convey that you would be glad to return a favor, as you might with a human out of courtesy," he said.

"So I can say thank you, but I can't say 'if there's anything I can ever do for you'. Is that right?"

"Exactly, my dear. Do not agree to any proposal without time to consider and negotiate. Usually any offer that will be proposed will leave room for modification during negotiations, but once agreed to, it is cast in stone."

I wondered for a moment if he meant that literally. Nothing would surprise me anymore.

"Since the demons reside in a different realm, they generally do not affect what goes on here, but don't assume that they cannot affect it. Any direct threat that they convey should be taken quite seriously, although there is no reason to expect that at this point."

"What exactly do you mean, at this point, Mr. Cataliades? Is there something coming up that we should know about?"

"I believe that the Prince is taking advantage of the closing of the portals to the fae world, to negotiate some kind of alliance with your family without the influence of Niall Brigant. The return of your great grandfather would of course change the situation to something else entirely."

"Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! Like we need any more princes around here. The whole royalty thing just doesn't fly well in the US of A, you know. I just can't get used to the idea."

"I understand that, believe me, dear. I have spent my life away from the structure of demon society, and my attitudes are much more in sympathy with yours. However, to beings as old as the Prince, this experiment in democracy that we enjoy is just a blip on the radar."

"So just how old are we talking here?" I asked, wondering if this Prince was some kind of immortal or something. Not that I really believed that anything was immortal, except for maybe God.

"That is not known, but some believe that he has been alive as long as humanity has existed, if not longer."

Somehow that seemed unlikely to me, but maybe he could remember the time of angels, I thought. He might be the person to give some answers on just what the angels had been like. Not that I was sure that I would even want to ask him. Apparently we weren't supposed to expect that any thing we asked for, even information, would be granted without paying some kind of price. There was no way I wanted to owe anything to anybody these days.

On the other hand, if the Prince wanted anything from us, including information, we could set a price for that too. Maybe we might come to some kind of exchange of information that would benefit us both without leaving anybody maimed or dead.

Eric said very little during Mr. Cataliades' advice session. Of course, Eric was no fool when it came to the art of negotiation, and he probably already knew all of the rules. Moi? I was just a babe in the woods dealing with these ancient beings that had centuries of practice with manipulation. I needed the instruction.

My vampire was obviously very concerned about what this demon wanted from us, but if he had any idea what it was, he wasn't saying. He had negotiated the terms of the meeting to include Thalia as a guard, although I was wondering if even Thalia would be any kind of match for this guy. She was the best we had to offer though, except for Eric himself. No one really knew if this demon could actually be killed.

Diantha had told me once, when her sister Gladiola had been found murdered, that everything burns. I suppose maybe even this Prince could burn, but since he was the master of fire, I didn't think it would be us that would be doing any burning. Anyway, vampires were especially susceptible to incineration, so they usually avoided fire as an offensive weapon whenever possible.

Okay, I was getting ahead of myself here. There was no reason to expect that we would be trying to kill the demon. He was just coming to talk to us. But I wanted to leave my options open. Not that there were a lot of options I guess.

An hour before the Prince showed up, I went up to change. This wasn't exactly a formal occasion, but this was an important personage, so I got out a sky blue cocktail dress and a pair of my nicest high heels. I hadn't worn heels much since I'd gotten pregnant, but it seemed like a good time to get the heels back out of the closet. When I had them on, and took the first few steps, I had to steady myself by catching hold of Eric's arm. A few turns around the room though, and I was back in the swing of things.

I put on some of my good jewelry, a diamond necklace that Eric had bought for me, and some pretty sapphire earrings, hoping that Claudine wouldn't try too hard to pull them out of my ears. She was just like a magpie and headed straight for anything shiny.

Claudine was dressed in one of her prettiest dresses, and I had put her in little patent leather shoes with lace-topped socks. She looked adorable. Her hair was getting a little longer now, and I brushed out her curls and stuck in a little bow. I doubted she would leave it in for very long, since she periodically tried to tug at it, but she was going to start out in her best finery. She was too young to wear jewelry, and the crazy huge emerald was not in a setting anyway, so I didn't have to worry about her wearing the demon's gift. Actually, I had no idea what to do with the thing besides put it in the safe deposit box until she grew up.

We headed down the stairs a little before midnight. Eric, looking delectable in his expensive Armani silk suit, was carrying the baby, while I held onto the banister for dear life in case I had a misstep in the shoes. Maybe they weren't such a good idea after all, but they did make my calves look good, which I knew since Eric kept giving them approving looks.

Thalia was waiting for us downstairs. She was decked out too, in an unexpected manner. Somewhere she had come up with a gown that looked very Grecian in style, although modern in fabric and fit. Although I wouldn't have believed a gown like that would go with a weapon, she had also managed to find a bejeweled scabbard for her big old sword, and fancy sheaths for the throwing knives strapped onto her bared forearms and the outfit all worked together, in a savage war goddess kind of way. She was wearing jewelry too, a necklace and earrings made with ancient looking gold coins. I had no doubt that the coins were probably the real thing.

"You look beautiful, Thalia," I told her and she smiled back at me, pleased with the compliment.

"Thank you, Mistress," she said and then resumed her serious demeanor. She was the guard tonight, and she always took her responsibility seriously.

"Do you think everything looks alright, Eric?" I said, glancing at the flower arrangement that I had placed on the mantle and the food and wine that were laid out on the table.

"I am sure everything will be fine, Lover. He is not coming for the food," Eric said shortly, and I knew then that Eric was very nervous about this meeting. He always showed appreciation for the trouble I took with the house and the hospitality we provided for guests.

Realizing that I was a little hurt by his curt rejoinder, he bent over and gave me a quick kiss. "As always, wife, your loving care of your family is in evidence. Very few could boast of a more well run household than ours, and it is greatly appreciated."

I was of course mollified by that flowery compliment, and expressed my satisfaction with a longer kiss, interrupted by Claudine who was already trying to tug at my earrings.

"Not for you, little one," Eric said, and carefully moved her hands away from the jewel.

"I better find something for her to play with," I said and went looking for some toys to put out for Claudine. I hoped she was going to be content with her toys and not decide to be cranky while we entertained our guest. But I guess he would just have to forgive her if she decided to kick up a fuss, since babies did that whenever they felt like it.

This prince had probably had some experience with children in his long life. Demons must have children after all, since Mr. Cataliades was certainly evidence of at least one's breeding capabilities. Whether the Lord High Poobah of the demon world had any children of his own was anybody's guess. I hadn't thought to ask that of Mr. Cataliades.

Mr. Cataliades and his niece Diantha arrived a few minutes before the expected arrival of the Prince. Apparently Jerahmeel would just apparate himself in at the appointed stroke of midnight.

Diantha was again in a formal dress. This time she must have taken great care with her appearance, since her hair was up in a fancy arrangement of curls and her feet were even clad in low-heeled shoes. She looked about as comfortable in her shoes as I was in mine. Mr. Cataliades was in a nicely tailored black suit, and looked like he always did, like a lawyer.

The clock had just finished striking and Cinderella's coach would be turning back into a pumpkin when the air in the room felt suddenly thicker, with a slight smell of sulfur. I felt a strange feeling of disorientation as I suppose the portals opened between the two worlds and the Prince appeared before the fireplace.

No one spoke for a moment, probably knocked speechless by the majestic being that presented himself. The Prince was undoubtedly the most incredibly handsome man I would ever see. He left even my cousin Claude looking like the country cousin.

His silky black hair flowed almost to his knees and framed a face that would have been beautiful on a man or a woman. His body left no doubt that he was a male though. He was dressed elegantly in a loose white tunic embroidered in gold thread and tight slacks of a mocha brown fabric that clung to the well-defined muscle of his legs. The soft leather of his boots and his wide belt were of a chocolate brown suede. Despite the summer's warmth, a black cape that flowed down his back and reached to the floor completed his outfit. He could've just stepped out of Sherwood Forest.

Jerahmeel was about as tall as Eric but he moved with an almost feminine grace. The assessing look he gave me was far from feminine however, and I could feel Eric bristle as he noticed it too. My vampire went still, as he often did when he was about to show his displeasure.

The Prince's most striking feature though, was his eyes. Framed by long thick black lashes and the color of the emerald that had been his gift to Claudine, his eyes shone with a piercing brilliance that was definitely unearthly. They were everything verdant, the fulfillment of spring, a promise of growth and fertility. You could drown in the magic of those eyes.

While I stood momentarily mesmerized by his beauty, Mr. Cataliades and Diantha had dropped to one knee on the floor, heads bowed. Eric bowed his head, in recognition of the Prince's position and I eventually managed a minimal curtsy, encumbered by Claudine squirming in my arms.

The demon prince returned Eric's nod, then turned his attention to me. "This must be the jewel in your crown, Vampire King," he said to Eric and directed a bow to me, from the waist, accompanied by a flourish of one hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I said politely, not bothering to extend my hand. Even if this guy wasn't averse to handshaking like the vampires were, it seemed like a good idea not to touch him if I could avoid it. My shields just might not hold up to physical contact with this powerful of a being.

"Can I take your coat...uh...I mean your cape?"

"Thank you, but I think I will hold onto it for a while," he said, looking at me as if I had said something funny. Okay, I wasn't sure what I had done that was so amusing, but at least he was sort of smiling and wasn't looking offended or hungry or something. He continued round the room with his greetings.

"You may rise," he said to the lawyer and his niece, giving them a dismissive glance before he directed his gaze at Thalia.

Thalia was standing close to me, immobile as only a vampire can be. I thought I saw recognition in the demon's eyes as he looked at her, one eyebrow rising slightly before he bowed to the vampire. Thalia maintained her stance, but nodded briefly in response. I was definitely going to have to ask Thalia what that had been all about.

"So this is the little angel that we have heard so much about," Prince Jerahmeel said as he returned his attentions to me and Claudine.

Claudine, perhaps realizing that something interesting must be going on, turned her attention from trying to pull the earring out of my ear, to the demon in our living room. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree and she gave him one of her big, beautiful smiles. The demon's smile mirrored hers, almost as if he couldn't help himself.

"She is beautiful," he said, sounding surprised and pleased. "Does she fly yet?" he asked in the interested tone that anyone might use when asking about the accomplishments of a young child.

His voice was musical, not at all like what I had expected. Well, I guess I had expected something harsh and stern, if nothing else, at least imperious. But besides the slight accent, unidentifiable to me, he could have been the next-door neighbor or a favorite uncle. Not that the whole favorite uncle thing didn't usually set off alarm bells for me.

I looked at Eric to see if I should even answer. After all the lectures about how to interact with a powerful demon, I wasn't quite prepared for everyday chitchat. I thought about trying out my telepathy to see if I could hear anything from him, but decided that might not be a good idea, so responding to Eric's nod, I just answered him like he was anyone else.

"No, not yet. I'm a little afraid to let her try actually. She can't even walk yet. Although she stood up by herself for the first time a few days ago, and Eric says she'll probably be running amok around the house any minute."

Okay, I was feeling the urge to babble about Claudine, which reflected how nervous I was about the situation. But the normalness of his question had thrown me completely.

"Ah, then her mother will chase all day and have no rest at all," he responded, still smiling and giving almost the same response as Eric had given when Claudine had first stood on her own. Perhaps he was a dad too.

"Well, yeah, I suppose that's true. But it will be pretty exciting when she starts walking. She makes pretty good tracks crawling already, and is in to everything if you don't watch her. But then that's what babies do I guess."

He didn't say anything for a moment, and the silence in the room was so deafening I just wanted to keep babbling.

"Do you want to see?" I asked like an idiot.

He gave a slight nod of his head, and with just that little bit of encouragement, I put Claudine through her paces.

"Okay, sweetie, let's show the big bad demon just how smart you are. Come on, you can do it," I mumbled to Claudine as I put her on her feet on the floor, again holding her by the waist until she got her balance. This time she managed to stay up for quite a while before she plopped down on her butt. Her landing was not quite so graceful though, and she started to bawl right off the bat.

Three bodies stepped forward in response to her tears: Eric of course, who could never stand still when Claudine was crying, Thalia, who always had to make sure that Claudine was okay, and surprisingly the Prince, who had his hands out as if he would help her back up or pick her up to comfort her. Eric saw his extended hands and let out a low snarl, but I had Claudine back up in my arms by that time, and she calmed right down, so everyone resumed their normal place.

No one was talking, and I wondered if there was some protocol that I was missing, like you couldn't speak unless spoken to. They had done that in royal courts in the past I thought. Maybe this was some form of macho standoff. Let's see who cracks first and asks what the hell this is all about. Or maybe, everyone thought it was safest to just let the new guy do all of the talking. That worked for me. I couldn't just have someone in the house and not be hospitable though. I wondered if Pam could find a Dear Abby or Miss Manners solution for this awkward social setting, but the Prince rescued the situation by continuing to comment on Claudine.

"She will be walking very soon, and then surely she must learn to fly," the Prince commented. Eric looked at me as if to say 'I told you so'. Gads, these men all had the same response. But I was glad that at least someone was saying something.

"That's what Eric says. Listen, would you like to sit down or something? Can I offer you a drink? We have tea or coffee or wine."

"A glass of wine would be appreciated," was his reply.

This presented another awkward situation, since I was the hostess, but I had my hands full with Claudine. I was sure Eric was in no mood to wait on this visitor, from the look on his face. Diantha was standing rigid, looking like a frightened rabbit. She would have been more comfortable on the floor with one of her video games I thought. That left Mr. Cataliades, but he was sort of a guest too, so I took the ball into my court, shoved the baby towards Eric, leaving him no choice but to take her, and picked up the wine bottle to fill a glass.

"Maybe we can all sit down," I suggested.

The Prince looked around at the seating arrangements with a skeptical eye, and that just got my hackles up. Okay, we didn't have a palace or anything, if that was what he was used to, but our place was pretty nice, and the furniture was very clean and comfortable, and not cheap stuff either. The problem with our furniture became obvious though, when I noticed that what I thought was his cape, sort of took on a life of its own. What had looked like fabric unfolded slightly and as it did, I could see that it wasn't a cape at all, but a pair of magnificent black wings, a larger version of Claudine's.

"Well I'll be damned!" I said; because really, what else can you say in a situation like that.

"I think that is highly unlikely, My Lady," the Prince of Darkness said and he began to laugh.


	66. Chapter 66

CHAPTER 66

"Wow! Your wings are beautiful," I said to the Prince of Demons, forgetting one of Gran's cardinal rules of good manners, "Best not to comment on someone's personal appearance, unless asked, and then always find something kindly to say". Well, I had at least said something complimentary.

"You expected bat wings, with horns and a tail?" he asked.

Maybe that was what I had been expecting. I hadn't asked Mr. Cataliades what the Prince looked like, and so most of my concept of demons came from the world of fiction. The fiction I read had demons being summoned by sorcerers and enclosed in protective magical circles. When the demon showed up, you bargained with him to do your bidding. If he were smart enough, he could trick you into trading your soul for power.

Some of the fictional demons could change their appearance, even taking on the aspect of their summoner, but I had a feeling that this guy was exactly what he appeared to be. He probably wasn't after anyone's soul, but I didn't doubt that he could trick you right out of your panties if he put his mind to it. He was some kind of beautiful.

"I am not sure what I was expecting," I answered, "but it certainly wasn't you."

He seemed to find this answer equally as amusing as my first response to his wings. Eric, however, did not look amused. He was thinking he didn't like the way the demon looked at me, and was wondering if demon blood was as intoxicating as fairy blood. Yuck!

The seating issue was yet to be resolved, but Mr. Cataliades stepped up to the plate and brought the ottoman forward. Prince Jerahmeel sat down, his wings draping gracefully down his back and flowing onto the floor. Claudine's wings were still small enough that she managed pretty well, but if they ended up as long and as full as the Prince's, we were going to have to adapt some of our furniture choices to fit her. Maybe I should ask for the Prince's advice on that, although now might not be the best time for a decorating consultation. I didn't think I was going to be getting that kind of input from the home make over shows on television though.

Once our visitor was settled, Eric sat down opposite him on the couch and this seemed to be the signal that the pleasantries were over and business could be attended to. Thalia was still standing at attention, Mr. Cataliades had found a place on one of the chairs, and I noticed that Diantha had managed to make herself as small as possible huddling in the other. After making sure that everyone was offered a beverage, I sat down next to Eric and the baby.

"Perhaps you would care to state your intentions in regards to my wife and child," Eric said.

I had a feeling that this demon was not used to being spoken to in quite so direct a manner, but he made no objections.

"It would be my pleasure to extend what protection I can to the child and to her mother," he said.

"My family is well protected," Eric stated proudly.

"Perhaps," the demon replied, looking skeptical again.

He probably knew exactly what kind of guards and defenses we had, since it seemed like nothing stayed secret for very long inside the supe community. It was easy enough to hide stuff from humans, they didn't believe what they saw with their own eyes half the time, but the supes all seemed to spend most of their time spying on each other.

They eyed each other for a long moment, probably wishing for a yardstick so they could measure each other's equipment. Men were all the same, I thought. Vampire, demon – it didn't matter. If they were turkeys they'd have had their tales fanned out and be strutting their stuff right in front of me.

"The fairies have not provided protection," the Prince finally said. "Brigant gives his blessing to this alliance?"

Eric just dismissed that comment with a wave of his hand, as if to say he'd like to see Niall try to challenge his right to marry me.

Of course, no one but Niall and I knew that my great grandfather had offered to kill Eric for me. Not that that meant that he would have succeeded. But he had also said that the vampire was a good man, and loved me, although he hadn't quite been specific at the time whether he was referring to Eric or Bill. I wasn't privy to all that had gone on between the two of them in the past, but there was definitely no love lost between Eric and Niall Brigant.

"She is not theirs to protect," Eric responded, and stopped just short of declaring, "She's mine."

"So it would seem," Jerahmeel said. Even I could read the doubt he threw into that comment, as if he knew the fairies might not see it that way.

"I would offer my mark to your wife," he continued.

Okay, this was interesting on several fronts, I thought. First of all, he was talking over me, as if it was up to Eric and not me. Maybe they hadn't gotten the bulletin about women's liberation in the realm of demons? Granted, Eric was the King, and officially I was one of his assets, in the archaic way of these ancient beings.

And then there were the implications of the mark itself. What would that mean in terms of the fairies? If Niall came back, and we were marked for protection by the demons, would the Prince defend Claudine from being taken to the fae world? Or did it just mean he would protect us from actual harm, harm being not exactly defined at this point. And where did that leave Eric? Was he considered expendable?

I hadn't given a whole lot of thought to the mark placed by Mr. Cataliades. The demons hadn't seemed a particular threat. There were very few of them in our world for one thing, or so Eric had told me, and Mr. Cataliades had led me to believe that it implied no obligations. Having demons as an ally to Claudine had seemed like an okay idea. They would possibly come to the rescue if someone, like one of the crazy Fellowship of the Sun fanatics wanted to harm her.

Mr. Cataliades had pretty much been a member of our team already, but somehow, now that the Prince of Demons was in the picture, the whole stakes were ramped up a bit, and I wasn't sure about where the lawyer's loyalties would lie. And I wondered if these Demon marks would imply an alliance that might provoke conflict if the fairies returned.

The supernaturals were very big on alliances and loyalties. I had found that out with the "Friend of the Pack" status. My Friend status had earned me the right to call on the wolves for protection, and they had sent Tray, who had given his life to protect mine. But it had also put me in several bad situations where I might easily have been killed if it hadn't been for my other connections in the supe world.

"And what price do you set?" Eric asked.

"My personal agent to be set in place as part of the Queen's retinue until such time as the child is betrothed. No other obligation would be incurred on the part of your Kingdom. This would imply no alliance between the vampires and any of my subjects."

"I would consider it, subject to approval of a written contract," Eric said, without consulting me I might add. I opened my mouth to ask if I was going to have something to say about this.

Anticipating my argument, Eric gave my leg a little squeeze before he added, "Your agent must meet with my Queen's approval."

I snapped my mouth shut and swallowed my comments, since nothing was final until we approved the contract anyway. The fact that Eric wasn't immediately protesting a potential spy among our establishment seemed a little odd though, unless something else was going on that I didn't know about. I gave Eric a withering look, which didn't impress him at all, but remained silent.

"You may see to the contract," Jerahmeel said to Mr. Cataliades, who just nodded his head, still not saying a word.

As interesting as this all was, Claudine was not entertained, and was pushing against Eric's chest and kicking her legs in a struggle to be put down. She had her eye on the cake, and since she was about as immovable as a stubborn vampire when she wanted something, I thought now might be a good time to offer dessert. Our business seemed to be concluded for now anyway.

"I think Claudine is not going to be happy until she has some cake. Can I offer you a piece?" I asked the Prince, who was watching Claudine's antics as if he found her infinitely fascinating.

"It's chocolate, Mrs. Bellefleur's famous recipe. She was known as one of the best cooks in Bon Temp, the town where I grew up. She's dead now, but her chocolate cake always took first prize at the fair."

Mrs. Bellefleur, after finally seeing both of her grandchildren married, had died not long ago. Her locally famous cake recipe had been in the Renard Parish paper the week after she died. Amelia had cut out the recipe and copied it for me. Grace and I had baked it that morning.

"Do you even have chocolate where you live? You can eat food, right?" I asked.

Mr. Cataliades had specifically said that information was a commodity with these people, but it wasn't like I was asking him to give up state secrets or something.

"Chocolate is not available in our world. It would be my pleasure to try this famous delicacy."

"Oh, you're just going to love this," I said enthusiastically. I was always enthusiastic about chocolate cake.

I cut four slices of cake, placing them on our best china, adding a fork (not silver) and napkin to each as I handed them out to the demons. I sat back down next to Eric and the baby and offered a tiny bite of my own slice to Claudine. She hadn't tasted chocolate before, and her face screwed up in surprise at the strange texture. She must have liked it though, because her little mouth flew open like a baby bird's in anticipation of another bite as soon as she had swallowed.

I watched Jerahmeel to see his reaction as he took a small bite. His face held much the same expression as Claudine's at first, but then looked pleasantly surprised. His next bite was bigger, so I assumed that it met with his approval. He ate as if he was experiencing something sensuous and exotic, savoring each bite.

"Do you come here often," I asked, "to this world I mean?"

He could obviously make his wings almost unnoticeable, so it was feasible that he could walk around our world without causing too many comments, in a different outfit of course. Okay, I thought, any woman with hormones would comment on how beautiful he was, but they would probably think he must be from Europe or something, not from another world. Then he looked up at me with those strange green eyes, and I just couldn't see him walking down Main Street.

"I do not often leave my home, although that may change, if the delicacies I am presented with tonight reflect what this world now has to offer," he said, picking up his glass and taking a sip of the wine.

He must really like the cake, I thought.

Bob came in about this time, using that stealthy walk that cats tend to have when they are stalking something. Perhaps thinking all those feathers meant a big bird in the room, he crept up along the fireplace wall and slowly worked his way towards Jerahmeel. He might have thought no one noticed him, but of course with almost everybody in the room being a supe of some sort, there were five sets of eyes turned in his direction before he had gotten more than three feet. Bob really had no sense of self-preservation at all.

"Not the Queen's magic," the Prince remarked, eyeing the cat with interest.

"Oh no, I don't do magic," I said, and felt the pinch of Eric's squeeze on my leg before I could mention Amelia.

The Prince looked at me skeptically, as if he wanted to say, "Whom are you kidding!" He could obviously tell that Bob was not your average house cat.

What he actually said was, "Does the child enjoy the animal?"

"Yes. Now that she is crawling, she tries to chase Bob all over. Of course he is faster than she is, but they make a game of it. He's learning to sit under the high chair and wait to see if she'll spill her milk. It was pretty cute at first, but now I think she spills it on purpose just to see the cat drink it."

Bob, too absorbed in his stealthy maneuvering to notice that we were all watching him, had managed to work his way behind the demon to almost striking distance, and I was about to yell at the cat before he pulled out a feather or something, when the Prince raised his hand.

"Thinking that the demon was about to do something nasty to the cat, I shouted, "NO!" just as the ball of magic left the Prince's hand.

Instead of some fireball or something equally as deadly though, a stream of small green lights flew out from Jerahmeel's palm and swarmed around the head of the cat. Bob, totally diverted from the wings, went a little nuts, swatting and rolling, trying to catch what was beginning to look like little glowing fireflies!

Claudine, losing all interest in the chocolate cake, shrieked in delight and clapped her hands, almost knocking the plate out of mine. If Eric hadn't had a good hold of her, she would have propelled herself right onto the floor in her excitement at the commotion going on at the other side of the room.

Bob was flinging himself every which way, distorting his body in the acrobatic way that felines were capable of, but no matter how hard he tried, the fireflies eluded him. Claudine was still shrieking and laughing with so much enthusiasm you'd have thought she was at Cirque de Soleil!

Diantha was laughing too, or what I thought was laughing. Her laugh was something that could be used for a sound effect in a stalker film, but delight was showing on her face, and she'd actually uncurled herself from the minimalist ball she'd earlier rolled herself into.

Between Bob's antics, Claudine's chocolate smeared and laughing face, and Diantha's unearthly giggles, I didn't know what was funnier, but I found myself laughing too.

One by one, the little magic fireflies seemed to fade, and Bob looked confused, as if he couldn't quite figure out where they went. Claudine, seeing the fun disappear, looked at the Prince, as if expecting him to provide more entertainment. He looked directly back at her, and I had a strange feeling that something passed between them, although there was no visible sign of anything. I wasn't sure if I should feel alarmed or not, but Eric had a look of disapproval on his face, so I thought he might have felt it too.

Claudine certainly must have picked up something, because before Eric or I could question what was going on, her sticky little hand reached out, and she shot out a little firefly from her own palm.

"Jesus H. Christ!" I exclaimed, and then quickly excused myself with a "Sorry".

"Claudine, what are you doing?" I asked, but she was too busy waving her hand to catch the insect, or whatever it was, to pay much attention to me.

Eric had a look of consternation on his face, wanting to object that any magic had passed between the Prince and his daughter, but sort of thrilled at the same time, that his daughter was able to perform such an amazing feat. I think obligation would have forced him to object if I hadn't just sort of stepped in and made a comment.

"She can learn magic from you too?" I asked.

I realized I probably shouldn't have put the "too" in there, since that would clue him in that there was someone else available to teach her magic. He probably knew about Dermott hanging around at my brother's anyway, but no use to offer up that information if the fairies and the demons were natural enemies or something. I still wasn't exactly sure about that.

"There are many things I can teach her, and you, My Lady," he said. "Defensive magic would be a good place to start perhaps."

"I think you presume too much," Eric said, almost hissing, and sounding about as deadly as a poisonous snake.

"My apologies," the Prince said, giving a quick bow of the head in Eric's direction, and although I could feel that Eric was only slightly mollified, he didn't press the issue.

"You have seen the child. I believe that our business for this evening is complete," Eric prompted.

"Any other business can be discussed at a later time. My agent will present himself tonight for your approval. If the Queen chooses to dismiss him, she may call upon Cataliades. The contract will be ready in two days time for your perusal," Jerahmeel said as he stood, folding his wings back until they looked like just a piece of clothing again.

Everyone else stood, the lawyer and Diantha going back into their original position on one knee.

"It was very nice to meet you," I said, purposefully not adding, "Come by any time," as I might with a regular visitor.

"Your graciousness is only exceeded by your beauty, My Lady," he said, again with the slight bow and a flourish.

The Demon Prince nodded briefly at Thalia, who had been standing motionless through the whole visit, and then after a peremptory bow at Eric, he just poofed and was gone.

"Well, that was a little abrupt. But I think the visit went very well, don't you, Eric?" I asked my vampire.

I didn't really wait for an answer, since I was sure Eric wouldn't say much until everyone else was gone. He had been quiet all evening and I wasn't sure what was going on with that, but after I put Claudine to bed, I could ask him.

The baby was objecting strenuously to having the chocolate washed off her face. She had tried once to make another firefly, or whatever those lights had been, after hers had faded away, but without success. She was probably too tired. She'd had a long day, and actually, so had I. I was anxious to get out of this dress and heels, get Claudine into her jammies, nurse the baby and put her down for the night. After that, I was looking forward to some quality time alone with my husband.

"I will call you about the contract," Eric said to Mr. Cataliades, and taking that as a dismissal, Mr. Cataliades and Diantha said their goodbyes and left.

Thalia had left the house as soon as the Demon had gone, leaving me no opportunity to ask her if she had known him before. Eric probably had noticed the same thing as I had, that look of recognition. We would have to ask her how she had met Jerahmeel before.

Heading to the stairs to go up and change the baby, I noticed Bob chasing something around the floor, near the ottoman that had accommodated the Prince. Curious about what he was chasing now, I stopped to watch, and saw that it was a feather. Maybe he had managed to knock one out when he had been scurrying around after the fireflies or maybe it had just fallen when the Prince had tucked in his wings. In any case, I snatched it away from Bob, and put it on the mantle next to the one that Claudine had shed. Except for the size difference, they looked exactly alike.

Eric was already on his phone, conducting the business of the day, and I could still hear him in the kitchen talking when I walked back down a few minutes later. I had changed into a simple summer dress that opened in the front for easy nursing, and Claudine had a fresh diaper and was in a pair of lightweight summer pj's with a big Winnie the Pooh on the front. I plopped her down on the floor for a few minutes to gather up the dirty dishes in the living room. She was already rubbing her eyes with exhaustion.

"Grace will take care of that, Lover," Eric said, tucking his phone into his jacket pocket as he walked back into the room. "Is Claudine ready for bed?"

He was still wearing his suit, and he looked good enough to eat. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek as I passed him on the way to the kitchen.

"It will only take a moment to pick this up, sweetie. The cake will dry out if I don't put it away, and I don't like to leave everything for Grace."

"That is her job," he said sternly and I didn't care one bit for the callous tone of his voice. He knew that I considered Grace part of the family, and not just a servant.

"Why don't you take Claudine up, and I'll be there quick as a bunny," I said as I came back for the cake. "I think the cake was a success, don't you?"

Eric didn't reply to my comment about the cake, but he picked up the baby and headed up to our bedroom, speaking softly to Claudine. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but it sounded like the Old Norse that he often used to tell her stories.

The cake was put away in a jiffy, and I rinsed the dishes and put them into the dishwasher before I headed to the bedroom. There was no way I was leaving that mess for Grace to walk in on first thing in the morning.

"Here is moðir with your dinner, lille engel," Eric said as he handed me the baby.

I sat down in the rocking chair and unbuttoned my dress. Claudine wasted no time settling in to her dinner, making eager little noises as she began to nurse.

"So, what do you think of the Prince, Eric?"

Eric was watching me feed Claudine. His tense attitude of earlier in the evening seemed to melt away a bit in the cozy, familiar atmosphere of our room. He took off his jacket, moving his phone to his pants pocket, and surprisingly hanging the jacket up in the closet instead of tossing it onto the closest piece of furniture as he usually would.

"What you think of him might be more relevant, Sookie," he said cryptically.

"Well, he didn't seem nearly as scary as I expected him to be," I said. "But someone doesn't survive that long without being a pretty bad ass character, I know; not that we really know how long he has been around."

I took another minute to think about what I wanted to say. Eric waited patiently while I gathered my thoughts. One of the things I liked about Eric is that he usually didn't discount my impressions of people, or creatures in this case.

"I didn't even try to hear him," I continued. "I just had a feeling that that wouldn't be a good idea. I don't know why. I think Claudine can hear him though."

"And why do you think that?"

"I can't explain it, Eric, but there is some kind of connection there. Probably Claudine doesn't understand it at all. You know, for the longest time, I didn't even realize that everyone couldn't hear people's thoughts. And sometimes I couldn't always tell the difference between what people thought and what they said. I noticed that with Hunter too. It might sound all the same to her still, and she is too young to understand everything she hears."

"Yes, she is so young. But some things she seems to understand on a different level from language, like the magic."

"Exactly. I think she can feel his magic, but she didn't reach out for it like she did with Dermott. She waited until he offered it."

"And how do you interpret that, Lover?"

"Well, I can't explain it exactly, but I think it is because Jerahmeel is more her equal, and Dermott is something less."

Although the very existence of vampires was magical, the wielding of magic was not something that vampires could do, or at least not that I had seen. The use of magic by witches was a real threat to vampires, as we'd all seen when a witch had cursed Eric. Pam hated witches, thinking that humans had the right idea to burn them at the stake. Well, witches besides Amelia. But I think if Pam hadn't thought Amelia was attractive in a different way (and I don't mean just their similar taste in fashion), she would have lumped Amelia right in with the other witches, as just kindling.

I moved Claudine over to the other breast. Her eyes were closing with sleep already, and her long eyelashes looked so delicate against her pale skin. Her chest rose and fell slightly with each breath, but her body had taken on that feeling of limpness that a sleeping baby has, like a rag doll.

The room was very quiet, disturbed only by an occasional clanking sound from outside. Thomas and Thalia were at it again. Hopefully Thalia had taken the time to change out of her pretty gown, since their swordplay often resulted in someone shedding blood, usually Thomas. He didn't seem to mind though. I thought maybe that was part of their attraction to each other actually, in some sick way. Vampires!

"How do you think Thalia knows the Prince, Eric?" I asked, now that Thalia had come to mind.

"I will find out, Lover," he said, furrowing his brows as he thought about it. "The fact that she didn't mention it is curious."

"Yeah, it is, but Thalia is a pretty closed book. You think they were lovers or something?"

"You read too many romance novels, Sookie," Eric said, but as a statement of fact, not being critical.

"I guess," I conceded.

I did like my romance novels; there was no doubt about that. I could almost picture the two of them in ancient Rome or someplace like that. Thalia would be in her gown, and she would spy Jerahmeel, stepping out of the baths, the water dripping from his long black hair onto his bare chest.

As if he surmised what I was thinking, Eric emitted a low growl, and began to take his shirt off, taking his time with the buttons. Okay, a little jealousy there, perhaps? Not that there was any real cause of course, but the Prince had been pretty darned gorgeous. No competition for my beautiful vampire though.

Claudine's head had fallen back, and her breathing was deep and even. Time to lay her down in her crib, and show my husband just how beautiful he was in my eyes, I thought. We had a lot to discuss tonight, but it could wait for a little while longer.

I didn't bother to button up my dress as I got up to put the baby to bed - less chance of Eric pulling the buttons off and ruining another article of clothing. I smiled at that thought, and Eric returned my smile with a seductive smile of his own.

That was when we heard the baying of the hound, and it wasn't even the full moon!


	67. Chapter 67

CHAPTER 67

The eerie sound cut through the air like a knife, and I found myself shivering, reflexively pulling my dress closed and doing up the buttons. Eric was doing the same thing with his shirt.

"What the hell is that, Eric?"

"If I were to guess, I would say it is a Garmr, one of the Hounds of Hel," he answered. "Wait here, Sookie."

Of course, there was no way I was staying in the room alone with that creepy sound, so I gathered up the sleeping Claudine and followed him downstairs. He was already at the door by the time I got down the stairs.

The scene I found outside was like something out of a comic book. All of the security lights were on, and they illuminated the drama playing out in front of our porch. Thomas had his sword in hand, raised to shoulder level, ready to strike. Thalia was poised to strike too, but she was aiming her blow at Thomas, holding him back with her threatening stance.

The yard was swarming with just about every were guard we employed, some of them half dressed, gun in hand, obviously surprised out of their beds. I think the only people that weren't armed were the Britlingens, both of whom were wrapped in towels and looked like they had just climbed out of the pool.

Eric's hands had arched into claws, and all three vampires had their fangs out. There seemed to be an argument of sorts going on, although it was hard to tell exactly what was happening with everyone yelling at once.

"Silence!" Eric bellowed out, and every one went quiet. "It is not to be harmed."

I creeped out onto the porch to better see what the fight was all about, and in the middle of the chaos, sat a small black puppy. Well, small is a relative term I suppose. He must have weighed a good forty pounds, but he was obviously a pup. His feet were the size of my hands, but he hadn't nearly grown into them yet. He was so black; he would have blended into midnight, if it weren't for the security lights reflecting off his thick shiny fur. His eyes glowed green, and seemed to cast off a light of their own. He wasn't wearing a collar, but I had a feeling that this was not the kind of dog that could be taught to heel on a leash. The puppy spied me and Claudine and began to wag his tail.

"He's so cute, Eric," I said. "What is he doing here?"

Eric rolled his eyes at me, but he answered. "I believe this is the agent of the Prince of Darkness, as you so aptly call him, Sookie."

"Oh! I can't believe he sent a puppy, Eric."

"This is not just a puppy, Sookie. He is a hellhound."

"Well, he's awfully cute anyway," I said as I squatted down and put my hand out.

The pup sniffed the air, and seeming to decide that I was the person he was looking for, began to slither on his belly in my direction, his tail still going a mile a minute. Eric stepped in front of me.

"Look, he likes me, Eric. What do you think he eats?"

"Babies," Thomas said, still holding his sword at the ready. "How did it get in here? All the gates are closed and guarded. We should kill it."

"I believe it is a representative of the Prince of Demons," Eric told Thomas. "You are not to harm the creature."

"What are we supposed to do with it then?" Thomas persisted.

"We'll have to send someone to Wal-mart for a bed and some food," I suggested. "You're not going to send him back right away are you, Eric? Claudine will love him! I guess he'll need some dog dishes too."

"We will discuss this inside, wife," Eric said, giving me an exasperated look. "Thomas, you can dismiss everyone. Thalia, bring the beast inside. We must treat it with courtesy."

"Don't call him a beast, Eric. I wonder what his name is."

"Beelzebub," one of the weres commented from the sidelines. I think it might have been Travis.

"You should talk," I mumbled under my breath. I had seen Travis in his wolf form, and he was a pretty huge and scary canine. He made this puppy look harmless.

"Let's go inside, Sookie. We can call Cataliades."

"Come on sugar," I called to the pup, and he romped over to me, almost tripping over his big feet.

"I think I'll call him Dante," I told Eric. That sounded like a good name for a devil dog to me.

Eric was ushering me inside, the dog close on our heels. Grace was going to have a fit about a dog tracking in mud. Thalia trailed behind us. She gave Thomas a withering look as if to say, "I told you we weren't supposed to kill it."

I headed into the kitchen, figuring I might as well warm up some blood for the vampires, and maybe make some coffee or something. I could tell we weren't going to have an early night of it. I'd have to make a list of what supplies we would need from Wal-Mart too. They were open all night. I handed the sleeping Claudine to Thalia and got paper and pencil from their spot next to the phone.

The Britlingens came in, looking a little abashed that they hadn't been prepared when something had actually happened around here that might need their special skills. I didn't doubt that they could handle quite a bit, even wet and naked, but they headed to their rooms to get dressed and collect their weaponry.

"So you think this is the agent the Prince talked about, Eric?"

"Yes, Kjære. I believe it is. I have a feeling it meets with your approval," he said, not sounding happy at all.

"Well, if we're going to agree to the contract about the mark thing, I could think of a lot worse that he could send. Although really, after seeing Jerahmeel, I guess the demons aren't quite as alien as I thought they would be."

I popped two bloods into the microwave for Thalia and Eric, and got out the pitcher of iced tea. I just didn't feel like making coffee.

"The Prince's form might well not represent what the demon world has to offer, Sookie. You should not make assumptions that all demons are quite so…proportional."

I had to laugh at his choice of words. But I got thinking about Diantha's sharp and pointy teeth, and I figured he might have a point.

"So what do we do? We keep him until we see the contract?"

The puppy was licking the back of my hand, quivering in that way that puppies did when they wanted to be petted. If I hadn't heard the ungodly bay that had no doubt come out of his mouth when he had arrived, he would just seem like a harmless pup to me. Okay, a little on the gigantic side maybe, and yes, he had some very eerie eyes that you didn't usually see on a dog. Actually I don't think you saw those eyes on anything that wasn't rated NC-17. I wondered how big he would actually get.

"Yes, I think he is here on trial, and from your reaction, as an added incentive to accept the demon's protection."

"So, is it so bad to have his mark? Claudine has one, and don't we need all the protection we can get?"

"He has no need to take by force what he can get by persuasion," Eric said, almost as an aside.

"What's that supposed to mean, Eric?" I asked. He waved me off with a movement of his hand.

"Have you forgotten already what your relationship to Niall brought upon you, Sookie?"

"As if I could ever forget about that, Eric. What a mean thing to say!"

"If you are marked, you represent something that is of value to the Prince. Something that can be used against him, to provoke him or draw him into conflict."

"I figured that out all by myself, Eric," I said defensively. "That didn't stop you from allowing Claudine to be marked. You saw that as an advantage. How is this different?"

"A mark from Cataliades represents little. It would be considered by other part demons of this world, and might buy her some additional allies. But a personal mark from the Prince would be considered something much more substantial."

"So others would know the difference? Isn't it going to look like the same thing?"

"If there were no difference, he would have had Cataliades offer the mark, Lover."

"So I might be in more danger with the mark than without it."

"Perhaps."

"Well, which is it, Eric? It's either one thing or another."

"It is never quite as simple as that, Sookie."

"Nothing ever is," I sighed. "I'm making a list for the Wal-Mart. I wonder if he'll eat puppy chow," I said.

I ignored Eric for a few moments, and while he drank his True Blood, I wrote out the list: 50 pounds of puppy chow (Better to get a lot, he was a big puppy.), two large size dog bowls (one for water and one for food, of course), large breed dog bed, collar – blue or green (to match his eyes), retractable leash. I had seen people walking with their dogs with those leashes, and they looked handy.

"Do you think we'll need flea stuff?" I asked Eric.

"I have no idea, Sookie. I have not kept a hound in a thousand years. Somehow, I doubt that any flea would bite this creature though."

"You might have a point there. We'll wait on the flea stuff. Definitely a leash though."

"I doubt he will respond well to being leashed."

"There's a leash law in this parish, Eric. If he is going to be out with me, he will have to have one."

Thalia let out a chuckle, and Eric gave her the evil eye.

"Seriously Thalia. I've got enough problems in life without messing with the dogcatcher. Those guys can be vicious."

Thalia's chuckle turned into a full force laugh.

"Yeah, I know. It's not like the dogcatcher is going to be allowed within fifty feet of me, seeing as I am surrounded by big burly males or scary vampires whenever I go out, which is hardly ever, but that's not the point."

No one asked to hear what my point was, and I guess I didn't really have a point. The whole situation was just so bizarre that I really didn't know what else to do but pretend that I was having a real life, with real kids and pets and oh, whatever real people had.

"You know, Thalia, if you've had enough fun at my expense, maybe you can see about somebody going to Wal-Mart and getting the supplies for the dog."

I didn't usually ask Thalia to run errands, but really, I didn't need an audience for this discussion. I held out the list. She transferred the sleeping baby to Eric's lap and took the piece of paper. She was still grinning as she walked out the door. She didn't look offended for a change when asked to do something that didn't involve brutality.

"So what do you know about these dogs, Eric? What did you call him, a hellhound?"

"Garmr. A hound that follows the goddess Hel. Not your Christian Hell, Sookie. It is the land of death, but it is not about punishment and how do you say it, hellfire and brimstone?"

"So these hounds live there?"

"There are many stories of the hellhounds. They are said to run with the fairies in the Wild Hunt, or to haunt graveyards. Usually they are a harbinger of death or doom."

I wasn't exactly sure what harbinger meant, but I got the drift. "Kind of like the Grim from Harry Potter!" I thought about it for a moment. "Well, I don't think so."

"What do you think then?"

"Jerahmeel isn't going to send something that promises death if he is promising protection, is he? But something that your opponents think promises death would be a possible deterrent. It's really a very good idea, don't you think, Eric?"

"I think you are too eager to ascribe good intentions to this Prince. What is it that you say? The road to hell is paved with those good intentions."

"Well, I don't know if that exactly applies in this situation, but yeah, you're probably right. We can't trust anything he does at this point. It's just that I was so relieved tonight, you know? I guess I'd worked myself up thinking he was coming with the 'intention' of asking for Claudine to marry or something. But he didn't even mention it."

Now that I didn't have the list to write, my hand naturally just found the top of the dog's head, and I began to stroke his fur. It really was so silky and smooth. Eric's eyes locked on the motion of my hand, and I could feel the anger rising in him, not sure if he was angry at me, at the dog, or at the Prince of Darkness. He would probably be threatening the dog in Norwegian or something next, I thought.

"He would not come to negotiate the bride price until he had met the family and seen the daughter," Eric said. "It would be not be…seemly. Although now that he has seen you, he may reevaluate. I expect that we will hear something from Cataliades within the next week."

Eric might have been still talking, but I couldn't quite bring my ears to hear beyond the casual way that he was talking about a "bride price". I'd known this conversation was going to come up, but I really wasn't able to accept the whole idea.

"Bride price? Is my daughter for sale now? Bride price! What the hell is wrong with you people? This isn't the Stone Age! So he shows up with fifty bucks and a pack of condoms and walks out with your daughter?"

"Now you sound like your brother!"

"Well, even my brother wouldn't be talking about a 'bride price' for his daughter. He'd knock that bastard to hell and back, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars!"

I couldn't stand still and found myself pacing about the kitchen. There was Claudine, not even a year old, and some guy was going to bargain for her in marriage? Not in my lifetime! Eric was looking pissed. I knew I was being unfair to Eric and I'd probably just insulted his manhood, but I just couldn't care right now.

"Sookie, calm down. This is something that must be discussed rationally."

"There is nothing rational about any of you! Vampires, werewolves, hellhounds, demons from hell! I can't stand the lot of you anymore. I've had it, Eric! I've just had it!"

"Sookie, stop acting like a child. People have negotiated marriage for thousands of years. He offers no insult with this, if he even offers it now. He has seen the mother and he may decide that he will just try to take you. But he will have to get through me first. I won't let him have you."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"I am not trying to make you feel better. I am trying to make you see this as it is, not how you want it to be. This is not some fairy tale prince that will come and save the day."

The poor dog was moving away from me, trying not to get stepped on, his tail no longer wagging, as I stomped around the kitchen. Claudine was starting to fret, although I didn't think she was all of the way awake. I felt so much anger pent up inside me all of a sudden that I didn't know what to do with it. It just never stopped coming, one crisis after another. I had really just about had more than I could handle. I knew I was behaving like a child, but I couldn't seem to stop.

"How I want it to be? Nobody ever bothered to find out what I wanted, Eric. Oh no, Misters High and Mighty come in and decide what I want! And have you ever read those fairy tales? Everybody gets killed or maimed or something awful. They're all about tragedy and lost dreams, Eric. This sure as hell is looking like a fairy tale to me. And no one lives happily ever after. You think I don't know that guy is dangerous? Do you think I didn't notice how he looked at me? Do you think I am stupid?"

"If you are going to act like it, Sookie!"

Eric's anger was roiling over me like a tidal wave. And it seemed like the more pissed off he got, the more irrational I became. Like adding fuel to the fire, I thought.

He was right of course. I had been charmed by the handsome prince, instead of really looking at the motives of his visit. And the fact that Eric was right as usual just made me all the madder. I had been living more in denial than in reality for a long time now. I was mad at myself mostly. What the hell had I been thinking! Serving chocolate cake to one of the oldest creatures in the universe like he was a next-door neighbor come to call. Thinking this dog was just any old cute puppy, instead of some hell beast that would as soon rip out your throat as look at you. And Claudine was about ready to cry, now that I had woken her up with all of my shouting.

"God damn it all to hell!" I said, slapping my open palm onto the table.

That might have been the end of that scene, except for the fact that the table burst into flames. Well, not the whole thing, but a good deal of the top of it. Everything happened so fast then, that I could barely take it all in.

Eric leapt up from his chair, turning to shield the baby with his body, and sending the bottle of blood flying across the room. I shrieked in surprise and jumped back against the cupboards. A chair must have fallen, knocking onto the dog, who began to bay like I don't know what, and the smoke alarm went off.

"Holy shit! Eric, you and the baby get out of here," I shouted. Vampires and fire were a very bad mix.

I lurched over to the sink and grabbed the sprayer, hitting the faucet so hard I'm surprised I didn't break the damned thing as I turned it on. I aimed it at the table, and let it rip. The water hit the flames at about the same time that Batanya came running in with a blanket from the couch or someplace and threw it over the table. A cloud of smoke and steam and a horrid smell rose up from the mess on the table, and I started to cough.

"Is anyone injured?" I heard someone say. I think it was Clovache.

I was still standing by the sink, the sprayer still spewing water onto the scorched blanket. My eyes were stinging, and I didn't know if it was from the smoke, or from my tears. I coughed a few more times, and then sort of came to my senses, shutting off the faucet.

"Eric? Claudine?"

I looked around, and saw Eric standing by the door, his arms still wrapped tightly around Claudine, looking at me as if he had just seen a ghost. The dog, wet and whimpering now, came over and nudged my leg, and I reached down without thought and patted him on the head to reassure him. Thalia and Thomas were at the door, swords in hand of course, no doubt wondering what strange enemy had gotten to us this time. The guards had probably been woken out of their beds again.

"Let me kill it," Thomas said, looking at the hound. "It already brings grief and doom."

"Oh shut up, Thomas," Clovache said, as she pulled up a chair, and pushed me into it.

"I'm making coffee," Batanya said. "Somebody find a mop and bucket, and some garbage bags."

Batanya headed to the coffee pot, filled it with water, and then got the coffee and filters out of the cupboard. Clovache went hunting for the clean up supplies. I think she had shot the smoke alarm with a crossbow bolt, since it had stopped shrieking, and there was now a big piece of metal sticking out of the ceiling in the middle of the broken plastic casing.

"Did I just do that, Eric?" I asked, still a little in shock maybe.

He was at my side in an instant, wrapping his free arm around me. Claudine's eyes were brimming with tears, but Eric, although he was obviously trying to show concern, was smiling with satisfaction. I looked at the table. The quilt that Batanya had used to smother the fire was the ugly old afghan that Gran had loved so well. It was mostly smoke and ash now.

"Yes, Lover, I believe you did."

"I guess we're going to need a new table," I said.


	68. Chapter 68

CHAPTER 68

"Leave it, Sookie. It will be there in the morning. Come to bed."

I was attempting to put the soggy mess of Gran's afghan into the garbage bag that Clovache had handed me. I could barely see through the tears that left a sooty trail down my cheeks. Thomas and Thalia carried the table out the kitchen door. It had looked like it wouldn't fit through, and Thomas had snapped the thick wooden legs off like they were toothpicks.

"I don't like to leave a mess for everyone, Eric. It's my fault, although I don't even know how I did it."

"We will talk about that tomorrow."

Eric took me by the arm and was leading me towards the stairs. I had wanted to clean up my own mess, but I was almost shaking with exhaustion, and I really didn't think I could stand up much longer.

"What about the dog? He'll need water."

The pup, looking none the worse for wear after all the chaos, was close on my heels. Not knowing exactly what we were dealing with, it seemed better to keep him close by for now.

"Go up and put the baby to bed," Eric said with finality, but he headed back towards the kitchen. He came into the bedroom a few moments later with a saucepan, and one of the spare blankets from the linen cupboard.

It didn't take long before Claudine was changed, kissed and tucked in, and the dog was ensconced in a corner of the room, curled in a ball on the blanket, sauce pan full of water at hand.

"I need to take a shower," I said.

I had washed up a bit in the sink, but I could smell the smoke from the fire in my hair, and assumed the smell would be much worse for Eric with his sensitive sense of smell. He had managed to stay pretty clean throughout the kitchen disaster, but the hem of his pants had been hit with splashes from my makeshift fire hose, and I hoped I hadn't managed to ruin his suit. I thought I would just throw the dress I was wearing away. Putting it on again would just remind me of what an idiot I was.

"I'm sorry, Eric, that I acted so badly."

"We'll talk about that tomorrow too," he said, brooking no further discussion on that subject.

He had tossed his pants onto the floor as he headed into the bathroom. I picked them up to put aside for Grace to take to the dry cleaners, pulling his phone out of the pocket and putting it on the charger by the bed. I liked this suit, and it might be salvageable.

My dress and underclothes went into the hamper on the way to the bathroom, where Eric was already stepping under the hot water streaming from the showerhead. That would make a nice photo for next year's Vampire Hunks calendar I thought. But then I thought about all of the women that would be looking at Eric's butt hanging on their walls, and thought to myself, maybe not. Anyway, Thomas had run off with my camera again. I had no idea what he had done with the one I had bought him for himself.

"I guess I'll have to go get a new table," I said as I climbed in after him, a sigh escaping my lips at the wonderful feel of the hot water hitting my skin.

"Send the witch out to do that. That's what I pay her for," he said.

Actually I think I was the one that paid Amelia, but I didn't argue the point as he put his hands on my shoulders and turned me around to face the wall. He grabbed the soap, lathered up his hands, and beginning at the nape of my neck, proceeded to wash my back.

"Ahhh," I sighed, luxuriating in the feel of his strong fingers working the kinks out of my muscles. I could feel all the tension just dripping off of me and running down the drain with the water.

"I'll have to get a new afghan for the couch too," I said.

He laughed a little in response. "I think you better let me pick that out," he said.

Eric hadn't been the only one who had remarked on Gran's ugly old afghan, but it held a lot of memories for me, and I was sorry to see it go. My next sigh held a little more sadness. Eric began to talk to me as he moved his hands in soothing circles across my shoulders, his voice low and deep.

"After I was turned, I missed my family so much. I still mourned my wife and my children were so small. Humans didn't live so long then. The women often died young, mostly in childbed. Their lives were very hard, keeping the children alive with their milk through the winter when there was barely enough food for themselves. The men sometimes faired better, if they didn't go into battle. But there was always war. I missed that too. Not the killing, although I had done plenty of killing, but the camaraderie."

He paused in his story, taking the shampoo bottle from the niche, and putting a little in his palm. I leaned my head back, and he began to wash my hair. His fingers were gentle as he ran them through my long wet strands.

"Even when your bones ached from exhaustion, and your wounds hurt or itched with healing, and the filth and the smell in the boats was staggering from the unwashed bodies of the men. When your loins ached for the women that you left at home, and the cries of the slaves in their shackles tortured your sleep, the thrill of victory called you back to one more fight. And every time you went into battle, you knew that it might very well be your last day."

"I could still fight of course, but with my new strength, my opponents were rarely a challenge for me anymore. And mostly I fought alone, no longer with my men at arms that would join me at the fireside when we returned home, regaling the women with the stories of our victories."

"When I was made vampire, I didn't appreciate yet what it would mean to have such a long life in front of me. I only looked back, at what I was leaving. I yearned for what I could no longer have. I mourned for a life that would never again be more than a memory. For decades, I fought what I was and only saw what had been taken away from me. Wasted years, unhappy years."

Using the sprayer, Eric rinsed my hair, careful to get all the soap out, before he moved in close behind me.

"Don't look back, Sookie. Your life shouldn't be a study of regret. Don't let what you have lost color the life that you could have. Don't deny what you are trying to be something that you thought you were. I love you, Kjære, and I want to see you become everything that you could be."

"I know you're right, Eric. I do. In fact, I probably should hate you for being right almost all the time. It's a very annoying trait sometimes."

I turned around and rested my head against his chest. As if I could ever hate my Eric, I thought.

"Only almost all of the time?" he asked mischievously as his tone of voice changed from serious to playful.

"Conceited much?" I said as I poked him. He laughed and kissed the top of my head.

"Maybe it's just hormones that make me such a bitch sometimes," I said as my hands stroked the taut muscles of his back.

"I am well familiar with raging female hormones, Lover. They are formidable opponents, not to be reasoned with."

He pulled me a little tighter against him, and what I was feeling pressed against me did not feel like opposition.

"I don't want to know about how familiar you are with other female's hormones, Eric."

"I did have a wife, you know, Sookie. And Aude could be quite – what is the word? – feisty at times! I think that is when I liked her the best."

"Oh, you like your women feisty?" I asked, giving his butt a little squeeze. I'd show him feisty!

"Yes, when they aren't trying to set me on fire."

There was amusement in his eyes, but there was pride there too. He was pleased with what I had done.

"Gads, don't even bring that up again tonight. I don't want to think about it."

"Yes, my beautiful wife. There are better things to think about right now."

"Like this?" I asked and then ran my tongue over his nipple. "Or this?" I said as I surprised him by nipping at the sensitive skin with my teeth.

He shuddered all over in response to my bite.

"A surprise attack, my little warrior? Perhaps the bed would be a more worthy battleground."

I gave him my answer to that challenge by turning off the water, and stepping out of the shower.

Standing on the bath mat in the steamy room, dripping all over, we made out like a couple of teenagers. (Not that I would know much about teenage make out sessions.) He took his time, using his lips to attack just about every inch of my skin. When my legs had just about turned to jello, and I was radiating my own steam, he ambushed me. Scooping me up and carrying me into the bedroom, he proceeded to show me why the Vikings were so formidable in battle.

I was woken a few short hours later by the sound of laughter. Eric was still draped partially over me, and I heaved him off before I even bothered to open my eyes. The glowing blue numbers on the bedside clock announced the ungodly hour of nine a.m.

"Good Lord," I said to myself. "Are the chickens even awake at this hour?"

Of course any chicken worth his salt would have been hiding in the henhouse from the foxes long before I had even made it upstairs last night. Who could possibly be laughing at this early hour?

As my eyes moved about the room, I could see where all the frivolity was centered. Claudine was sitting up in her crib, and Dante (I was definitely going to call him that.) was running round and round as Claudine laughed at his antics. I could guess at the origin of the little green glowing firefly that the dog was chasing.

"Good morning, sweetie," I said. "You're up early. I think you're going to have to teach me that firefly trick, but not right now."

Claudine let out a squeal when she heard my voice, and threw her arms up in the air to be picked up.

"Hold on, angel. Let me get decent, and we'll go down and get your breakfast."

The pup, as soon as he realized that there was a new diversion in the room, ran over to the bed and began to lick Eric's leg.

"Oh, Eric would just die if he knew you were doing that, sugar. Well, if he wasn't dead already."

I ruffled the fur on the pup's head and pulled the covers up over my naked vampire. He was usually good about at least putting on his underwear before he fell asleep for the day, but we had been just a little too distracted the night before to pay attention to the time.

I grabbed a robe and headed into the bathroom to attend to my most immediate needs, gave my teeth a quick brushing and ran a brush through my hair. I could shower after I got the baby fed. When I walked out of the bathroom, the pup was standing by the door, shuffling his feet in a way that probably meant he needed to get outside pretty quickly.

Amelia was sitting in a chair, cup of coffee in hand, when I got into the kitchen. The table was noticeably absent, but otherwise you could hardly tell that there had been a fire the night before – a scent of smoke in the air perhaps. Grace must have gotten here pretty early too.

"Good morning, Amelia," I said, holding back a yawn. "You're here early. Morning Grace."

Grace was wide eyed, staring at the hound as he raced by her on the way to the door. I opened it up and he flung himself out and ran for the closest patch of grass. Good thing I didn't sleep in any later, I thought.

"When did you get the dog, Sookie? He looks like a pup, but he's huge!" Amelia said.

"Oh, it's a long story. Listen, can you keep an eye on Claudine for a minute while I take a quick shower? And I think somebody was supposed to get some food for the dog?"

Grace was already setting a dog dish down on the floor and filling it with what I thought must be puppy chow. There was a matching water dish next to it. The way she was sort of flinging things down, I could guess that she wasn't happy about the dog. She had yet to say a word too.

"Okay, well, let me take a quick shower," I said, plopping Claudine in her high chair. "She could use a diaper too," I added, then skedaddled back upstairs.

I hadn't expected Amelia first thing this morning, although I had planned to call her about helping me find a table. I wasn't sure how much to tell her about what was going on, but I was learning not to just tell her everything that went on. I could certainly use her today though.

I jumped into the shower, washed up, and then dressed in jeans and a loose summer top with buttons down the front for easy nursing. I wasn't rushing Claudine about weaning, although she could easily drink from a cup now. We both liked our quiet time together, and the closeness it provided. She would probably let me know when she was ready to move on.

I grabbed some cute blue sandals that matched my top, and a pair of earrings with big gold hoops. Running a brush through my hair and pulling it up into a ponytail, I decided I was ready to face the day. I had a lot to accomplish, and although I was running on a very few hours of sleep, I was determined to get everything done.

"So what are you doing here so early, Amelia?" I asked as I helped myself to a cup of coffee. There was nothing quite like that first cup of the day.

"Oh, Grace called me and told me it looked like something happened to the table, so I figured you might want me to come and deal with it. She didn't say anything about a dog though, and was there a fire here or something, Sookie?"

"Yeah, well, we had a little incident," I began.

Amelia was feeding Claudine in the high chair. It looked like somebody had changed her and brushed her hair. The dog was chowing down on his kibble and it was disappearing at an alarming rate. He made a lot of noise, crunching and snuffling, and his tail was wagging the whole time. He really was a cutie.

I gave Amelia and Grace the abbreviated story. The dog was on loan, for our approval, as a guard dog. I had accidentally set the table on fire the night before, and didn't want to go into the details since I was a little embarrassed about it. No one had been hurt, and the vamps and the Britlingens had hauled the table out and cleaned up the worst of the mess. I had been upset, and Eric had insisted that I go to bed. That was my story and I was sticking to it.

Grace was looking like she wasn't buying it, but I could give Grace the details later, if she pushed the issue. Amelia was more interested in what kind of table I wanted.

"It's too bad about the fire, but really I think we can do better than the table that was in here. Something with a leaf so we can seat a few more people? Everybody likes to sit in the kitchen and there's room for a few more feet of table."

"As long as that's okay with Grace," I said. "It's her domain as much as mine. I need something else too, if you are going to be furniture shopping. I sort of need it by tomorrow though. I'll have to draw you a picture. I want something like a vanity chair, padded, but with a real low back. I don't know if you can find anything like that, but I suppose you could look online. We could maybe have it express shipped or something?"

"What's going on tomorrow that you need a special chair for?" Amelia asked.

"Eric has a business thing. Listen, Amelia, you think we need to get new chairs? Maybe we can find a table to match the ones we have already. These are very comfortable."

Amelia was off and running on what she had found online already this morning, and what stores she was going to try. We might not find anything in stock though, and might have to order something.

"Aren't you going to come with me, Sook? It will be fun."

"No, I have some business to take care of today, and I am going over to my brother's."

"You want me to come with you?"

"No, I think it's more important to get the furniture situation taken care of. I'll take the guys with me, and the dog. I'll trust your judgment on the furniture. Oh, and Eric's Armani suit needs to go to the cleaners. I'll bring it down before I go."

"Okay, well if you're sure. I'm going to take some measurements in here, then I'll make a list of stores to try."

"Great," I said.

Grace had set up a little folding table and was laying out some breakfast for me: scrambled eggs, toast, cantaloupe and orange juice.

"Thanks, Grace. I'm sorry about the dog. At least he's house broken already, or I think so anyway. And he'll be great fun for Claudine. I'm not sure about Bob though. He probably won't like having a dog around, but they'll just have to work it out. I guess we're not sure we're keeping him yet," I added, although I was determined that he was going to stay. I wasn't sure how that was going to work yet.

I finished my breakfast and went up to make a few phone calls from my room, grabbing the two feathers off the mantle on the way up and tucking them into my purse. I dialed the phone and got Jason's answering machine.

"Jason? Listen, this is Sookie. I'm gonna come by your house this morning. I wanted to see Dermott. I have to be back here this afternoon, so I don't know if you'll be home by then. Give me a call."

Okay, Jason would be at work, but he'd told me that Dermott pretty much lived there now, and mostly stayed close to the house. I was hoping that was the case. My great uncle apparently didn't carry a cell phone. I wondered if he would use one if I bought one for him.

My next call was to Mr. Cataliades.

"Good morning, Mr. Cataliades. This is Sookie Northman."

"Good morning, my dear. Is everything okay?"

"Oh yes, everything is fine. I just wanted to ask you something."

"I'd be glad to help you with anything I can."

"You know the guy that was doing the DNA research for Niall? He worked at that lab in Shreveport that Niall left to me, didn't he? Is he still working there?"

"That will be easy to determine, my dear. Is there a problem?"

"Oh no. I just thought I'd like to talk to him, to ask him some questions about the whole thing that Niall was working on. This guy is my employee now, sort of, isn't he?"

"Yes. His name is Carl Blackman. Would you like me to have him call you, or can I arrange a meeting?"

"Do you think he could just meet with me at the house here? I could be home by around three this afternoon. I'd just like an hour or so of his time. By myself I think, if that would be okay? I know that it's a little unusual to ask, but it's just so much trouble to take the baby out you know? And I don't know if a lab is a good place for a baby anyway. You know how little kids are."

"I will be glad to arrange that. I'll give you a call if he is unavailable for any reason."

"Thanks, Mr. Cataliades. I'll let them know at the gate that he is coming. Carl Blackman, right?"

"Yes, dear. I am sure I will be seeing you soon about our other business."

"Okay, bye."

When I had hung up from the lawyer, I called Travis to tell him that I wanted to drive out to Bon Temps for a few hours.

"I guess we can fit the dog in the back of one of the cars?" I asked him.

"I guess we can manage that, Ma'am," he said, "but if that thing grows into those feet, we may be needing to buy a horse trailer."

I thought that he was probably making a joke, but then again. "Yeah, I guess we might at that, Travis. Thanks. I'll be ready in about fifteen minutes."

I packed up my purse, and then went over to give my sleeping vampire a kiss. When he was lying there so peacefully, his golden hair spread out on the pillow, I was sure he was the most beautiful man on earth. I hated to leave him, even to go as far as Bon Temps. But it was time to face up to the music, or in this case, to the magic. It was time to find out what I was made of.


	69. Chapter 69

CHAPTER 69

"Hold still, Dante, this will only take a moment," I told the pup.

He was not impressed. His front legs were stretched out in front, and his butt was up in the air in back, wagging his tail for all he was worth. Every time I got near him, he would bounce like a spring away from me.

"Come on now," I said in a sterner voice. "This is not a game. Claudine's in the car and everybody's ready to go. If you want to come, you better let me put this collar on you, or we're gonna have words."

It probably wasn't that important whether he had a collar or not. It wasn't like he was going to be running loose in town. It might mean the difference between a problem or not though, if a "civilian" saw him, so I wanted to get him used to the idea. If he were wearing a collar, maybe someone would think twice before they shot the big beast. In any case, it was a matter of principal at this point. Either I was the boss or I was not. I might need to give in to age and experience with the vampires, but I was sure as heck not going to let a dog rule the roost, hellhound or not.

"Okay, then, you can stay home with Grace. See how you like that! She'll make you stay outside too, I bet. You already got mud on the floor and she is not happy about it."

I walked away as if I was going to get in the car and go without him. That usually worked with three year olds. It turned out that it worked with hellhounds too, since he slunk down on his belly and crawled over to the car, submitting his neck to the collar.

"Now, see? That didn't hurt, and you look nice in your new collar. It matches your eyes. You're a good dog," I said, patting him on the head.

I wasn't sure what the look he gave me meant, but if I wasn't pretty sure that he was there for my protection and not my dismemberment, I might have backed off.

"Don't give me that look," I said in my best mom voice. "Now, are you going to get in the car or not?"

Travis was watching this with a look of disbelief on his face, as if I had lost my mind. Well, maybe I had, but it was going to be my way or the highway with this dog. Okay, who was acting like the three year old now, I told myself, as I got into the car.

Whoever had gone to Wal-Mart the night before, had managed to find a nice green collar and a matching leash. There was a dog bed too, the matching food and water bowls, and even a box of dog treats. There was also a big black collar with spikes on it as an alternate, someone's idea of a joke maybe. There was no way he was wearing that. Well, maybe to Fangtasia, where he'd fit right in with the Goths.

"You realize that's not a real dog, Ma'am," Travis said as he got behind the wheel. "No disrespect intended, of course."

"Oh, I know. But either I'm his master or I'm not, and that's just the way it's going to be. Better to set the rules now, before he gets any bigger."

Travis looked in the rear view mirror where most of his view was blocked by the incredible hulk that we were calling a puppy. He didn't say another word.

It didn't take long to get to Jason's house, with the light mid-morning traffic on the highway. We pulled up to his back door with three cars, and the weres all piled out to check the place before Claudine and I left the car. When they pronounced it all clear, I got out, leaving the baby and Dante in the car while I scanned the woods for my uncle.

"Uncle Dermott?" I called out, when I noticed him watching from near a tree. The weres hadn't even noticed him, and they couldn't pick out his scent, but I could sense where his brain was, even if I couldn't actually hear him.

"Uncle Dermott, I brought Claudine. I wanted to talk to you for a bit, if you want to come over to the house. My guards won't bother you."

I looked at Travis to assure myself again that he was still agreeing to the program I had outlined before we got there. I would wait until Dermott came out of the woods, then the weres could check Jason's house before we went in. But I was meeting with my uncle alone, and that was that. I had taken a similar tack with the weres as I had taken with the dog. I was either the Queen or I wasn't, and I was making the decision here. Travis hadn't been happy about it, but he had finally agreed. The dog would have to wait outside too.

I got Claudine out of the car seat while I waited for Dermott to make up his mind about whether we were setting a trap for him or not. He had pledged himself to Claudine, and that was good enough for me, but he didn't really trust anyone else, except Jason.

By the time I got to the porch, Uncle Dermott was walking out of the woods. He stopped near the cars and looked in at the hound. For a moment, I thought he would bolt back into the woods, but after that brief hesitation, he followed me onto the porch. He bowed from the waist when he saw Claudine, and she giggled and threw her arms out towards him, like she thought that was the funniest thing on earth. He responded with a big smile.

"Niece," he said in greeting. "The child has grown."

"Yes. She's getting pretty big now. She'll be walking soon."

"How can I help you?" he said graciously.

"I wanted to ask you a few things, but I'd like to talk privately. Can my guards just check the house first? They won't want me to go in otherwise. They are a little nervous about the situation."

A little nervous was an understatement. They all had their weapons out, and were doing their best to look formidable. I thought they were succeeding.

Dermott nodded in acquiescence and I called Travis over to do a search.

"Travis, this is my uncle, Dermott. We'll be in the house for just a little while, and I don't want to be disturbed. You can go on and check the place first. My brother knows we're going to be here."

Jason wouldn't care in any case. I had always had the key to his place, just like he had the key to Gran's house down the road. He had always just walked in and made himself at home, and expected I would do the same.

"Yes, Ma'am. Mr. Dermott," he said, nodding at the fairy. Dermott would look just like any human to him. He had the same ability as my grandfather, to mask what he was.

When all was cleared to Travis's satisfaction, Dermott followed me into the house. I headed to the kitchen with the intention of putting on some coffee, wishing now that I'd brought the left over cake to offer my uncle. Unless Jason had a girl around that was trying to impress him, he wouldn't be getting real home baked treats now that Gran and I were not around. Store bought stuff just wasn't the same, in my opinion.

"You doing okay, Uncle? Is Jason looking after you?"

I had no idea why I would think that a centuries old fairy would need looking after, but I had the impression that Dermott really didn't have a place in life. Gran's words came to me again, "Neither fish nor fowl". I thought that every time I saw Dermott.

"I am doing well, Niece. I have the woods, and I stay here with your brother. He is glad to have kin near him, as am I. But you have not come to determine the state of my health."

"Okay, lay on the guilt, Uncle Dermott", I though to myself. I hadn't been to visit my uncle or my brother in months, even though they were all the family I had. Well, all the family by blood. I had been considering the household in Shreveport my family for quite a while now.

"Can you hold the baby for a minute? I'm going to make us some coffee. You drink coffee, don't you?"

He nodded and put his arms out to take Claudine. She looked happy as a clam to go to him, and he looked genuinely pleased as he smiled back at the little darling.

As the water dripped through the filter, I told him the purpose of my visit.

"When you saw Claudine the first time, you said that the children were taught their magic, by demonstration or some kind of exchange, right?"

"Yes, some magics will come naturally to them. Others can be taught. It could be described as an exchange I suppose."

"Can you teach me?"

I think I surprised him with that, but he answered.

"My magic is limited, constrained by my human blood, as yours may be. It was your great grandfather's responsibility to see to your instruction, but he has failed you in that. What I can give you, I will give."

"Thank you," I said as I got out the cups and the sugar bowl.

I was glad to see that Jason had milk in the fridge. Actually he had quite a bit of food, even some vegetables and fruit. Maybe Dermott was a good influence on Jason's eating habits. Everything was pretty tidy too, but then my brother had never lived like a pig, he just acted like one sometimes. I found a small pitcher and filled it with milk for the coffee, and then got the baby's sippy cup out of the diaper bag and poured some milk for her.

"I was hoping you could show me some defensive stuff, not necessarily something that will harm anyone, but just keep them away from us. I managed a kind of shield once, while I was pregnant. I don't really know how I did it though, and it hasn't happened since. Maybe if I did it purposefully, I would understand how to do it at will."

"Most of the magic of fairies lies in glamour and illusion."

"Like Claudine hiding her wings, or the way you can mask your scent?"

"Yes. Very little of it is offensive. But it can be used for harm. If I wished to drown you, I would have to be strong enough to push you into the water. But if I was not, I could make the water appear shallow, and you might walk into it on your own."

That example struck home, and I knew that he had used it on purpose. Exactly what his purpose was, I couldn't fathom. Why would he remind me of the particulars of my parent's death at the hand of fairies? Was it a warning of how fairy magic could be used against me? I looked at him to see if his face would betray his motivation, but it was expressionless.

"Okay. I guess I can understand that. But some of it is a little more than illusion. My cousin Claudine could just kind of poof! and transport herself. I saw her do it a few times. One time she saved my life, popping into my car when I was falling asleep behind the wheel."

"That is not something I can show you."

"Can't or won't?" I asked.

I didn't want to be pushy, but the time for worrying about what was appropriate had passed. Either I was going to do this or I wasn't.

"It is not an ability that I possess."

While I was pouring the coffee, Claudine held out her hand to her uncle and on her palm, one of the little lightning bugs glowed green. As it flew into the air, Claudine laughed, and then looked at Dermott expectantly, waiting for him to laugh too. When she didn't get the expected reaction, she patted his face and made another one. The fairy's face registered only concern.

Reaching for Dermott's hand, Claudine laid her tiny fingers against his palm, and then patted his cheek again. The fairy looked puzzled for a moment, but he put his hand out, concentrated for a moment, and nothing happened. Claudine turned to me and reached her hand to mine.

When Claudine's small fingers touched my palm, it was like I could feel her magic. It seemed quite clear what I needed to do, although I couldn't have explained it if I talked for a thousand years. I just knew what I had to do, and I did it. In my palm, a little bug danced in a circle before it leapt into the air and flew to Claudine. The baby clapped her hands in glee.

"This is not our magic. It smells of the same magic as the demon dog. You must be careful, niece. My father would not be pleased."

"Well, Niall isn't here, is he? What do you know about the hound?"

"I know only our stories. The hounds are fearsome in battle. When they have been set on a hunt, they will pursue their victim relentlessly until they or their target are dead. It is for this reason that they are considered a harbinger of death."

There was that word harbinger again. "So they don't have them in the fairy world? Have you ever seen one before?"

"There is only one that controls the hounds, and he has not shown himself to our kind in my lifetime. Some believe that he can no longer leave his world. How is it that this creature accompanies you?"

"He would be part of my retinue, if I accept a mark of protection from the Prince of Demons, Jerahmeel."

Again, my Great Uncle Dermott's face lost all expression, but he didn't volunteer advice.

"Can you teach me something to help me keep Claudine safe?"

"Hold out your hand, Niece," he said and I extended my hand to him.

As his fingers touched mine, I again felt a sense of the magic moving between us, only it was like the magic had a flavor, and Dermott's flavor was different than Claudine's. I knew something else in that moment. The magic that had set my table on fire was not fairy magic.

"Can you picture yourself now?" he asked.

Without thinking about it, I closed my eyes, and I knew that I was there, but I knew that the others didn't see me. It was not that I was invisible, but that their eyes could not connect to the location of my presence. Claudine was looking around, and her face was beginning to screw up into tears. Mommy had been there one minute and was gone the next.

"Claudine, I'm here, sweetie," I said to her, and she looked straight at me. Seeing me again, she smiled.

Dermott sent another small flow of magic through my fingers, and I could feel how to make myself present again.

"Wow. That is how y'all hide in the woods so well, isn't it? No one would see you until you drew attention to yourself."

"Yes, it is very useful. It takes very little to destroy the illusion though. And there are those few who can see through it, if they know to look."

"Can I shield Claudine that way too? If I was holding her, for instance."

"The child already has this skill. It is how she can hide her wings."

I took a big gulp of my coffee. I felt suddenly quite tired, as if I'd run a marathon. Of course, I had barely gotten any sleep at all last night.

"You feel the effects of the magic. It has a draining effect on your body. As your strength grows, so will your stamina. But you must use the magic, or you will not gain power."

"Like building muscles?" I asked.

"Exactly," he replied. "You are late to realize your potential, but now that you have tasted the magic, your personal magics will reveal themselves to you."

"Will my brother come into magic too at some point?"

"Your brother does not possess the spark of magic," he said, confirming what my great grandfather had said. The only fairy trait that Jason seemed to have was his unusual attractiveness.

"Do you think I should take the mark from the Demon, Uncle?"

"I think my father will not allow you to stay in this world once he knows of the child. But even Niall would fear the hellhounds."

That wasn't exactly an answer to my question, but it confirmed at least one thing that I suspected. Of course, there was no reason to suspect that Niall would hear of Claudine, or would return to the human world. But on the other hand, there was no reason to think he would not.

We decided that my lesson for the day had been enough, and that I could come back to learn more. As tired as I was, that seemed the reasonable thing to do. After feeding Claudine and giving her a fresh diaper for the ride home, I thanked my uncle for his assistance.

"I will do what little is in my power for you and Claudine," he said.

"You call me if you need anything, Uncle, and maybe you can come to the house. I know you might not want to be with the vampires, but you can come during the day when they are asleep. Jason could drive you. I'll make you lunch."

Uncle Dermott seemed reluctant to commit to a visit, so I didn't press the issue. I gave him a hug, which surprised him, and then made my way to the car. It was time to get home and see about my next meeting.

Claudine and I both fell asleep almost the minute the cars hit the highway.

I was watching Claudine as, wings spread, she soared past the house and over our woods, until all I could see was a shadow across the face of the moon.

"Eric, make her come down now. She'll listen to you. Go up and keep an eye on her."

Eric slipped his arm around my waist, and we watched as she circled higher and higher, the fabric of her dress billowing around her in the wind created by the beating of her own wings.

"What if she gets too far away, Eric? She'll get tired, and when she comes down, how will she find her way home? It's so dark in the woods."

"The hound will find her, Sookie. He runs like the wind. He will lead her back home."

The hound was leaning against my leg, his glowing green eyes closely following Claudine's flight. Without Eric's arm around me, his weight might have knocked me over. I ran my hands through his long, silky fur. He was tall enough to reach Eric's waist, and weighed more than I did.

"Eric, make her come back," I asked again.

"Hush, Lover. Let her go," he said as he bent down to kiss me.

His lips brushed mine, then moved to my neck and up to my ear, his warm tongue brushing against it gently, his hot breath blowing against my hair. Wait a minute. Hot breath?

"Ma'am? We're home, Ma'am," Travis was saying from the driver's seat.

"Ack!" I shrieked, as the dog's tongue hit the side of my face. "Dante, stop that! Get down!"

The puppy pulled his paws off the back of my seat, and seeing that I was awake, began to lick the sleeping baby.


	70. Chapter 70

CHAPTER 70

All hell broke loose when we walked in the door. The puppy, apparently starving to death after being away from his food for a few hours, went charging into the kitchen and headed straight for his bowl, encountering Bob the cat, who had been investigating the bowls as evidence that there was an intruder in his domain.

The pup stopped short, skidding into the wall, as Bob hissed and swiped at Dante with his claws. Bob really had no sense of self-preservation at all, if he thought he could take out a hellhound, even if Dante was still a babe. Dante, after letting out a howl that would have knocked most cats off their feet just from the sound, went diving straight for the cat.

Of course neither of the animals were a match for Grace, who held sway in the kitchen, and would brook no disruption. The straw side of the broom that she had been using on the floor landed squarely on Dante's head, and she grabbed the squirt bottle off the counter and had nailed Bob before I could say Jack Robinson!

Dante sat down hard on his butt, looking stunned, and Bob went careening out of the kitchen and down the hall so fast he was just a blur, knocking a chair down on his way out.

Claudine, thinking this was all for her entertainment, clapped her hands, and almost bounced herself out of my arms with her excitement, and Amelia, who had jumped back against the wall at the first sign of trouble, shrieked, "Holy shit!"

Mark and Travis, who had been heading out to the yard, came running back, guns drawn.

"Everything okay here, Ma'am?" Travis asked, looking puzzled when the only sign of a confrontation was one chair toppled to the floor.

"Oh, I think so, Travis," I said, trying not to laugh. That would have annoyed Grace even further. "Bob and Dante have just had their first meeting, that's all. It was not love at first sight."

"Well, if everything's okay, we'll be in back," Travis said, chuckling a bit as he stepped back out onto the porch.

"This place is like a freaking circus some days," I heard him say to Mark as they walked into the yard.

"You just sit right there and behave if you want your dinner," Grace was saying to the dog as I turned back to the kitchen. "I won't have any commotion in my kitchen. And don't you be giving me those puppy dog eyes," she added as she picked up the dog bowl and headed to the cupboard to fill it with food.

Dante, as if understanding just what Grace was saying, laid down, put his head on his big paws and waited patiently for his meal.

"Hello Grace, Hi Amelia. Sorry about that," I said.

"I suppose you haven't had any lunch either," Grace answered. She was going to be a little short tempered as she got used to the idea of the dog, I gathered.

"No, Ma'am," I said, realizing how hungry I was now that food was mentioned.

"Well, best go sit in the dining room, since the table somehow got destroyed in a fire," she said, obviously miffed that she didn't know what had really happened. "I'll bring in your lunch."

"Yes, Ma'am, thank you," I said and headed to the dining room, followed by Amelia.

"So how was Bon Temps, Sookie? Did you go see Sam?"

"No, I went to Jason's," I answered evasively. "How is the hunt for furniture going?"

"Let me show you. I got the chair you wanted, well, I hope it is what you wanted. I found it downtown and it fit in the car, so I didn't have to have it delivered. We can take it back if it isn't right. I found a table too, and they can give us the showroom model and bring it by later if you want it. I offered a little extra for a special rush delivery if that's okay. Here's a picture."

Amelia brought the chair into the dining room, while I settled Claudine into the high chair for lunch. The chair was quite plain, but I thought its low back would just accommodate a set of wings, and since it was on such short notice, I thought it would do nicely.

"I like the table," I told Amelia after looking at the picture. "As long as you Okayed it with Grace, let's have them deliver it as soon as possible."

"Okay, I'll call them back. Anything else for today?"

"If you could keep an eye on Claudine and the dog for an hour or so around three o'clock? I have someone coming over for a meeting, and I really need to be undisturbed. Maybe you could all go out and play outside for a bit."

"Sure, that will work out fine."

Mr. Carl Blackman from Niall's laboratory showed up promptly at the appointed time. He had obviously taken some trouble with his appearance, wearing a suit and tie, and shoes that looked like they made his feet hurt. He was middle aged and if he had been a woman, I would have labeled him as frumpy. His slightly rumpled shirt and haircut that was begging for a trim made me think he would have been more comfortable in a lab coat and loafers. Even still, I felt a little bad that I hadn't dressed up a little more for this meeting.

I introduced myself and offered him something to drink, and after he declined a beverage, got right down to business.

"Mr. Blackman, last year you were working on some confidential genetic research for Mr. Brigant," I began.

"Yes, Ma'am."

Carl Blackman was looking kind of nervous, his face going a little pale when I brought up Niall's name. I wondered what Niall had threatened him with, to ensure secrecy, or if just the very nature of Niall's being had intimidated the poor guy.

Of course, when I thought about it, I guess I was Carl's new boss, and he would have no idea why I had asked to talk to him. He could be worried about his job. I hadn't thought much about what the companies I owned were up to, what they did, and what would happen to the employees that were now mine. I had left it all up to Eric and Mr. Cataliades to manage until now. Maybe I should be paying more attention. Weren't these employees my responsibility now, after all?

"I was looking at some of the reports that you wrote up. I'm afraid I don't understand all of it, but it seems that you found some kind of anomaly in some of the samples that you studied?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Those samples were singled out for further investigation before Mr. Cataliades asked me to suspend work on that project."

"Well, I want you to do some further work for me, but I guess I'd like to ask you a few questions first. How would you go about deciding if two…creatures… were the same species?" I asked.

"The traditional definition of species would be a group of organisms that are capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring of both genders. Morphology and similarity in DNA are also taken into consideration."

He said a lot more, about asexual reproduction, isolated species and organisms without nuclei or membranes or something, but he lost me pretty quick with that line of discussion. He looked much more comfortable though, as soon as he had started talking about his own field of expertise. He was obviously in his element. Unfortunately his lecture was sort of wasted on me.

"I don't know what you mean by morphology," I said, going back to the last place that had made any sense to me.

"That would refer to physical characteristics, form and structure but not necessarily function," he answered.

I could see already that asking these kinds of general questions would probably not get me to the answers I needed. Maybe I should just forget about trying to understand exactly what the scientist did, and just get down to brass tacks.

"People use DNA to trace their family history, right?"

"Yes. That's becoming pretty popular. It's the bread and butter work for quite a few labs now. Many people are setting up data bases of samples from their relatives, or suspected relatives, comparing y-chromosome markers to determine family lines, in conjunction with genealogical research. There are services that do that by mail order, with a buccal swab kit. Of course our lab can do that for you too if you like."

"Y-chromosomes, those are from the males, aren't they?" I did remember a few things from biology class, even though most of what he said was sounding like Greek to me.

"Yes, Ma'am. The y-chromosome is passed from father to son. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from the mother to offspring of both genders. It would be used to trace a matrilineal line and is often used in studies of species evolution."

"Is it possible to get DNA from feathers?" I asked, disconcerting him only for a moment as I changed the subject a bit.

"Oh yes, Ma'am. It is often difficult to extract blood samples in birds, and isolating avian genomic DNA from feathers is a very successful method of extraction."

"And what about things like drinking glasses, or utensils. Could you get a sample from that? They do that in detective stories, but does it really work?"

"Yes, Ma'am. DNA samples have been isolated from drinking glasses, napkins, and cigarette butts. The courts in several states have ruled in favor of the admissibility of DNA evidence gathered that way. It is generally accepted now that cells sloughed in a public place are not entitled to constitutional protection of privacy under the fourth amendment."

"So a policeman can take my DNA from a drinking glass in a restaurant without asking me, or without a warrant or anything?" I asked in surprise.

"If the sample is abandoned on the table in a public place, it is considered admissible without a warrant."

I guess I better be careful sitting down for a drink with Andy Bellfleur, I thought. Not that I had any intention of drinking with him anyway. I wouldn't be surprised if they already had Jason's DNA on file somewhere though. Andy Bellfleur had always been sure that Jason was guilty of something nasty, he just wasn't exactly sure of what. But then again, the Bon Temps sheriff's office probably couldn't afford to do DNA testing.

"Well, you can probably tell by all of my questions that I don't know a whole lot about this stuff, Mr. Blackman."

He sort of nodded in agreement at that statement, then looked a little apologetic. I gave him a smile to let him know that no offense was taken.

"I'm not sure if what I want is possible, but I have three samples I'd like you to look at. What I want to know is if these three all have the same anomaly you found in the other samples. Actually, I'd kind of like to know how all of these samples might be related, but I'm not sure if that's something you can determine. What I have is two feathers and a coffee cup."

That apparently surprised him a bit, because he cocked his head, arched his eyebrows and looked at me as if to determine if I was serious.

"The previous samples that I worked with were presumed human," he said haltingly.

"Well," I said, a little hesitantly, "let's just act like these are too. I know it might be a little bit unusual, but if you could just get the DNA, and then compare it to the others, as if you didn't know where they came from, I would appreciate it."

I went over to the sideboard and got the feathers and the cup. I had snagged Dermott's coffee cup when I had cleaned up in the kitchen before leaving Jason's house. I'd managed to slip it into the Ziploc baggy that I had carried with me in the diaper bag, and I was pretty sure Dermott hadn't noticed a thing. I put the feathers and the cup, still in its plastic bag, in front of Mr. Blackman.

"You understand that this must be kept strictly confidential, Mr. Blackman. No one can know of this besides my husband and me, not even Mr. Cataliades. You know of my husband, Eric Northman?"

I could see that Eric's name meant something to him, since he started looking nervous again. Fangtasia was pretty well known in Shreveport, and even if someone didn't go vampire barhopping, they might have heard about Eric. He had his fingers in quite a few pies in Louisiana, and had made the news more than once.

"Yes, Ma'am. Mr. Brigant set up my section of the lab for just this kind of thing. He was very insistent that his research remain private and confidential. No one will see the results but yourself."

"I'd really appreciate that, Mr. Blackman. You'll let me know when you get any results then. Don't bother Mr. Cataliades with this. Just call me directly, and we can arrange another meeting," I said, jotting down my cell number.

"Let me just get a little bag for those samples. Oh, by the way, when you are finished with those… taking what you need? I would like to have anything that remains returned to me."

I wasn't worried that Jason would miss the coffee cup, of course. He had a cupboard full of mismatched mugs he'd picked up here and there, and this one wasn't from one of his favorite football teams or anything. But I definitely didn't want any loose pieces of Claudine's feather lying around, or the Prince's either.

"Yes, Ma'am, I will keep that in mind."

I walked Mr. Blackman to the door, and one of the guards stepped forward to walk him to his car. He looked back over his shoulder at me as he walked away from the house, and I gave him a little wave and a smile. The poor man was probably wondering what the heck he'd gotten himself involved in. Well, I had wondered that more than once myself. I would have to talk to Mr. Cataliades about giving Carl Blackman a raise.

After checking my phone for messages (Mr. Cataliades had left a message that he'd faxed a draft of the contract with the Prince to our private line), I went out to the little private yard to see how Claudine and Amelia were doing. Amelia was pushing Claudine on the swing, and Dante was moving his eyes back and forth, seemingly enthralled by Claudine's back and forth motion. When he heard me come up, he bounded over to me and I patted his head.

"You guys having fun?" I asked.

"Yep, we sure are," Amelia said. "I had a little trouble getting her into the baby seat on the swing though, with her wings. I can see why you might want to look at furniture with low backs. I think if her wings get any bigger, she won't fit into anything with a safety seat."

"Hopefully by that time, she'll be able to hold on by herself," I said, realizing how many things I was going to have to consider, having a child with wings.

They just didn't make things to accommodate people with extra appendages, not surprising when you considered she was the only one. Although I suppose you might say she was one of two, now that Prince Jerry was in the picture.

Well, if anyone could meet the challenge of finding things that would work for Claudine, it was Amelia. The woman was the Queen of shopping, and it seemed like she could find anything on the Internet.

"Thanks for watching her, Amelia. I think she and I are both about ready for our naps though. We had a long night of it."

"You want to tell me what's going on, Sookie? Who was that guy that you were meeting with? He looked like such a geek."

I hated to keep Amelia in the dark. I knew what that felt like, and it wasn't pleasant. But at the same time, this really had nothing to do with her at the moment, and the less people that knew of it the better. The dog was going to cause enough questions already, and better that Amelia couldn't answer them.

I felt a little bit traitorous even thinking that, since Amelia was one of my few friends. I was becoming as secretive as the vampires, I thought, but then maybe that was part of the reason that vampires managed to stay alive so long.

"Just dealing with some of the businesses that my great grandfather left me," I fudged.

"You ready to come take a nap with mommy?" I said to Claudine, holding my arms out to her.

Of course I didn't expect an answer, and with the way she was yawning, I didn't doubt that she would probably sleep until Eric got up in a few hours. I thought I might too.

We left Amelia to wait for the furniture delivery and get the new table set up and headed up to the bedroom. Dante was right on our heels, expecting to go in with us, but I had been thinking about his position in the household too. We hadn't actually set up the final contract with Jerahmeel yet. Actually, we hadn't made a final decision on whether I would accept the mark or not. Until I knew exactly what was going on with the hound, it was probably better to establish lines of privacy.

"You go on downstairs while we take our nap," I told the dog. "We'll be all safe and sound locked up with Eric, and you can sleep on your nice new dog bed. Grace will make sure you're okay."

Grace might not be happy about having a dog in the house, but I knew when push came to shove, she would take as good care of the dog as she did of everyone else in the family.

Dante was threatening to give me those puppy dog eyes, but I just didn't look. I left him sitting outside the door, and figured if he wanted to wait there until sunset, that was just fine with me.

Locking the door behind me, I slipped off my sandals, and went over to the bed where Eric was sleeping. He hadn't moved since I'd left him that morning of course, and he looked just as beautiful as he always did. I climbed onto the bed and snuggled up next to Eric. Claudine wiggled until she was comfortably nestled, close against me.

I might not be sure any longer who I was, or even what species I was, but I knew one thing for sure. I was right where I belonged, at the side of my beloved, with our child in my arms.


	71. Chapter 71

CHAPTER 71

"I don't like the idea of using this technology," Eric said.

"That comment seems a little bizarre from the man who doesn't think twice about his fax machine spewing out a contract between a vampire and a demon prince."

My vampire was sitting up in bed, the sheet pulled up to his waist, with Claudine leaning against his bare chest. She was sucking on the finger that Eric had pricked with his fang. I had long ago gotten used to the idea that Claudine liked a little snack of vampire blood once in a while, especially when she needed comforting. What disturbed me was that I was eyeing Eric's finger and it made me a little hungry too.

I had given Eric the abbreviated version of my meetings with Dermott and with Carl Blackman in response to his usual question about how my day had gone.

"The Prince would not be too happy to learn that his body parts were being ground up in some lab for research," Eric said.

"Well, let's not tell him about it then. I'm not too happy that Claudine's feather is there either, Eric. But I have to know."

"What exactly do you hope to accomplish with this, Sookie? We know the baby's parentage. Even if you don't like the idea, you know that I can't be Claudine's biological father. It's impossible."

"I know that, Eric. But I have to know what she really is, and what I am. You remember us sitting in the kitchen in Bon Temps, it seems like eons ago now, and we were talking about where my telepathy came from? It isn't a fairy trait. Dr. Ludwig seemed to think I was some kind of 'other', whatever that was supposed to mean."

"Yes, Lover, I remember."

"Okay, so think about it. Claudine has angel wings, and I don't think that's a fairy trait either. And she and I can do magic that isn't fairy magic, but that Dermott said smelled like the hellhound."

"I think I see where you are going with this," Eric said, sounding resigned.

"I think all of the people with that so-called anomaly in their DNA will turn out to be telepaths, Eric. And I think that Claudine and I will have it, too. But I don't think Dermott will have it, because even though he's part fairy and part human, like me and Claudine, he's missing something we have."

"And if the Prince has the same anomaly, you think what?"

"I think that is where it came from. From the demons. And that Claudine and I are part demon too."

"That would make sense, Sookie. But what you plan to do with this information is the question."

"Listen, Eric. Niall was trying to find people that he thought were the descendents of angels mating with humans. But what if, it wasn't angels, but demons? Actually, since everyone thinks that Claudine is an angel, what if the Demon Prince is really an angel. That would mean there still are angels; they just live in the demon realm."

"The more pertinent question, Kjære, might be if the Prince resembles others of his realm, or if he is the only one of his kind."

"Yeah, it's hard to know what the demons are like, since Mr. Cataliades and Diantha seem more human than anything else. Well, Mr. Cataliades at least. Diantha is a little bit strange. And I gather that demons don't often leave their world."

"Exactly. If the Prince is the last angel, it would explain the interest he has in you and Claudine, and also why he is treating this matter so delicately, in his selection of his spy, for instance."

"Do you think the dog is really a spy, Eric? I think he is just a guardian. Although I am being careful, just in case," I added, as Eric looked like he was about to argue the point. "What interested me was what Dermott said, about there being only one that is able to control the hellhounds. But Dante listens to me just fine, and I bet he would listen to Claudine too, if she could talk."

"For that matter, Sookie, he will probably listen to your Brownie too, since no one seems to want to take her on."

He said this with a mischievous grin on his face, and although I usually enjoyed his sense of humor, now was not the time for levity. He picked up on that, and went back to the topic in hand.

"I think we will have to put a lot of thought into how we deal with the Prince, Sookie, no matter what his motivation. And the most important consideration may be 'why you?' Why would Claudine be the first angel to be born, when there have been descendents of the angels, or demons as the case may be, through all of these generations? And what about the Prince himself, and any progeny he may have?"

"Yeah, I've thought about all of that. I think I know the reason why, but it might sound kind of stupid, really. I think I have always known why Claudine was an angel."

"And why would that be, Kjære?"

Eric was out of bed now, the sheet still wrapped around him, as he pawed through the dresser looking for what he would wear tonight. He would probably be going to Fangtasia, since the following night we would be meeting with the Prince to discuss the demon mark situation. Claudine was sitting on the bed, watching me as I paced about the room.

"I think it had something to do with my cousin and her baby dying to protect me, Eric. I think some part of her or her baby made this possible. Maybe their souls needed somewhere to go, besides the Summerland, wherever that is."

"Reincarnation, Sookie? You surprise me! You ascribe this to supernatural events, while you test your theory with scientific method. What would your God say about that?"

"I just don't know anymore, Eric. I don't know what God has to do with any of this. I don't know where he was while I was getting tortured, or when Claudine's baby was getting killed. I know I prayed that he would help me," I said, leaving unsaid who else had not been there.

Eric, at least, had had his reasons for not being there to save me. It hurt Eric to think about that time though, so I moved on quickly.

"I guess once you start talking about angels and demons, you gotta wonder about all of the stories about fallen angels and Satan and all of that. It just makes everything kind of a muddle, you know? I just don't know what to think. And it's not like I can just go to a minister and ask him about any of it. He would probably think I was delusional. I don't think all of the theologians in the world could make sense of this situation."

"If they have ever made any sense at all, Sookie."

"Don't be flippant, Eric. They mean well, I'm sure, and they are just trying to interpret it all, the same as the rest of us."

"Do they, Sookie? Do they mean well?"

"Okay, Eric. Let's not get into it. I am not going to have a philosophical discussion about the whole existence of God and what he means in my daily life. Now is not the time. And it would take a better mind than mine to figure it all out. I just want to make the best decision for Claudine, and for you and me too. I don't want to reexamine my spiritual life."

"Well, we will save that discussion for another time then, Sookie, although I think you will have to have that discussion at some point, even if only with yourself."

"I suppose," I said, bringing that topic to a close.

Eric had managed to choose his outfit, and was sliding his legs into a pair of jeans, his gorgeous butt facing in my direction. It was very distracting. I wished that we could put all of this stuff aside and just get back in bed where we belonged. But the Prince would insist on being dealt with, I was sure, and we couldn't hide from it under the covers.

"I believe we will have to have a little talk with Thalia this evening," Eric said. "It will have to be handled delicately, I think. The fact that Thalia did not volunteer the information that she has met this Prince before, means that it is something that she wishes to hide, or something she is uncomfortable to discuss. Perhaps you will get the truth out of her, Sookie."

"Me? You're her master, Eric."

"But she loves you, Sookie. And she knows you will be sympathetic to her."

"And I know that you would be too, Eric. You may be the big bad boy of Louisiana, but you do have a heart hiding under that beautiful chest, even if you don't like to advertise it, and even if it doesn't beat."

"Just don't let anyone else know that, Lover, or they will try to rip it out."

"Okay, now you are being flippant again. What do we do about the Prince?"

"First, I suggest that we have our dinner. Then, let's hear what Thalia has to say. We can look at the contract that Cataliades has sent over, and perhaps we'll be able to come to some reasonable decision. And if we don't open the door to that damned hound soon, I am afraid he will destroy it, trying to dig his way through."

Of course the door had a metal core. Eric wasn't going to have his safety depend on a piece of unreinforced wood. But I had heard the dog scratching at the door to come in too, and had been ignoring it. He would probably scratch up the paint. Another thing to drive Grace crazy.

"Okay, I'll go down and heat up some blood. I have a bone to pick with Thomas too," I said.

Dante went a little crazy when I opened the door, spinning round and round until he almost knocked himself out, his tale going eight ways to Sunday as he danced in joy to see us. Maybe he had been sitting outside the door the whole time we'd been asleep, instead of going downstairs to his bed. "Loyalty, thy name is dog," I said to myself. There was no way this puppy was going back to Jerahmeel.

Thomas, Thalia, Jan and the Britlingens were all at the table when we came down. Bob was sitting under the new table, licking his foot, when he spied the dog. This time, Dante walked right by him, as if no one was there and Bob put down his foot and adopted a wait and see attitude. Perhaps there might be peace in the family, if those two could work something out. If not, I guess the fur would have to fly. I didn't doubt who would have to get over their bad attitude in the end.

"Evening, y'all. Thomas, where's my camera?" I threw out that over my shoulder, in a very no nonsense voice, as I bent down into the fridge to find a blood for Eric.

I heard what sounded like a smack, and a scuffling of a chair, and Thomas left the room. Since Daniel wasn't here, I assumed Thalia had cuffed Thomas. Those two had a really sick thing going, but they seemed to be happy with it. The camera was on the table by the time the blood was out of the microwave though, and Thomas took his seat back at Thalia's side.

Thomas never actually stole things, but he had a tendency to borrow without asking, and to move other people's things around. They always turned up again, although not always when you wanted to use them. I wondered if he had done this when he was a human. You'd think he would have been hung for a thief before he had ever managed to end up being turned, if that was the case.

"I want to take some pictures of Dante before he gets any bigger," I said.

"I assume you are referring to the hellhound?" Jan said, making me remember that he hadn't been home the night before when, excuse me, all hell had broken loose.

"Yeah. I'm not positive that he's staying, but I think it's likely," I said, not looking at Eric in case he would disagree with me. "And did everybody in the world but me know about hellhounds?"

"Apparently," said Clovache.

Eric had been talking on his cell phone already by the time he'd come down the stairs. "It's Pam," he said as he handed me the phone, taking the glass of warmed blood I offered him.

"Hey Pam, how's it going?" I said into the phone.

"What's this about a dog?" she said, not bothering with a greeting. "I have this great idea already, Sookie. We will make our fortunes."

"We already have a fortune, Pam, but what is your idea?"

"Wouldn't a real hellhound make a great model for a new line of Fangtasia dog accessories? You know how the stupid humans are dressing up their dogs these days. You can sell them anything. We could do collars, and sweaters, and maybe little hats with horns. And with the glowing eyes? It would be perfect. What do you think?"

"Pam, I think if you can get the hound to wear the clothes while you take the pictures, go for it! Personally? I don't want to be anywhere near that fiasco. Listen when are you getting home? Claudine is standing up already, and you're missing it."

"Soon, Sookie, soon," she said and hung up. I could imagine her humming, "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog" for the rest of the evening.

"That was Pam," I said to the assembled group at the table. "She wants to sell dog accessories and clothes at Fangtasia."

Batanya burst out laughing, and soon we were all discussing what we thought Pam would come up with next. It was almost like a real family sitting in the kitchen over dinner, even down to the baby that was making a mess of the dog's water on the floor.

"I will be at the club," Jan announced when he had finished his meal. "Are you coming, Eric?"

"I'll join you later. Thomas, you and the women can watch the grounds. I would like to speak to Thalia," Eric said and headed into the living room.

Scooping up Claudine, who was only slightly wet from her play, I followed Eric and Thalia into the living room.

"I see we have a new chair," Eric commented, looking at the odd new piece of furniture.

"It's for YouKnowWho," I said. "And Claudine can use it when she gets a little older."

"Yes. YouKnowWho. I suppose providing accommodations for him is the hospitable thing to do, at least until we know his intentions."

"He won't hurt them, either of them," Thalia said, now looking nervous, which was an unusual look for the sometimes fierce, sometimes sullen vampire.

"Perhaps you can enlighten us why you think so," Eric said sternly, seating himself on the sofa, and giving Thalia the evil eye.

I went to the corner for the toy basket, and parked Claudine on the floor with it before I picked a seat on a chair by myself. I decided I wasn't going to huddle next to Eric, and make Thalia think that we were ganging up on her, although I guess we were.

"I don't think he will either, Thalia," I said, "but maybe not for the same reasons you think that. But the more we know of this guy, the more chance that decisions we make now won't come back to bite us in the butt. If you know anything about him, and what he is liable to do, that might help us make the right decision."

"I only saw him twice," Thalia said. "And it was so long ago."

"Where did you see him?" I asked. "And what do you mean by long ago?"

Long ago to a vampire meant something totally different from what it meant to me. The Civil War was long ago to me. Even the Vietnam War was long ago to me. A few more years and I'd be calling my high school graduation a long time ago. But to a vampire, that term could mean just about anything.

"I don't know the year. The Romans had come already. It was in Lagina, in Thrace. Before the Christians came."

I had no idea where she was talking about, although of course I knew who the Romans were. I should have paid more attention in history class. Fortunately, Eric's next question enlightened me.

"Turkey, Greece or Bulgaria?" Eric asked.

Thalia thought about that for a moment. "Turkey. Near what is now Turgut, I think. There is a crossroads there."

"Claudine talked about crossroads," I interjected. "She said that Bon Temps was near the site of an important crossroads, or something like that."

"And it is at this crossroads that you saw the Prince?" Eric prompted.

"Yes."

"What was he doing there?" I asked. "And what were you doing there?"

"I was at the temple, bringing an offering for Hekate's hounds."

"And you saw Jerahmeel at this temple?"

"Yes. He killed my maker."

My first thought was "Holy Shit! Thalia was around in the time of the Romans?" Of course the Romans had been around for a long time, so I still had no idea when she was talking about. I had kind of known that she was probably older than Eric, but I had never really thought about it that much. Seriously, I couldn't even conceive of a time frame like that. And then I realized what Thalia had just said.

Eric continued the conversation while I was still musing about the time thing.

"Perhaps you can tell us the whole story." Eric said.

I noticed his voice was very soft, as if he thought he might be trespassing on a personal topic. The vampires, for all that they were a tough crowd, had a protocol between themselves. One thing they didn't do, was ask personal questions. Well, Pam might be the exception to that rule, but she only did it with humans. Actually, she only did it with me.

"My mother sent me to the temple with some meat for an offering. Eunuchs worked the gardens there. They would not have accosted me. It was quite safe to go alone."

"I guess I don't know much about this stuff," I said. "Hekate was a goddess?"

"Yes. She guarded the places where spirits could pass from one world to the next. She was known to keep hounds by her side, and young women were often sent with small offerings of roasted meat for her dogs. Sometimes we could hear the dogs baying, but no one ever saw them. And if they hunted, it was only animals that they killed, never people."

"My sisters were all married, and my mother had the evening meal to prepare, so I was sent with the offering. I should have been home by first dark, but I lingered on the road and arrived just before the sun would be setting. The temple doors were already locked tight, but I knew that I could leave the meat on the offering stone. I was thinking that I would have to run home because my mother would be angry if she had to send one of my brothers to fetch me. I didn't hear him coming."

"I put the offering on the stone, speaking the words my mother had taught me, invoking the goddess. When I turned, he was standing beside one of the columns, watching me, smiling. He had two hounds with him, and they were eyeing the meat, paying no attention to me at all. Of course, I was frightened. He was a stranger, and I was a woman alone. If he was a Roman…but of course I knew he couldn't be, with his eyes glowing with the same unearthly light as the dog's eyes."

"I looked around quickly, for one of the temple workers, for anyone, but he and I were alone there. I wanted to run, but if he was a god, I thought he would expect me to show obeisance. I didn't know what to do, so I turned away from him and ran towards home."

"He didn't say anything?" I asked.

"No, not then."

Claudine had left her pile of toys and had crawled over to Thalia's feet as the vampire was speaking. Thalia picked the baby up, and snuggled her close to her breast. Claudine wrapped her little arms around Thalia as if she would comfort her, and settled quietly.

"I expected the hounds would give chase, and I ran as fast as I could, looking over my shoulder only once, to see the man still standing there. The dogs were already at the meat. I didn't slow my pace though, and I was almost to the village when my sandal caught on a stone, and I fell."

"I'd been running so fast. I think I was a bit stunned when I hit the ground. And my gown would be spoiled, I thought. I wasn't even thinking clearly yet, when a hand reached out to help me up. Maybe I thought it would be the handsome man from the temple. Maybe he'd thought that I was beautiful and was following me to see where I lived. But the smell hit me as the hand clapped over my mouth so that I couldn't scream."

"Oh God!" I gasped, scuttling back into the chair instinctively at the thought of being overtaken in the dark by a stranger.

"His hand smelled of dead things, and dirt, as if he had never been to the baths. He picked me up effortlessly, and ran with me. It didn't matter how hard I struggled to get away from him; he was so strong. I was taken down into the ground, into one of the old caves. I thought of my father warning us that it wasn't safe to go into the caves. The smell was even worse there, of old torches and rot. I didn't know what he was then, so I didn't know not to look into his eyes."

We all sat silently for a moment. I brushed a few tears off my cheeks, and wondered when I had shed them. Eric came over and offered me his handkerchief, and I blew my nose. He stayed next to the chair, draping himself a little over the arm, and rested his hand on my shoulder.

Thalia kissed the top of Claudine's head, and then continued, not looking at any of us.

"When I woke, of course I was confused. And I was so hungry. I thought about the meat that I had left for the dogs, but then the thought of it sickened me. I didn't know where I was at first, until I stumbled out of the cave entrance. I knew I should be concerned, at how dirty I was. I could feel how sticky the front of my gown was, although the smell no longer sickened me. I smelled of blood, and that should have bothered me."

"He was waiting for me. There was a body next to him on the ground. The man wasn't dead yet, although he would be soon. He told me to feed, just that one word, 'Feed'. I didn't understand at first. He was so filthy, his clothes old and worn; although I could see that they must have been good quality when they were made. Someone had taken time with the embroidery at the neck."

"But I couldn't think when there was the smell of blood in the air, and I…."

Thalia paused, and her hand brushed a few strands of hair from Claudine's face.

"After, I sat on the ground, still stunned at what was happening, not really understanding, and I saw the man from the temple again, walking up behind the vampire. The vampire didn't know that he was there, until the Prince made a slight movement with his hands, and the hounds descended."

"I barely heard the vampire's screams, over the noise of the hounds when they tore him apart. I scuttled back against a big stone, knowing they would have me next, and I covered my face, so I wouldn't have to see those glowing eyes reflecting my own death when it came for me. I didn't yet realize that I was already dead."

Eric was clasping my shoulder, and I could feel the tension humming through him. Was he remembering his own turning? Had he been as confused and frightened? I reached up and placed my hand over his.

Thalia continued her story.

" 'You cannot stay here,' he told me. 'They will hunt for you.' "

"At first, I thought he was talking about the dogs," Thalia said. "But then I realized he meant my own people, my family even. They would see what I had done, and then they would kill me."

" 'You must stay out of the light, during the day. Find a place to hide, a cave, or dig into the ground and sleep under the soil. Don't come back to this place,' he warned me."

Again, there was a pregnant silence, as Eric and I waited to see what had happened next, but Thalia had turned her head away, and appeared to have nothing more to say.


	72. Chapter 72

CHAPTER 72

"Why do you think he would have the dogs kill the vampire, and not you?" I asked Thalia.

She shook her head in an "I don't know" gesture. I looked at Eric and he shrugged as if to say the same thing. The big room seemed too small for the three of us all of a sudden.

"I'm going to get us something to drink," I said, needing to do something besides sit and look at Thalia.

I went into the kitchen and got out two True Bloods, put them in the microwave, and then started a pot of coffee. I was drinking more and more coffee at night. Actually, more and more of my life was lived after dark now. I still loved the sun, but I loved the time with Eric more, and during the summer, he had so few hours to be alive. Claudine seemed to do fine with either, day or night, and could sleep just about anywhere at any time.

I took my time getting my coffee and setting the bloods on a tray. I wanted to let the two vampires say what they had to say in private. With my emotions on overload, I didn't think I could tune them out of my head. My shields were very strong against vampires, since vamps weren't as easy to hear as humans anyway. I had learned to tune out the family without any particular strain. But I was feeling a little stretched tonight.

Sometimes the thought of what it must mean to be a vampire was so alien, that they could have almost been from another planet. I knew that lots of people went through horrible trauma in their lives, and managed to work through it. I guess I'd had some personal experience with that. And I certainly knew what it felt like to lose your family. But it was something else again to change your whole identity, to be recreated into something that was so different from what you had been.

In a smaller way, that was what I had been fighting for quite a while now, accepting that I was something different now. The vampires hadn't been given any time to adjust. They had to accept it when they were turned, or they would die. Maybe that was why they were so indulgent with me, when I seemed to fight reality at every turn.

I picked up the tray and went back into the living room, putting a blood in front of Eric and Thalia, and taking my coffee to the couch. Claudine was still on Thalia's lap, but she was trying to get attention now, patting Thalia's hands like she had done to Dermott's and mine earlier in the day.

"Why is she doing that?" Thalia asked me.

"She wants you to make fireflies for her to play with, although she can make her own. But she can only make one at a time, at least for now."

"But I can't create magic," Thalia said.

"Maybe she doesn't know that," I said. "I think maybe she is trying to figure out who can do what."

"Or maybe she recognizes her kin and assumes that they can do what she can," Eric said.

"What?" I said. "What are you talking about?" I looked at Eric and waited for him to explain what he was thinking.

"The temple sat at a crossroads. It would seem that there is a portal there, to some part of the other worlds, in this case, the Demon world."

I considered what he had said and continued the thought.

"And that is where the fairies were looking for angel descendents, near crossroads, at least near the one close to Gran's house. And Turkey is one of the places where Bill was headed, wasn't he, to check on one of the people from Niall's test group?"

"Yes," Eric said thoughtfully. He seemed very preoccupied, and I listened in just a little to see what he was thinking about.

Thalia was looking confused at our little side discussion, and I realized that none of the rest of the family was really aware of what had gone on at Niall's laboratory. Besides Carl Blackman, the researcher, only Mr. Cataliades knew much about the DNA testing, and even he didn't know that I had taken in the latest samples.

"So, Jerahmeel's actions would make sense then, I guess," I said. "He recognized something in Thalia. Maybe he was even checking up on his 'kin' as you put it. So she looks like she's doing okay, but a few days later, he runs across her with the vamp."

I didn't look at Thalia while I said this, still feeling a little uncomfortable about what she had revealed. Maybe I was feeling a little bit guilty too, that our questioning had made her talk about something that could still make her look so stricken, hundreds, if not thousands of years later. But I continued with my analysis.

"So, he doesn't like that the vamp went after one of his own and sets the dogs on him, but he lets Thalia walk away. He wasn't just going after vampires in general then."

"That is certainly one reasonable scenario," Eric said.

Eric was thinking about the hounds, and how only two of them were able to take out the vamp so easily, when it shouldn't be that difficult for a vampire, even a young one, to fight off two dogs or even two werewolves. I saw him looking around the room to see where the puppy was.

"He's in the kitchen," I said, answering his unasked question. "I think he's watching the food dish, in case some more food just magically appears. I really don't know how much to feed him. I guess with a puppy, you just let them eat as much as they want?"

"The dietary requirements of the hellhound are not my area of expertise, Lover. Perhaps you should purchase some meat for him, he may not be accustomed to that 'puppy chow'."

He said the last as if it was gum on his shoe. I don't know why he would care one way or another. It wasn't like I was asking him to eat puppy chow for his dinner. But he had a point of course. Who knew what they had to offer the dogs in the demon world, but it probably wasn't made by Purina. Maybe hellhounds hunted their own dinner down? I hoped Dante wouldn't consider Bob fair game for supper. I didn't even want to think about that.

"Why would the child think that I was her kin?" Thalia was asking.

I looked at Eric, who nodded back at me. I proceeded to explain some of the situation to Thalia. I told her what Dermott had said, and how Claudine had tried to get him to make lightning bugs too and how it was beginning to look like our demon was really an angel too.

"So there's no telling how closely related to each other these angel descendents are, but maybe Claudine can tell who's related to her, whether they are fairy or demon or angel, or whatever. Though if you go back far enough, I guess everybody's related to everybody else in some way," I concluded.

"Descended from your Adam and Eve?" Eric said, a little mockingly perhaps. Of course he hadn't grown up with that story to explain the beginning of humanity.

"Well, yes, I guess so. But even if you don't believe in that, the scientists think we all started in Africa someplace. It's kind of hard to swallow that idea when you look at how diverse people are now, but I guess it's feasible if you think about how long ago everything started. It's the whole evolution versus intelligent design thing I guess."

Eric may have snorted at my use of the word intelligent.

"As interesting as a conversation about evolution might be, Lover, I think we might want to focus on the topic at hand," Eric said.

"Yes dear, don't let me distract you with my ramblings," I said back a little snidely, giving him a smile to let him know I wasn't really irritated by his remark. "But I do kind of wonder if this guy knows what really happened," I added.

If the Prince of Darkness had really been around at the dawn of humanity (which I didn't believe for a moment) he might know the truth about the story of the fallen angels (if there were such things) and whether the Book of Genesis was how things had really gone down.

"I think we should look at the contract that Cataliades sent over," Eric said as he got up to get the papers from the fax machine.

"You okay, Thalia?" I asked her when Eric had left the room. " I'm sorry we had to bring this all up. We didn't mean to upset you."

"It is best to know as much as you can about a possible opponent before you confront them," Thalia said pragmatically, and she left it at that.

Bob came in just about that time, crept around the corner of the doorway and paused while taking a wary glance around the room. When he saw that the dog wasn't anywhere in sight, he visibly relaxed and jumped up to join me on the couch. I began to stroke his fur, wondering as I often did, if I was doing the right thing by letting him remain a cat. Since the alternative was that Eric would almost certainly kill him without a thought if he ever showed his human face again, I figured I would let that thought lie.

"The Prince has offered a most reasonable contract," Eric said after he had read the document.

"What does it say?" I asked, figuring that with all the legalese that lawyers usually used, I would be better off letting Eric interpret it. He was used to dealing with contracts.

"He offers the protection of himself, or his subjects, within the limits of their abilities of course. He also offers to facilitate or exact retribution if harm should come to you from another's actions. He very specifically includes physical damage, rape and abduction."

"And what is he asking in return?" I asked. I was pleased to hear that he had included kidnapping as something he would consider harm.

"That his agent be instated as part of your household, with you being responsible for his well being, food and lodging. If for any reason this agent proves unsatisfactory, another will be provided subject to your approval again. He reserves the right to check on his agent's well being at regular intervals at your convenience. The contract will be in effect until the time of Claudine's betrothal or marriage."

"I have a couple of questions," I said. "Why do you think he is committing himself to this? How does it benefit him? And why only until Claudine is spoken for?"

"As to why he would protect you? You are the mother of the only angel on earth, Sookie. It is reasonable that he would want to keep you alive. You are young, and there is the possibility of more children still."

"Eric, we both know that's not going to happen."

I tried to keep the regret out of my voice as I said that, turning my attention to Bob for a moment. Bob was purring softly in response to my stroking, and I focused on that to take my mind off the disappointment that Claudine was the only child that I would ever have. I would have loved to have a bigger family, maybe a son.

"As to the betrothal clause, I would expect he would like to leave his options open, depending on who ends up as Claudine's mate."

"But this isn't about Claudine's protection, Eric. The mark will be for me. So I don't exactly get it."

"Don't you, Sookie? I think you do."

I had to think about that for a moment.

"You think he will ask for Claudine's hand, but if we say no, then he is still in a position to win her favor with his visits to check up on Dante. If she ends up with someone else, then all bets are off the table. By offering this mark, he is basically saying he will not go after me, at least not at this point."

"Yes, it seems that might be the case. I notice that this time you are not setting the house on fire at the thought of him asking for Claudine."

"I'm sorry about that, but the whole idea of trying to decide who she should marry when she can't even walk, that just isn't right, Eric."

"To someone who was raised in modern times, and in a progressive culture. Think about it, Sookie. If Dermott is right, and the Prince hasn't left his world in hundreds of years, then he will be thinking in terms of old traditions, when it was not uncommon for a man to approach the father about a betrothal contract even if the girl was quite young. It is the way things were done in the past."

"And you think he is going to wait around for eighteen years, until Claudine is old enough to marry?"

"Eighteen years is the blink of an eye to a being as old as he might be, Lover. And the stakes are high, if there are no others of his kind."

"If we are right and he is the only angel left, and we don't really know if that is true yet, then I guess I feel kind of sorry for him, Eric. It must be very lonely to be the only one."

"We cannot make decisions based on sympathy for his situation, Lover, but all things considered, it is a very reasonable arrangement and will provide extra security for you until Claudine is old enough to be promised."

"Well, that isn't for a long time yet, and I'll be old by that time. We can worry about it then," I said.

But Eric would still be a young man, I thought, or at least physically. That was just so difficult to contemplate. I'd be too old to have children by the time I agreed to a marriage for Claudine, unless something unexpectedly changed. I couldn't think about the possibility of having another child with anyone but Eric anyway.

"It is hard to tell what may happen, now that you are coming into your magic," Eric said.

Was he hinting that I might live longer because of the magic? There was no reason for us to think so. Maybe the vampire blood might make a difference in the long run, since it might ward off disease, but would it actually keep me young longer?

"At least if he is around while she is growing up, he can help her to learn to handle her magic safely."

"Yes, I agree," Eric said, not sounding exactly happy about it, but not quite so disapproving as he had been when the Prince had been here the night before.

I was thinking it might be in everybody's interest if he helped me with my magic too. I hadn't intended to almost burn down the kitchen, and if that was going to happen every time I got a little pissed off (irrationally, I admit) then I better up my fire insurance coverage.

"Well, I guess we should say yes, then," I said, "unless you aren't happy with the dog being part of the picture."

I was trying to act like it didn't matter to me if Eric didn't want the dog, and we had to test drive some other "agent", but of course it did. As it was, Eric didn't get a chance to answer that question.

"Speak of the devil!" I said as Dante came running into the room, headed straight for the door and started whining and scratching to get out. Bob, seeing the dog, sprang off the couch and ran back down the hall.

"Okay, hold your horses," I told the dog, but Dante seemed pretty desperate to get out, so I jumped up and scurried over to the door to open it.

Dante bolted out like a streak of lightning, heading straight for the woods at the perimeter of the property. He had only been gone a moment, when the unholy sound of his baying filled the air. Thalia thrust Claudine into my arms, pulled out her sword, and went racing by me, out the door after the dog. Eric grabbed my arm and pulled me to the far side of the room, away from the door and windows.

"What's going on, Eric?" I asked.

"Go up to the room and lock the door, Sookie. Don't come out for any reason until we are sure everything is okay."

I didn't argue, but went straight up as fast as I could. I locked the door, and then sat down on the bed, my arms clasping Claudine close to my chest. I didn't turn on the light since I knew that a light would just make me an easier target if someone got in. I rooted around in the dark until I found the drawer of the bedside table. Feeling carefully around inside the drawer, I found the big knife that Eric always kept next to the bed.

Holding it ready, I stayed put and waited for Eric. I could still hear the hound baying in the yard, and it sent chills down my spine. I was glad that I had a knife instead of a gun; I'd probably have shot myself in the foot already, the way my hand was shaking. Although a shotgun aimed at the door right now did sound like the best deterrent if someone tried to get in.

After what seemed like an hour, but was probably only about ten minutes, Eric came to the bedroom door.

"Don't stab or shoot me, Lover. I am opening the door," he announced. I guess he knew me well enough to know that I would have armed myself.

"What happened, Eric?" I said as he wrapped his arms around me and Claudine, almost nicking himself on the knife in the process.

He took the weapon from my hand, and laid it down on the bedside table.

"The dog went after something, but there is no evidence of anything on the property. The weres are out searching the woods, in teams of three, but I think whatever it is has gone by now. I am calling Jordun home; I want him available to you during the day. And perhaps Daniel should return too."

"Not Pam?"

"No. I need to leave someone in Nevada, and she is doing a good job there, not only with Fangtasia, but dealing with the Sheriffs."

And Pam, for all that she was a fierce fighter, was not as old as the other vampires in the family. And maybe Eric didn't want to think of his child in the line of fire.

"Who do you think was out there? Did you pick up a scent?" I asked.

"I don't know, Sookie. We couldn't scent anyone, but the dog's sense of smell will probably be better than ours. He may have been just baying at the moon, but I have a feeling he would not have raised an alarm without reason."

And there was no moon out tonight anyway, I thought.

Dante came roaring in about then, wagging his tail and looking as if he hadn't a care in the world. Whatever he had sensed out there, he must have decided that the crisis was over. When I bent down to pet the pup, he licked my face and then flopped over onto his back to expose his plump round belly, and kicked his legs in the air. Eric didn't even try to shoo him out.

"You are one good dog," I said as I rubbed his tummy. "We are definitely going to keep you."


	73. Chapter 73

CHAPTER 73

The first thing I did when I got up, after dealing with my human needs, and seeing to Claudine's breakfast, was to call my brother.

"Jason, was Dermott with you last night?"

"Listen, Sook, I'm at work here. What's up?"

"Who got up on the wrong side of bed this morning," I asked myself.

"I just want to know about Uncle Dermott, was he there last night, at your house?" I said to Jason.

"Uh, well, I don't know, Sook. I didn't go home. I went up to this bar in Clarice, and I ended up goin' home with this girl I know."

"Well, was he there this morning?"

"I don't know, Sook. I didn't check his room or nothin'. He's a grown up, you know."

Unlike my brother, I thought to myself.

"Well, when you see him, tell him something was in our woods last night, and I don't know if it was a fairy or what. He needs to be careful, and he can come here if he wants. But he needs to call me, so the guards will let him in."

"I don't think he knows how to use a phone, Sook. He's a little strange that way. And he can't drive, either."

"Well, show him, Jason. Or you call me, as soon as you see him. I can send someone to pick him up. I'm a little worried about him."

"It isn't that Niall, is it? I thought those fairies left and weren't coming back."

"I don't know, bro, but just call me, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, sis. I gotta get back to work here."

"Bye, Jason," I said, but he had already hung up.

If Niall showed back up, he might be gunning for Dermott, since my uncle had sided with Niall's enemy, Breandon. Breandon had been my enemy too, and I hadn't trusted Dermott at all at first. But now, he was pledged to Claudine, and I thought he might have some affection for me too. I knew that he cared for Jason, and they had formed a family relationship of sorts. I didn't want anything to happen to my uncle. I wasn't sure that there was anything more that I could do though, if no one knew where he was.

The rest of the day seemed to go by quickly. Having a dog in the house presented a whole other level of dirt for Grace and me to deal with. Not that the vampires were particularly tidy, but they didn't shed fur all over. It seemed like Grace had had the vacuum going for hours before everything met with her standards. Maybe I needed to think about getting her some more help, especially since it seemed like we were going to be having company more often.

"Jordun and Daniel are on their way home. I guess we can just have the coffins carried right up to the bedrooms," I said to Grace as I placed the new flower arrangement on the mantle.

The flowers had arrived early that morning. I figured that Eric must have been keeping the Shreveport florists in business, since I got flowers delivered pretty much every week. This time it was a summery arrangement of orange and yellow sunflowers. They looked beautiful sitting near my portrait over the fireplace. Who would have thought, when I was posing for that painting, that the child I carried would be so important.

Of course, history was filled with stories of women used as pawns in a game: to solidify alliances, to join two families, or to secure prominence, title or fortune. I thought of Marie Antoinette, a child of only fifteen when her family in Austria had sent her to marry a man she'd never met, the future King of France. And now my daughter was a playing piece in the game of survival for a race of ancient beings. And I guess, maybe I was too.

"Mark's at the back door with a package," Grace said, breaking into my reverie.

"I'll be right there," I said and headed through the kitchen to the door. The whole room smelled like chocolate.

Grace had spent part of her morning working on a beautiful chocolate torte that I was expected to serve to the Prince. I had told her how much he had liked Mrs. Bellefleur's famous chocolate cake and how demons didn't have chocolate in their world, when I was filling her in on the whole situation. She wasn't nuts about the idea of the demon being a regular visitor, but she wasn't going to be one upped by somebody else's chocolate recipe, no matter who was eating it.

"You know, Grace. Last time he was here, I sort of felt like an idiot for treating him like he was just some regular company, and not taking the whole thing seriously enough. Maybe we should just keep this strictly business this time, and skip refreshments. I don't want to embarrass Eric."

"Nonsense. You are not an idiot, and your vampire is very proud of you. There is no reason to be inhospitable. If he liked the chocolate, then let's see what he thinks of this. Mrs. Bellefleur indeed!"

That confirmed my suspicion that hospitality wasn't the main motivation behind baking the torte. If Prince Jerry wanted to win Grace over, all he had to do was say her torte was better than the award winning cake we'd served last time. Grace was proud of her creations and if he asked for seconds, he would be her friend for life.

"Looks like something for the baby, Ma'am," Mark said when I opened the back door. The were was looking down at the box, clearly marked from 'Toys R Us'. "You need some help with assembly or anything?"

"Not if it's what I think it is, Mark. You have a knife handy to open it?"

Well, of course he did. He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, flicked it open, and slit the tape sealing the box. Pulling back the wadded up paper that padded the contents revealed my purchase, a neon green, yellow and orange super soaker.

"Now all we need is some lemonade," I said and took the squirt gun into the house, filling it up and leaving it handy by the back porch before I went up to nap with Claudine and Eric.

Everything was ready to receive our visitors by the time Jordun headed downstairs.

"New table?" he asked first thing, flinging his long black hair over his shoulder as he settled into a chair and fixed his gaze on me.

"Yes, and don't ask," I replied, setting a True Blood in front of him.

"You look very beautiful tonight, Sister. The Prince is sure to be impressed. I might have to protect him from my brother if he dares to show his appreciation for such a lovely sight though," he said before he took a drink from his blood. "Where is the little princess?"

I had picked out another of my cocktail dresses for the evening. It was sea green chiffon, and was probably a little too low cut for the occasion, but I knew it was one of Eric's favorites. I had paired it with emerald earrings and dark green kitten heel strappy sandals. But right then, it was covered up with one of Gran's old and faded aprons that I had brought from Bon Temps. I probably looked more like old Mother Hubbard than a Queen of the Vampires.

"Under the circumstances, you may not want to call Claudine the little princess," I answered, thinking of who was coming to call. "She's upstairs with Eric. They should be down any minute. And I didn't wear this to impress Jerahmeel."

Jan walked in about that time, followed by Batanya.

"Oh you could be wearing nothing at all and you'd impress the Prince," Jan said, laughing as he pulled out a chair for the Britlingen.

"What is it the human's say? Over my dead body!" Eric said as he and the baby joined us in the kitchen.

The vampires seemed to think they were a hoot, and Batanya did too, but I was not really in the mood for jokes.

"Can someone let the dog in?" I said, as I popped a few more bloods into the microwave. I took Claudine's dinner over to the high chair so Eric could feed her while I heated up the jambalaya that Grace had left for the Britlingens and myself.

Dante came bounding in, but stopped short when he saw Jordun.

"That's just Jordun, Dante. He lives here," I told the dog.

Jordun slid his chair back a bit when the dog came over to sniff him. His alabaster skin looked even whiter in contrast to the midnight black of the dog's fur.

"These things eat vampires, don't they?" he said.

"He isn't a thing, and I think he will eat just about anything," I said. "He's like a bottomless pit when it comes to food."

"Well, don't sic him on me, Sookie, and I promise to behave."

"I'll believe that when hell freezes over, Jordun."

The bantering continued through dinner. I inwardly thanked Amelia for picking out a bigger table, since we were quite a crowd when we all crammed into the kitchen. By the time everyone had come downstairs, it almost seemed like we needed a bigger house, as big as this place was. Maybe it was the dog sprawled right in the walkway, the way dogs always seemed to do. And he was only going to get bigger.

"I've been wondering if last night's intruder might have been my uncle," I said when I finally sat down next to Eric. "Although I don't know why he wouldn't tell Jason to call me if he was going to come and hang around in our woods. But Dermott can mask his scent. Maybe the masking doesn't fool the dog though."

"Wouldn't the dog know him already, Sookie? You took the dog to your brother's house, didn't you?"

"Yes, but Dante stayed in the car. I don't know, maybe there was just some animal in the woods, and the pup got over excited, but I called Jason and he said he hadn't seen Dermott, and he was supposed to call me, but he hasn't called."

"Don't worry, Lover. Your uncle has managed to take care of himself for all of these years. But I will send someone over to check on your brother and we will be posting more guards," Eric said, putting his hand on my shoulder to reassure me, and we left it at that. I was still feeling very edgy about the whole incident, and I could tell that the vampires did too.

We followed the same routine as we had two nights before, and were joined by Mr. Cataliades and his niece shortly before the Prince arrived. Diantha didn't look quite so panicked this time, but she still wasn't back to her normal festive attire. Jordun joined us in the living room and stood back with Thalia, in guard mode.

Of course I managed to make myself ridiculous, although through no fault of my own this time. Claudine, dressed to the nines in a party dress, had been sitting quite happily on the floor next to the dog, when Dante decided that one of her teddy bears looked like a chew toy. Before I knew it, they were both tugging on the toy, and stuffing was beginning to fly. I squatted down on the floor, to break up the friendly dispute, and was knocked on my butt when the dog went flying off to greet the Prince as he popped in.

Jordun quickly took my arm to help me up, but my pretty chiffon dress was definitely the worse for wear with teddy bear guts all over the front of it. Claudine, thinking this was a new game, was trying to pull off one of the legs of the now mutilated bear, and Diantha, noticing the Prince's arrival, dove behind the couch and covered her mouth with her hands to muffle her laughter.

The Prince managed to cover his own laughter at our antics by leaning down to fuss over Dante, who was going crazy at the sight of him. Eric managed to rescue the bottle of wine from certain disaster as Dante's tail swept over the end of the coffee table. Fortunately, Grace's confection was at the other end of the table. She would never have forgiven Dante if he had knocked her dessert onto the floor.

Things were quickly put to rights, the dog settled down at the Prince's feet, and while introductions and greetings were being exchanged, I excused myself to head to the laundry room and run a lint roller over my dress. I came back to find the dead teddy bear had been removed, Claudine was happy chewing on the feet of one of her Barbies in Eric's lap and Jerahmeel was seated in the new chair, where he looked quite comfortable. Diantha was still hidden behind the couch, but she was probably happier there, and since she wasn't really involved in the proceedings, no one mentioned it.

The Demon Prince started to rise as I reentered the room, but with a quick brush of my hand, I signaled that he needn't bother, and I sat down next to Eric and Claudine on the couch. This time, I managed to keep my mouth shut, even though I wanted to apologize for the less than gracious state of things that had greeted his arrival. I was going to let Eric do the talking.

"My Queen had decided to accept your Mark of Protection," Eric said.

I thought that was very nicely and succinctly put. I had expected some archaic formal acceptance, where Eric, as my King and Lord, not to mention husband, generously granted his permission for me to be allowed to accept the honor, or some such thing. Yadda, yadda, yadda. But then, Eric was progressive for such an ancient vampire. He liked to think of himself as modern, even, although his age really did show quite often.

"I am pleased to bestow it, and that the conditions of the agreement are satisfactory," the Prince replied, addressing Eric. "With your permission, it will require that I lay hands on your lady."

Eric nodded, and then everybody looked at me. Well, if they thought I was going to go kneel at the Prince's feet or something, they had another thought coming. However, Jerahmeel left his own seat and extended his hand. Remembering that Claudine's mark had been placed on the back of her neck, I expected that he would put the mark in the same place, but when I went to stand beside him, he just took my right hand.

"Claudine has hers on her neck," I said, making it a question.

"I think your King might prefer that I leave that area unmarked," he said.

I was surprised at the sensitivity of that consideration, since Eric really would not want to see someone else's mark on my neck. A marked neck was a thing of pride for a vampire, a sign of possession, and vampires were big on flaunting their possessions.

I saw Eric nod his head in appreciation of the gesture, just before a small flame appeared on the tip of Jerahmeel's index finger. Of course I shied back from it immediately, as anyone would when a flame came near their skin, but the Demon had a good hold on my hand and he touched my palm before I could pull my hand away.

I think I must have squeezed my eyes shut, expecting it to hurt, even though I had seen Claudine receive her mark with no sign of discomfort. But instead of pain, an incredible sense of familiarity flowed onto my skin, and the taste of that same magic that had created the firefly coated my tongue. It was a pleasant sensation, and it felt strangely right, as if it was meant to be.

Eric's discomfort that another man was touching me broke through the feeling, and this time, when I pulled my hand away, the Prince allowed it. There on my palm, very plain to my eyes, was a tongue of flame, flickering like the tip of a candle. Even though it appeared to move, when I touched it, all I could feel was the smooth skin of my hand. I was very aware of its presence though, and of a fine thread of connection between that mark and the Prince of Demons.

"How does it work?" I asked him.

"If you call my name, in your mind, I will be able to find you," he answered.

"Thank you," I said silently, because I knew something now. When he had marked me, both his shields and mine had lowered, and now, we could both hear each other telepathically. And what I saw in the Prince's mind, made me trust him.

"It is my pleasure," his thoughts replied.

"There is the matter of the signing of the contract," Mr. Cataliades said, almost apologetically, as if he had meant to suggest it earlier, but had not wanted to interrupt things.

"Of course," Jerahmeel replied, and taking the proffered pen, he signed his name with a flourish at the bottom of the page.

I took the pen next, glad that we weren't having to sign in blood or something, and signed my name, Sookie Northman. Eric took the contract next, to sign his own name. Of course, by vampire law, I "belonged" to Eric, so his signature was a necessary formality. We handed everything back to Mr. Cataliades, who folded the paper and tucked it into the breast pocket of his suit jacket. I guess the lawyer would be holding it for safekeeping.

"Perhaps our guest would care for some refreshment," Eric said, surprising me with the offer. It was as if now that the agreement of protection was reached, he seemed ready to relax his guard.

"Oh, of course," I said, and got up to slice the torte.

"You seemed to enjoy the chocolate," I said as I handed a slice to Jerahmeel. "So, Grace, my housekeeper, made this especially for you. It's her secret recipe, and she is quite proud of it."

"Delicious," he said after his first taste.

Eric picked up a spoon and gave a small mouthful to Claudine. By the amount that ended up on her face before she was done, I couldn't believe that that much had managed to fit in the spoon, but she looked very pleased with the dessert and made little yummy sounds, making everyone smile.

The Prince accepted a glass of wine along with his second piece of the torte, and I took the opportunity to ask about caring for the dog.

"We've been calling him Dante, since you didn't give us his name. I've been feeding him regular dog food, actually food for puppies. Is that going to be okay for him?"

"He seems quite content here," the Prince said, looking at the dog with affection. "Perhaps you might provide some meat for him on occasion, or he could hunt in the woods? But the dog food should sustain him. The child loves him already I think."

Actually, the child was busy smearing Dante's head with her sticky hands, and the dog was trying to lick her chocolaty face, while Eric nudged him with his knee to push him away.

"Yes, she does. They get along very well, as you can see. You better let me have her, Eric, and I will wash her up."

Eric handed the baby to me, and holding her away from my dress, so that it wouldn't get smeared with chocolate, I took her into the kitchen to wash her face and hands. As usual, she screwed up her face and acted like I was torturing her, but she was smiling again by the time we walked back into the living room.

"May I hold her?" the Prince asked politely.

I looked at Eric to gauge his reaction, but he seemed to be okay with the request, so I handed Claudine to the Prince. Now that I had his mark on my skin, I knew that no matter what, he would never harm this child. As to the future, and the whole question of betrothal and marriage? That had not been brought up, and I knew what my answer would be already, so I couldn't see any harm in him holding the baby.

Claudine seemed happy to be in his lap, snapping out her wings in her excitement when he extended his hand for her. She patted his hand and out came the little fireflies in a steady stream, making Claudine squeal with delight. The Prince's wings were draped gracefully onto the floor, and he looked relaxed and happy. I couldn't help but laugh with my own pleasure at seeing the joy on both of their beautiful faces. Somehow, it didn't seem wrong at all.


	74. Chapter 74

CHAPTER 74

"Miss Sookie? Mr. Eric?"

I heard Bubba calling from the kitchen.

"Good Lord! Where's Bob?" I gasped out, almost choking myself on the sip of wine I had decided to indulge in.

I jumped up and ran to where Bob was sleeping on the floor of the dining room. Lunging at him so fast, I managed to scare the poor cat half to death, and he hissed and backed up into the corner. I was a little hesitant to pick him up, not wanting to get myself scratched, but I didn't want the frightened cat to go streaking by the vampire and get himself snatched up for a snack.

"Eric, deal with Bubba while I calm Bob down," I called back to Eric. "And somebody hold on to the dog."

Bubba rarely came up to the house except for his occasional habit of dropping his laundry off on the back porch. He usually stayed in Bon Temps at Bill's house, keeping an eye on things there and watching over Gran's place and Amelia. But he liked a little vampire company once in a while and would roam about our yard, sleeping sometimes in one of the safe houses we had built in the back. Why Thomas and Daniel had let him into to the house when we had important company was beyond me.

"Bob, it's only Bubba, and he promised me that he wouldn't eat you, so just calm down," I told the cat.

Not that I really believed that Bubba would take the time to determine whether any particular cat was Bob or not until after he had drained it. Which was why Bob was never allowed outside.

"Come on now, let's lock you up in the bedroom until the big bad vampire is dealt with," I said to Bob, stroking his head and making sure that he was settled before I picked him up and hauled him upstairs.

The dog wasn't howling, so I figured that everything was okay on that front. If it came down to Bubba going after Dante, I guessed that might be quite a showdown. Bubba hadn't met the hellhound pup yet, and he would almost certainly think of him as gourmet dining. Bubba wasn't the brightest star in the sky.

"Bring him onto the porch," I heard Eric saying to someone in the kitchen as I walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind me.

"Hello Miss Sookie, I see you got yourself a dog," Bubba greeted me as I reentered the living room. "I didn't mean to interrupt your company or nothin'," he continued.

Jerahmeel was still holding Claudine on one knee, and managed to have a good hold on the scruff of Dante's neck at the same time. Dante was sitting quietly, although I noticed his teeth were bared. Jordun and Thalia were still standing guard, keeping their eyes on the Prince and the baby. Bubba, looking snazzy in a jumpsuit much too elaborate for roaming in the woods, was of course eyeing the dog, with a puzzled frown on his face.

"He don't smell like a normal dog though, Miss Sookie."

"He's not really, Bubba, and you are not to eat him. Eric would be very unhappy with you, and so would Claudine."

"Now, Miss Sookie, you know I wouldn't be upsettin' Miss Claudine for nothin'," he said.

I could hear the other vampires in the kitchen, talking earnestly in what I thought might be Norwegian or something. Dying to know what was going on, but realizing that it might not be something that was the Prince's business, I decided not to indulge my curiosity with questions for Bubba, but just to introduce him to my guest.

"Bubba, this is Prince Jerahmeel. He is visiting from out of town," I said. "Prince, this is Bubba."

I emphasized the name "Bubba" as I usually did when introducing the famous vampire, hoping that it would avoid any problems if someone recognized him. Bubba didn't care to be referred to by his former name, and it just wouldn't do to deal with him getting upset in front of company. The demon just nodded his head slightly, looking intently at Bubba as if he could discern that Bubba wasn't "all there". But he didn't show any sign of recognition. Apparently rock and roll hadn't been popular in the world of demons, and I had a feeling Jerahmeel didn't get out much.

"Pleased to meet ya," Bubba said to the Prince. "Hello Mr. Cataliades, Miss Diantha," Bubba continued, apparently noticing Diantha who was still sitting on the floor behind the couch.

"Miss Sookie, Mr. Eric told me to look out for that fairy. I found him in the woods but he didn't look so good. Mr. Eric, he said not to hurt him so I brought him over here."

"What fairy, Bubba? Uncle Dermott?"

"Yes'm. Miss Amelia wasn't to home, so I just loaded him up in my trunk and brought him right to you and Mr. Eric."

"Oh, okay. Thanks, Bubba. You did good. Excuse me for a moment," I directed at Jerahmeel and Mr. Cataliades.

The demon's brow had furrowed slightly at the mention of a fairy, and I thought he might be unsure if he should offer to step outside with me, or to keep an eye on Claudine. Actually, it made me consider whether it was a good idea to just walk out and leave the baby with the demon. Not that there weren't several vampires in the room that could keep the baby, not to mention Mr. Cataliades and Diantha. Eric resolved that dilemma when he came in and beckoned me over.

"Sookie, your uncle is on the porch, unconscious."

"Why didn't you bring him inside, Eric? What happened to him?"

"I am not really sure. It may be some kind of magic spell. It might be safer to leave him outside. We may want to summon Dr. Ludwig."

I noticed that Eric was carrying one of the swords that were usually stashed in the weapon's locker in the kitchen…one of the iron swords that he had used to battle Breandon and his fairies when he had defended me at the supe hospital.

"May I be of assistance?" the Prince asked.

Jerahmeel stood up, and I walked over to take the baby, handing her off to Thalia.

"Sure," I told the demon. "You might recognize any fairy magic, right?"

His expression turned amused again, and I wondered how I managed to say so many things that this guy found funny. But he nodded his head again and I just headed for the porch, grabbing my super soaker from the corner of the kitchen on the way out. Eric signaled the Britlingens, who had followed him inside, to join the group in the living room keeping watch over the baby.

Uncle Dermott was lying sprawled on the decking of the porch, looking for all the world like he was dead. Of course, I knew that fairies turned to ash when they died, so he must still be alive. Although maybe a half fairy would just decompose more like a human?

Dermott's skin was very pale, almost translucent, and I couldn't see any sign that he was breathing. I knelt down next to him and was about to reach out to feel if he was at least warm, when Eric reached down and restrained my arm.

"Better not to touch him, I think, until we know what has happened to him," Eric said.

I looked around at the group of vampires that were surrounding us, and noticed that although they all looked interested and alert, none of them had their fangs out. Eric made a motion with his hands, and Thomas, Daniel and Jan began to fan out to check the perimeter of the yard.

"You can't smell him?" I asked Eric.

"No. His scent appears to be masked still, even in this condition," Eric answered, sounding a little curious about that fact.

"This is Niall Brigant's son?" the Prince asked.

"Yes, he's my great uncle. He has sworn allegiance to Claudine, and he lives with my brother now. I have been a little worried about him since Dante heard something outside our woods last night."

The Prince took great interest in hearing that the dog had gone off in such a defensive mode, and asked if any of the vampires were able to determine the nature of the intruder. When hearing that there had been no lingering scent of anyone's presence, he dismissed that topic, and focused on Uncle Dermott.

Going down to his knees next to me, he extended his hand and let it hover a few inches from the center of Dermott's chest.

"Is he still alive? He isn't breathing. How can he be alive if he isn't breathing?"

"He has been taken by a stasis spell," Jerahmeel said. "It will not kill him, but if it remains, he will fade."

"What do you mean?"

"Without breath, and without nourishment, eventually, his corporeal existence will fade away, he will become a spirit."

"You mean like a ghost?"

He had to think about that one for a moment, but then nodded.

"Why would someone want to do that to him?"

"To imprison him temporarily perhaps, preventing him with interfering in something without actually killing him."

Amelia could perform stasis spells. She had spelled my cousin's apartment after Hadley had been killed. Nothing had changed for weeks. Even the newly turned vampire in the closet had stayed inert while the spell was active. I wondered if this was Amelia's work, although surely she would have told me if she had had a reason to cast a stasis spell on my uncle.

"Can you undo it?" I asked the demon.

"It is a complex spell, but I believe it may be undone without harming the fairy. This is something that would please you?"

I looked at Eric, not sure how to answer that question. Of course I didn't want to leave Dermott in a state of suspended animation or something, but on the other hand, I wasn't sure whether I would be indebting myself to Jerahmeel. If the price were something I would be reluctant to pay, something to do with Claudine, then I would ask Amelia to try, or Dr. Ludwig, before I committed myself.

Seeming to understand my hesitation, the Prince restated his position.

"Your uncle may be in a position to supply information that would further both of our goals. I will leave him in his present condition if that is preferable to you, however."

Although I wasn't sure that his statement clarified the situation, Eric seemed to be satisfied and nodded his agreement.

"Thank you, I would appreciate it, if you could wake him up," I said, turning my attention to Jerahmeel.

The Prince returned my gaze, his emerald green eyes looking intently at my face. I noticed his long black eyelashes, seeming to graze his cheeks as he blinked. His face was framed by the gentle arc of his wings, his black hair barely discernible against the gleaming black of the feathers. He really was so very beautiful. He extended his hand and as I raised mine to meet him, I heard a low growl and a whoosh of air swept across my own cheeks, as Eric's sword came swooping down between us.

"Demon?" Eric cautioned, startling me as Jerahmeel went as still as a vampire.

"I would instruct your wife, if you would allow it," the Prince said quietly.

"Sookie?"

Eric's voice whispered icily over the growl in his chest.

"It's okay, Eric. I should learn this, don't you think? What if this happened to you, or to Claudine?" I replied, my voice trying to soothe and reassure him. I had gazed at the handsome demon for just a fraction too long I suppose.

"I will allow it," Eric said reluctantly, a wave of anger and resignation washing through our bond.

His eyes were the ones I focused on now, blue as the sky, holding longing and perhaps regret. I couldn't put my finger on what he was feeling, his emotions a tangled web. Wishing that we could let this whole situation lie, and take the time to talk about what was going on in his head, I almost got up from my kneeling position. But my uncle was in front of me, for all intents and purposes, dead to the world, and that had to take precedence.

This time it was me that extended my hand, placing my fingers on the Prince's palm as he lowered his other to the body of my uncle. The first trickle of magic began mere seconds after the contact.

I was becoming increasingly familiar with the "feel" of magic, and this magic felt particularly familiar. It had the taste of home, like walking into Gran's when she had been baking, the smell of apple pie drawing me to the table. This was something that had been missing and now was found. I closed my eyes and let the magic embrace me.

Imagine an ugly blanket, knitted from scraps of yarn, varied in texture and color, but knit tightly together by hands knotted with age and filled with purpose. Imagine the smell of dirty, damp wool. That was the spell that had been woven around Dermott, holding him tightly inside, pressing on him until even his heart no longer beat. And the Prince's fingers manipulated a small flame, burning away each junction of strands, careful not to burn the body held close by the magic.

After a few moments, I realized that I could hold the same flame as the demon, and I carefully worked on the spell beside him, until only ashes remained. As the ashes blew away in the breeze, Dermott took an uneasy breath and I could hear the first halting beat of his heart.

When my uncle's eyes opened, they were filled with fear, taking in first the vampires towering above him, swords in hand, and then the strange green eyes of the demon prince. When he saw me, his fear abated slightly, but he lay still unmoving.

"Are you okay, Sookie?" Eric asked from behind me, wanting to touch me, but not sure if he should while the smell of magic was still so thick in the air.

Now that I was sure that Dermott was alive and breathing, I pulled my hand away from Jerahmeel's, and placed it on the ground for support. I suddenly felt exhausted, as if I had just run a marathon. Eric lowered himself to the ground and pulled me back against his chest. I nestled into him, and he kissed the top of my head.

"Uncle Dermott? It's all right now; you're at my house. Do you know what happened?"

"Niece," Dermott acknowledged me, but continued to look unsurely at the group surrounding him. I guess if I woke up to that crowd, I'd be a little nervous too.

"Bubba, one of our vampires, brought you here. You were wrapped in some kind of a spell, a stasis spell. This is Prince Jerahmeel, from the demon world. He helped free you. He won't hurt you."

I wasn't absolutely sure about what the Prince's actions would be, but there was no reason for him to be gunning for Dermott. I had made it clear that my uncle was on our side.

Dermott remained quiet, and I thought maybe it would be best to give him some room and a few minutes to recover.

"Maybe all of y'all could take a step back and let the man have some air?" I said. "And maybe someone could get him some water or something?"

Of course they all stood stock still, waiting for someone else to show up to wait on the fairy. They might not eat him, but they weren't quite ready to offer him aid at this point.

It was at this point that I noticed that the yard was just too quiet. Usually, if something had been going on outside, at least Travis or Mark would have come out to investigate, to see if the were's assistance was needed. Even the trees seemed to have stilled, although I could feel the breeze wafting across the porch.

Jerahmeel must have sensed the wrongness of it too, and he leapt up from the side of the fairy, stepped off the porch and spread his wings. The sight of it was astounding, the inky blackness showing stark against the bright security lights. With a slight bend of his knees, he pushed off and took to the sky at the same time that the dog gave a warning howl from inside the house.

The vampires went on instant alert, flanking me and blocking out my view of what was going on, and Jordun opened the back door, allowing the hound to break loose and tear off into the yard.

"Sookie, go inside," Eric said, pushing me towards the door.

But I knew that Claudine would be safe inside the house with Thalia, not to mention the Britlingens and the two half demons. The house was warded, and nothing was going to get inside. I would be safer there too, but I wasn't going to leave Eric's side, no matter what. And I knew that Dermott would be left to fend for himself if fairies attacked, and he was no match for the full blooded, while I was well armed.

"I'm staying with you, Eric," I said, hoisting my loaded squirt gun and aiming it towards the area in the yard where the prince was hovering. He didn't argue with me, as he knew it was a waste of time, and he wasn't going to force the issue by having Jordun or Daniel carry me in. Thank goodness for that.

From the center of the yard came the smell of sulfur in the air and a portal opened up behind Jerahmeel. From inside the hazy rent in the universe a pack of dogs poured out, the hounds of hell, and they were ready for the hunt.

I had seen films of the foxhunts in England, with horns trumpeting and hounds baying as they pursued their prey. I had imagined the frenzied panic of the fox, running for his life from the dogs; the hoof beats of the horses as they ever neared; the pounding of their hooves a countdown to the fox's destruction. But that was a waltz in the park to the sound of this pack of dogs. I shivered to my very core as their bays pierced the night air, and they formed a circle of death around whatever had been waiting in the darkness.

The air shimmered briefly, and standing there unarmed, hands out in surrender, stood my great grandfather, Niall Brigant.

"Niall?" I called out. "What are you doing here?"

Niall was surrounded by Jerahmeel's hellhounds, but the dogs merely milled around him, they didn't advance to attack. My great grandfather was staring open mouthed at the demon, obviously shocked to see the winged man.

My vampires were all ready to take the fairy out. Eric was on one side of me, his iron sword in hand, with Thomas and Jordun on the other, similarly armed. Jan stood with his crossbow cocked and aimed, no doubt with an iron bolt ready to fire. Daniel appeared to be keeping an eye on Dermott, never being one to trust a fairy. They all had their fangs out, and looked menacing.

"Great-granddaughter, I have come to see the child."

"To see her or to try to take her?" I asked.

I had stepped forward and was still very pointedly aiming my blaster at Niall. He might be my great grandfather, but he would have to take Claudine over my dead body. Which might have been his plan, but somehow I didn't think that was his intention. However, taking out a few of the vampires might not bother him one bit.

Eric put his hand to my shoulder, not wanting me to get any closer to the situation unfolding in front of us.

"It is apparent that another claim has already been made on the child," Niall said.

The fairy's attention had not strayed from Jerahmeel, who was looking none too pleased with the fairy's appearance. In fact, as he stood in front of Niall, he almost seemed to glow with the power building along with his anger.

"No one has any claim on Claudine, and no one will, until she makes that decision for herself," I said definitively.

With the mention of the baby's name, Niall turned to look at me, and I could see that hearing the name brought back the memory of his granddaughter, my cousin, and the painful circumstances of her death and the death of her unborn child.

"A fitting name for the child that may yet prove the salvation of more than one race," Niall said.

I wasn't going to argue with that since it was probably true.

"Have you come back to continue your experiment with human lives? Haven't there been enough people hurt and killed?"

"You may try to lay what has happened at my door, granddaughter, but I have done nothing to harm you or yours. I have never intended to harm you, and do not have that intention now."

"I know what your lab was up to," I said.

"Then if you followed up on that work, you will know that I have done nothing to those involved but observe, hoping for the outcome that has now come about."

"But my grandmother…" I began.

"Your grandmother made her own choice, with no coercion from me or my son, Fintan. And when my son was killed, I sent my granddaughter to watch over you. I could have killed your vampire and broken the bond before it became permanent, freeing you to bear children, but I allowed you to choose your own life."

Eric snorted at that, obviously not believing that Niall would have been the one to survive if the fairy had challenged him.

"The one that aided those that harmed you is the one who now stands behind you, benefiting from your protection. I didn't kill him, although I should have. But he is my son."

I couldn't argue with any of that either, although he could have been lying to me about my grandfather Fintan, and whether he had used glamour to get my gran to consent to bear his children. Niall sounded like a defeated man when he spoke, as if the fact that he couldn't kill his own son made him something less than he should be. But the fact that he hadn't outright killed Dermott made me want to believe him.

"I didn't approach you with threats, violence or trickery, as that is what brought about the inevitable decline of our world. But I had hoped that after I made myself known to you, and eventually made our world known to you, that you would choose among your own people, and that you might be the one to bring back what we had lost."

I knew he wasn't talking about the human race when he talked about my "own" people.

"I don't know who my own are anymore, Great Grandfather. But I know who my family is. This is my family," I said, using a sweeping motion to indicate Eric and the other vampires, and including Dermott in that group. "And I had thought that you were part of that family too, but now I don't know."

"I have always been your family, Sookie, although I have not always been able to be close to you. But if you will allow me now to be a part of this, perhaps as a family we might set right the mistakes that were made long before either of us were born."

He turned then to look at Jerahmeel, who had not spoken since Niall appeared. The hounds, although still obviously on alert, stayed calm and watchful, Dante standing next to a large female, who may have been his mother. Even the pup seemed to be waiting.

"As the High Prince of the World of the Seelie Fae, I submit myself and my people to the judgment of the last of the Angels, with the hope that by reaching an understanding, we may bring back the magic that others have destroyed by their pride and arrogance."

I knew that there must be a lot that I was missing with this interchange, but Jerahmeel seemed to understand exactly what Niall was talking about. He spoke a quiet word to the dogs and they assumed a more casual demeanor, lying on the ground or going to sit at the Prince's feet.

"Eric?"

My voice was plaintive, not understanding exactly what was going on, but wanting to believe what Niall had been saying to me. I wanted to believe that Claudine would be safe with him, and that she could love him as I had before I began to doubt his intentions towards me.

Maybe Niall really hadn't planned to do anything more with the information he had garnered than watch and hope for an angel to be born. Hadn't Dermott said that the fairies believed that an angel would never be conceived by an act of violence? Of course I had proven him wrong, but hindsight is always twenty-twenty.

I had had the whole thing tied up in my mind, in a neat little package. I had seen how Claudine might have come to be what she was. I had envisioned what I thought was Niall's plan. I had been determined to meet that threat by whatever means necessary, even if that meant allying myself to a demon, or killing my own great grandfather. But maybe I had seen only a small part of the picture, and maybe it was time to find out the whole story.

"It is your decision to make, Kjære. I will kill him for you now, if that is what you want. I will do my best to eradicate the whole race from existence if that is what it takes to make you feel safe."

And God forgive me for my bloodthirsty heart, but the fact that he would say that to me and that he meant it, made me love him all the more.

I lowered my weapon, and stepped forward to lay my head against Eric's chest.

"I love you, sweetie," I whispered to him, before I turned back to Niall.

"I think it is time that we all sat down and put our cards on the table. No more secrets. There has been enough death."


	75. Chapter 75

CHAPTER 75

"Yes, there has been enough death," Jerahmeel said, the first words he had spoken since my great-grandfather had shown himself.

There was infinite sadness in his voice, and in the words he spoke. I felt for the first time, the weight of the years that he must have lived. He looked so young, and so vibrant. But he had no doubt seen more death than I could even conceive of, and I had seen more than my share in my short lifetime. But there was nothing to be said in rejoinder. We couldn't bring back the dead, even if we wanted to.

"How do we want to do this, Eric?" I asked my vampire.

We were still standing in the yard by the porch, still surrounded by our family members. Uncle Dermott was now on his feet, being watched cautiously by Daniel, and looking uncertain what to do now that Niall was here too.

Niall walked over a little closer to our group, with Jerahmeel close behind, the dogs milling around the fairy's feet. They were not acting aggressively, and were very quiet, but they exuded an aura of menace towards the fairy. Until he had been declared an ally, they were treating him with the utmost caution.

"I think we should let Brigant see the child, and then you should go to bed, Kjære. I can feel your exhaustion."

"Yes, I am very tired. It has been a long day. What about Dermott?"

My body was craving the soft sheets of our bed, and I knew that it would be time for Claudine to go to bed soon too. But what I wanted most of all right now, was some time alone with my vampire. I felt unsure of my own feelings, and there was just too much happening all at once, as so often was the case in my life any more.

"I will have Batanya and Clovache get him settled in somewhere. He can stay with us if you will feel more comfortable with that for now."

To have a fairy stay on the property was a big concession for Eric. As much as vampires thought of fairies as a delicious meal, almost irresistible once they got their scent, they didn't much care for them otherwise.

"Thank you, sweetie. I think that will be the best for now. I'll call my brother and let him know that Dermott's okay. He must be worried."

"I am sure your brother will be fine until tomorrow, Lover, but call him now if it makes you feel better."

There was a time that I would have taken Eric's tone as patronizing, but I knew him now, or at least I thought I did. He was right. It was late, for a human anyway, and Jason would probably be in bed, and probably not by himself. My brother would be more worried about getting laid than about Dermott's welfare. I could call him tomorrow.

"Shall we let Niall in the house then?" I asked Eric.

"Yes, I think that if he will give his word to do nothing untoward, then we might let him in to see Claudine."

While we were having this little discussion, it looked like Jerahmeel and Niall were having one of their own. From the look on Niall's face, I didn't think he was willing to cause any trouble with the demon or anyone under the demon's protection.

Dante, meanwhile, as if knowing that the crisis was over, was zipping about the same female hound he had stood next to earlier. Nipping at her ears, and jumping at her tail, he seemed to want to play, and the larger animal indulged him, pawing at him gently when Dante got too eager. Almost certainly his mother, I thought.

After a few moments of negotiation, Eric invited the fairy in. Jerahmeel gave some command to the dogs, who then circled the house and waited, standing at attention. We weren't going to have any further interruptions tonight.

When we entered the living room, Jordun had Claudine up on her feet, holding her hands and getting her to take a few steps, never letting her go of course. As soon as he saw who was walking in behind me, he scooped Claudine up into his arms. Thalia leaped in front of the baby before I could even see that she had moved. Her big broadsword was at the ready.

"Niall has come to see the baby, Thalia. It's okay, he won't hurt her," I said.

Thalia snarled, as if to say she would like to see him try. Mr. Cataliades got up from his seat on the couch and gave a quick bow in Niall's direction. Diantha stayed hidden. Either she had fallen asleep behind the couch, or she hoped we had all forgotten about her. The usual in-your-face half demon had turned incredibly shy once the Prince of Demons had entered the picture.

I took Claudine from Jordun's arms and turned to face the fairy.

"This is your great-great-granddaughter Claudine," I said to Niall, and watched his face break out in a genuine smile.

"As beautiful as her mother," he said, "and as precious as her namesake."

Claudine returned his smile and reached out for him, and after Eric had assured Jordun and the other vampires that it was okay, Niall held Claudine in his arms for the first time. He pulled her gently against his chest, sighing. And although I couldn't be sure, I thought maybe he might have shed a tear at the sheer joy of it, when she opened her wings.

My heart melted. For so many years, I had been convinced that I would never have a family of my own, except my brother, and sometimes even that relationship was pretty doubtful. But here I was, surrounded by loved ones, watching my great-grandfather holding my daughter for the first time. I have to admit that it brought tears to my eyes too. It was good to have family.

Claudine was working her own brand of magic on the whole room as she wiggled free of Niall's close embrace and held out her hand to him. Showing off her best trick, she produced a small firefly in the palm of hand and then waited for the fairy's reaction.

His first response was more in the vein of shock and awe, but then he laughed, causing Claudine to giggle and shriek. The whole room relaxed with that sound, as if it was a promise for the future.

"Sit down, great-grandfather," I said, directing Niall to a seat on the couch. "Uncle, why don't you sit over here?"

Dermott was obviously reluctant to come further into the room, but if we were going to have a truce, it was going to include all or none if I had anything to say about it.

"There is some cake left. You must be hungry," I said to Dermott, directing him to the chair opposite my great-grandfather.

"It is the food of the gods," Jerahmeel said, giving a pointed look at Niall.

I wasn't sure what the significance of that was, but Niall seemed to get the point, and he looked abashed for a moment.

"Thank you, granddaughter," Niall said as I laid a slice of cake on a plate and put it on the table in front of him.

"Now," I said. "I think it is too late to decide the fate of the world, or to reveal the secrets of the universe. If, as I suspect, this stuff goes back to things that happened centuries ago, then one more night isn't going to make a bit of difference. So, I think we should just eat our cake and then I am going to put Claudine to bed. She is up way past her bedtime."

As if to show that it didn't make a bit of difference to her what time it was, Claudine took that opportunity to stick her finger into Niall's slice of chocolate cake and smear it all over her dress. I just rolled my eyes. Grace was going to have a fit when she did the laundry. Of course, when I told her what Jerahmeel had said about her cake, she would be mollified. Well, until she saw that Bubba had left a load of laundry for her too.

"If we may abuse your hospitality for one more evening, My Lady, we might meet tomorrow night to further our discussion," Jerahmeel said.

"I would ask for your oaths, that my wife and child will be unmolested during the daylight hours," Eric said.

I could feel what it cost Eric to ask that. It had never been more apparent how much of a disadvantage vampires suffered, to be so vulnerable during the day. His first impulse would be to kill them both while they were outnumbered, rather than to risk that they would have the upper hand while he was sleeping. But instead, he was trusting to a code of honor, accepting their oath that I would be safe.

"You already have my promise of protection of your lady and of the child," Jerahmeel said, and his voice left no room for doubt that his statement was a threat to Niall.

"You have my oath that the child and her mother will be unmolested by me or my people," Niall said.

"And Dermott?" I added.

"He is your creature," Niall said. "And as such, I will leave him to you."

Well, there were going to have to be some fences mended in that field, I thought, as I watched the look of rejection steal across Dermott's face. But at least for now, he was safe from Niall's anger, and none of our people would go after him while he was here with Eric's blessing.

It was another hour before we managed to get up to the bedroom. The visitors had all said their goodbyes, Niall poofing out of the room, and the Prince leading his pack of hellhounds through a portal to his world.

When we finally opened the bedroom door, poor forgotten Bob scurried out, skirting Eric's large body hulking in the doorframe and sliding on the floor in his haste to get out. The witch was smart enough, even in cat form, not to linger too close to Eric if he could avoid it. Eric sniffed the air and snorted, as if disgusted with the smell of cat in the room.

"Maybe Bubba will eat that cat," he said.

"He better not, or he and I will have words," I threatened.

Eric chuckled, as if having words with Bubba was something he could just envision, and would no doubt enjoy immensely, at my expense.

"Vampires!" I said. "Kiss your daughter and let's go to bed, Eric."

Claudine had her kiss and a quick snuggle from her dad, then settled quietly in to her crib while I took care of my human needs in the bathroom. She was pretty much worn out, and I hoped she would let me sleep for a little bit in the morning.

"Stranger than fiction," I sighed as I exited the bathroom, washed, brushed and ready to be off my feet, hopefully swept off of them.

"To what are you referring, Lover?" Eric asked.

I watched as he pulled down the bedclothes, and sat on the side of the bed to remove his boots. He sounded weary, and maybe a little bit uncertain.

"Our life," I answered. "This could all be part of a fairy tale."

"It is a fairy tale, Sookie, and you are the fairy princess."

"And what does that make you?"

"Obviously not the fair prince," he said, and I detected a little bit of irritation when he said that.

"You are my prince, sweetie. Actually my king, which is even better," I said, as I walked towards him.

He sounded a little bit jealous, and I kind of liked that, although obviously he didn't.

"Isn't there a story about a prince being turned into a toad?" Eric asked. "Maybe you should consult your witch about that possibility."

He grinned a little at the thought, and I couldn't help but grin too, picturing a frog with those emerald green eyes and deep, dark wings. Disney would have a field day with that.

"In the story, the princess has to kiss the toad I think. And I would much rather kiss my king," I said, kissing the top of Eric's head.

"When he touches you, I want to kill him," he said bluntly, almost ripping the buttons off as he pulled off his shirt.

"I know, sweetie. But I will be very upset with you if you kill him. And he only touches me when he needs to, and it isn't anything like when you touch me."

"And what is it like when I touch you, my wife?"

He slid his hand under the hem of my nightie, and touched me softly, in a very delicate and sensitive place.

When I could catch my breath, I answered him.

"My body comes alive to your touch."

"As does mine," he said, but his hands had come to rest on my skin, and he had gone still.

"Okay, spit it out. What's on your mind?" I asked.

I knew that something was bothering my vampire, even if I hadn't already felt the turmoil of his emotions. He was still sitting there in his slacks, and Eric never wasted any time getting out of his clothes when I was ready for bed. He looked thoughtfully at me for a moment, and then turned his head away slightly, wrapping his hands around my hips and pulling me close.

"I'm sorry that I cannot give you children," he said.

"We have a child, Eric," I said, not sure if anything I could say could erase the hurt that filled his voice.

"Yes, and although I regret the circumstances, I am very happy to have our daughter, but…"

"There are no buts, Eric. We are a family, and that is what I wanted more than anything else in the world. And that is because of you, not just because of Claudine. I have no regrets."

Well, I suppose that was not completely true. I regretted all the horrible things that had happened to so many that I had loved or admired. And I regretted that Eric couldn't feel the joy that a child of his own would have brought him. But I couldn't regret that I had chosen Eric, or that Claudine had been conceived, or that I had acquired our family, even if it wasn't quite the American ideal.

"The Prince…" he began.

"The Prince is a very handsome and interesting creature," I said. "And I'm sure he will make some woman very happy some day," I added, thinking that woman might very well be Claudine.

"But that woman won't be me. There is only one man, vampire, whatever, that will ever bring me happiness, Eric, and that is you. So, take me to bed, and to hell with the Prince of Darkness."


	76. Chapter 76

CHAPTER 76

I felt barely rested by the time Claudine woke me up the next morning.

"Good morning, angel. Give me a few minutes to wash up, and we'll get your breakfast," I told my little girl as I kissed the top of her head.

She had pulled herself up on the side of her crib, and was holding on for dear life, unsure how to sit herself back down. I plopped her back onto her well-padded butt, and handed her the stuffed collie that had become one of her favorite bedtime companions.

I was out of the bathroom in no time, a towel wrapped around my head, feeling starved, and hoping that Grace would have something good to eat downstairs after I nursed and changed the baby.

Not only was Grace serving breakfast, but she was serving it to Amelia, Jason and Dermott.

"Well good morning, y'all. I'm surprised to see everybody here so early," I said, greeting the crowd at my kitchen table.

I quickly pulled the towel off my hair, and ran my fingers through it. I hadn't expected an audience this early in the day.

"Hey Sookie, it's hardly early," Amelia said brightly, setting her coffee cup down on the table.

"Niece," Uncle Dermott said with his usual curt greeting.

"Morning, Grace. You won't believe what Jerahmeel said about your chocolate torte."

I said this to Grace's backside as I put Claudine in her high chair and put some cheerios in front of her. Grace must have been miffed about something, or she would have turned around to greet me. Instead, she just kept quietly busy at the stove, turning over the bacon frying in the pan. My stomach growled in response to the heavenly smell.

"He said it was the food of the gods," I threw out.

That got a response, and Grace looked over her shoulder and harrumphed.

"Hey sis. I came over to pick up Uncle Dermott. That sweet lady that makes the best breakfast in town gave me a call and said he was here," he said, looking over at Grace. "You should have called me and I could have come over last night."

I looked over at Dermott, who was moving his eggs around on his plate, looking a little the worse for wear.

"I didn't want to bother you in case you had company, Jason. I was going to call you this morning."

Jason gave me a big grin, and I knew that I had been right. Jason had found somebody else to put up with him for the night. What a slut my brother was.

"Did you sleep okay, Uncle? You can stay here longer if you want, you don't have to go back to Jason's right away."

"I think he wants to get back to his woods, Sook. And it's gettin' a little bit quiet out to my place."

"He can speak for himself, Jason," I told my brother.

But Dermott didn't argue the point, and maybe it was better to let him go home with Jason so he would be out of Niall's way that evening. I wondered how Dermott's presence made Jason's house less quiet though. Dermott seemed like he rarely said much of anything.

"What's up for today, Sookie? You got anything that needs doing?"

"Actually I do, Amelia. I wanted to move the furniture around in the living room a bit, and see if we couldn't fit a few more chairs in there. We've got a meeting tonight, and I'd like everyone to be able to sit down."

"Sure we could do that. Maybe Jason could help us."

"Well, me and Dermott were gonna maybe work out by the pond today, Amelia. We've been puttin' in a garden, and it's lookin' real good."

That was news to me. Maybe Dermott really was adding something to Jason's life. Or maybe it was the other way around.

"No problem, brother. We've got lots of guys around here to help if we need it."

"I see you got that dog out there, sis. You get it from somebody around here? I bet if you got yourself a female, you could sell the pups for guard dogs. He is one ferocious looking animal, even if he is a pup. He's a real sweetie though. He was licking my hand and he already knows how to sit and roll over."

I could just imagine Jason walking up to a strange hellhound and telling it to rollover. And considering that the dog wasn't even female, I was sort of surprised that the dog had done it.

"I don't think I want to get into the dog breeding business, Jason."

"Mr. Blackman said he could come by with a report this afternoon, or he could fax it to you," Grace said as she set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of me, and poured me a big cup of coffee.

I took a sip and sighed. It was a beautiful day, and I was glad to be alive. And I had a very positive feeling about the outcome of tonight's meeting.

"Well, we're about to head out," Jason said, ruffling Claudine's hair and giving her a peck on the cheek as he headed to the door.

I stopped Dermott before he could follow Jason out, and gave him a big hug.

"Uncle Dermott, you come by anytime to see me and Claudine. You are always welcome here," I said.

"Thank you, niece," he answered, and headed out to Jason's truck.

"Amelia, can you keep on eye on the baby for a few minutes while I make a call?" I said after I had wolfed down my breakfast.

"Sure, Sook. No problem. We'll just practice walking, won't we angel baby?" she cooed to Claudine. "And then soon we'll be flying."

"Why is everybody but me so anxious for that baby to take off into the air," I said in exasperation.

It was just what I didn't need, to have Claudine fly off somewhere when Eric wasn't around to go chasing her down.

I went into Eric's office to call Carl Blackman. I didn't think I needed the DNA results anymore, but I would have Carl fax them to me anyway. I was actually more interested in hearing what Bill had to say about the people that he was observing. If and when I ever talked to Bill again.

"Mr. Blackman? This is Sookie Northman. My housekeeper said you called?"

"Oh, yes, hello Mrs. Northman. I have your results from the DNA testing. I can run those by the house for you if you like, or I could fax you my report."

"It would be great if you could just fax it to me, Mr. Blackman, and maybe you could just tell me over the phone about what you found out, in layman's terms? I'm afraid I'm not very scientific."

That was an understatement. I was about as scientific as a toothpick.

"Well, sure. I can do that. Let me just get my copy. Here it is."

I heard papers rustling, and Mr. Blackman cleared his throat before he began to speak.

"Now, the original samples all had the same anomaly, as we discussed earlier. I found that anomaly in two of the new samples, the feathers. I was able to get a good sample from the coffee mug, but I wasn't able to find that same anomaly."

That had been what I was expecting. All of the people that Niall had been looking at, as well as Claudine and the Prince, would hold some thing in common. They were all descended from the angels. And I would guess that difference is where the telepathy came from. But not Dermott, so the angels were genetically different than the other fairies.

"Anything else, Mr. Blackman?"

"Yes. I would say that there was common ancestry with the coffee mug sample, with yourself, Hunter Savoy, and, I know this sounds incredible, but with the smaller feather. Although these all appear at first glance to be human DNA, there are some unique markers that I am not able to identify. I went back to the original samples and looked at them all again, and I can't explain them."

"There are also six identifiable mutational differences in the larger feather that appear to be held in common with the smaller feather, but they are definitely not avian in nature. Three of those seem to appear in your sample also, but are absent from any of the others. I'm afraid that I can't explain the findings. I would be glad to go through these again, but without additional sample material, I don't think I will come up with anything new. There is always some room for lab error, of course, although I have been very careful with the handling of the material."

"I am sure that you were, Mr. Blackman. I don't think we need to rerun any of the tests at this point. I'm sorry that I can't give you any other explanations, but if you would just gather all of the stuff you have so far, I will have Mr. Cataliades come and pick it up in the next few days. It is important that no records be left in the lab."

"Yes, Ma'am. I understand that this is a personal matter, and I will be completely discrete about it. All records in the lab will be wiped off the computers."

"Thank you Mr. Blackman for your help with this. I'll make sure to mention something to Mr. Cataliades about your compensation."

So, the angels were different from the fairies. Claudine, Hunter, Dermott and I showed the signs of our fairy blood, but not the other angel descendents. And Niall hadn't been lying when he said he was only observing. He hadn't managed to breed his fairies to the angel descendents. Either that, or my grandmother had been the test case, and he hadn't gotten around to anyone else yet.

Claudine and Jerahmeel had some kind of mutation, and that was unique to the angels, except not completely, since some of those mutations were in me too. Where that had come from, there was no telling. But perhaps that was what had made Claudine who she was.

And we all had DNA that appeared to be human, but with a difference of one kind or another. Well, hadn't I heard on some science show that we weren't much different genetically from many other kinds of critters? It didn't take much difference in your DNA to make you one kind of thing or another. I wondered what Charles Darwin would have to say about all of this. And I sort of wondered what the DNA of a vampire would reveal. But better just to leave well enough alone, especially since I wasn't really sure I understood any of this completely.

"Sookie, you about ready to move this stuff?" Amelia called from the living room.

"Sure Amelia. How about you direct the show, I hold Claudine, and we get a few of the weres in to move the big stuff," I suggested.

"I always like to see a big guy when he is working out his muscles, Sook. You think we can get them to take off their shirts first?" she said with a laugh.

"Gads, Amelia, you are so bad! But go ahead and ask if you want. I can't, or Eric will have to kill them," I said, and although I laughed, I wasn't completely joking about that.

"Better not in that case," she said. "Here, take the baby and I'll get a couple of the guys."

"Let's just practice your steps, angel," I told Claudine while I waited.

I put the baby on the floor, and taking hold of her hands, I pulled her up to a standing position.

"Now, pick up your feet, one at a time," I directed, giving her a little tug in my direction.

Seeming to know what to do, Claudine picked one foot up and moved it forward, then the other. It wasn't the smoothest motion, since she seemed to prefer walking on tippy-toes, but after a few steps, she seemed to get the hang of it, and I was pulling her around in a circle. Without giving her any warning, I let go for a moment and she took one step by herself, then another.

"Oh my god, she's walking!" Amelia shrieked, startling us both, and causing Claudine to lose her balance.

She went plummeting down on to her butt and let out first a gasp as the wind was knocked out of her, and then a shriek. I scooped her up and cuddled her in my arms before she could wind herself up to tears.

"You were walking, Claudine! Oh, your daddy will be so happy and surprised. He will be so sorry that he missed it!"

"I guess it's time she learned to fly now," Travis said as he followed Amelia into the room.

"Good Lord! What is it with you guys! I don't want her to fly until she's twenty-one!"

"You gotta let her go sometime, Sookie," Amelia said.

"Oh for goodness's sake, Amelia. She isn't even a year old for two whole weeks. Why does everyone want to see her flying off into the sunset?" I said, and I found myself crying.

Mark pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to me. I think all of the weres carried one as standard equipment now, since I was like a public waterworks, crying over nothing all of the time.

"Geez Louise," I said.

"Come on, Sook. Let's get this furniture moved, and then we can talk about Claudine's birthday party. I thought we ought to stick with the fairy theme. What do you think?"

I just rolled my eyes.

By the time Amelia left for Bon Temps, after a score of winks and nods at the were's backsides, and complete with a supplies list for the birthday party, it was about time for the vampires to wake. Claudine was having a little nap, and I took a cup of coffee outside to sit with the dog and watch the sunset out on the grass.

"So what do you think about all of this, Dante? Do you miss your mom? We're awfully glad to have you here," I told the dog.

"You think he understands you, Ma'am?" Mark said as he walked over to me, looking apologetic about disturbing my privacy.

"Yes, I think he understands quite a bit of what goes on. He's still a kid though, so maybe not as much as the adult hounds do."

"Yeah, I guess we all learn as we go. Is everything going all right with you, Ma'am? I know it's not really my business, but you know that we all think a lot of you and Miss Claudine, especially seeing as how we were almost there when she was born. And I've been noticing that you've been looking awfully tired lately. Maybe there is something we could do to help out?"

"You just being here is more help than you'll ever know, Mark. You and Travis. I know I can count on you, and believe me, there have been times when I have prayed for that, for someone I could call on if I was in trouble."

"Yes, Ma'am, I gathered it hasn't always been easy for you. I guess it might not always be easy now. But you let us know if there's anything we can do."

"Thanks, Mark. Listen," I said, a thought coming to me. "There is maybe one thing you could do, that would be a big help."

"Just name it."

"Well, I was thinking I was going to order one of those jungle gyms for Claudine for her first birthday. And you weren't there when Eric and the vamps set up her little playhouse, but it really was a circus. Maybe you guys could assemble it for me when it comes? Although I have a feeling if Eric gets wind of it, he will insist on doing it himself."

Mark laughed at the thought of Eric putting together a jungle gym.

"Well, you know, Ma'am, the Vikings were famous for the warships that they built. He might surprise you. But you just let me know and we'll be out there with the toolbox. It will be great to see Miss Claudine going down a slide. Although how she'll manage that with those wings I have no idea."

"Yeah, there is always that to consider. But we'll manage with a little magic."

A little magic, I thought, yawning a bit in spite of my late afternoon coffee break. Just a little magic had managed to transform my life from small town waitress to vampire queen. Just a little magic and some very quirky DNA. Life was definitely stranger than fiction.

Wishing that I had taken a nap, since I couldn't remember ever feeling so exhausted, I hauled myself up off the ground to go in and heat up some blood for dinner. They would all wake up hungry, and I wasn't going to be on Eric's menu, since Jerahmeel and Niall were expected early this evening.

"Speak of the devil," I said as Eric walked into the kitchen carrying the baby. "Or should I say speak of the angel."

"Were you speaking of me, Lover?"

"No, just thinking about you. I'll warm you up some blood. You're up a little early tonight," I said as I began to pull bottles of True Blood out of the fridge.

"I think the baby was calling me. She was awake in her crib," as he leaned over to give me a kiss.

"I just went out to see the sunset. I figured you'd be up before she was. She didn't nap for very long."

"You should have napped too, Dear One. You look tired."

"Yes, I think I am a bit."

"You moved furniture today? It seems that our house has been rearranged."

"Amelia and I did it. Well, actually Mark and Travis did the actual work, and Amelia supervised. I thought it would be nice if the whole family sat in on this discussion tonight, so we wanted to fit in more chairs. What I was thinking was that Batanya and Clovache can head up outside security tonight, and Travis said he had plenty of weres to cover an extra shift. We could always ask Prince Jerry to call in a few hounds maybe. And now that you are such a popular king and have so many vampires, there are always plenty to go around at Fangtasia. This way, we can all be here tonight, except Pam."

"That was very considerate of you. Pam will be sorry to miss this."

"Oh shit, Pam! She's going to be mad at me."

"Surely it is not your fault that she is in Las Vegas, Sookie. Why would she be mad at you?"

"Oh, that's right! I haven't told you yet! You won't believe what happened today, Eric. I was so sorry that you couldn't see it. Claudine walked all by herself! Well, not very far, but I wasn't holding her up!"

"Well, aren't you the most enterprising child!" he said to Claudine, giving her a little kiss on the cheek. "I am very proud of you. Now, you will have to let me teach her to fly, Sookie."

"Gads! If I hear that one more time!"

"Before you lose your temper and brandish me with that bottle you are carrying, Lover, perhaps we might get back to why Pam is going to be mad at you."

"Oh!" I said, realizing that I was still holding Eric's blood in my hand. "Let me get a glass."

"The bottle is fine," he said, but I got a glass out of the cupboard and poured some of the blood into it, then set it in front of the vampire. He managed to grab it before Claudine could knock it off the table, and I went to get her a sippy cup full of milk.

"Well, she wanted to be here when Claudine took her first steps, and she told me not to let Claudine walk until she got home. It's just like when she told me not to have the baby until she got home, as if I could control when I went into labor. But I managed to wait long enough on that one. I just didn't think about it today, and I was so excited that she was really ready to walk."

"Pam will survive this ordeal, Sookie. I am sure she has seen greater challenges in her long life."

"And what will Pam survive?" I heard from the doorway, as Jordun walked in. I popped another bottle into the microwave.

"Morning, Jordun, did you sleep well?"

"Yes, sister, like the dead as always. We were talking about Pam?"

"Just wait until everybody gets up, and I will have Claudine demonstrate," I said, "if she will do it again. She was walking today."

"Ah, she is one of a kind, no doubt," Jordun teased.

By the time everyone was up and about, and dinner had been consumed, we headed into the living room to see if Claudine would perform before a bigger audience. This time she managed six steps, and Eric beamed with pride at her accomplishment.

"The most remarkable baby in the world," he said, and he sure wasn't kidding about that one.

"I hope we will find out just how she became so remarkable, since the two Princes will be here any minute," Jan said.

"Oh, I better put out the dessert. Grace made a chocolate cream pie. I think Grace is the Prince of Darkness's biggest fan."

"Jerahmeel is very charming," Thalia said.

The usually sullen vampire blushed as she said this, causing Thomas to emit a menacing growl.

"If the Prince wins over any more of your women, brother, I think you will be forced to kill him," Jordun said.

As if he knew that we were talking about him, Jerahmeel, Prince of Demons opened a portal between the two worlds, and popped into our living room.


	77. Chapter 77

CHAPTER 77

Dante went a little nuts when he saw the Prince, ramming into Jerahmeel's legs and almost knocking him over in surprise. The Prince laughed, and leaned over to pet the hound, who was almost dancing with excitement to see his Master.

"Good evening, My Lady," Jerahmeel greeted me graciously.

Jerahmeel had made some effort to modernize his look, trading in his Sherwood Forest pants for very nicely fitting jeans, tucked into black leather boots. I wondered if he had sent Mr. Cataliades shopping. I couldn't imagine this guy in the Wal-Mart, or any other place on this earth actually.

His shirt was his usual tunic, but then I knew from experience with Claudine, that it wasn't too easy to get a tee shirt to fit with wings. And his glorious wings were a lot fuller and longer than Claudine's. He had tied his hair back with a simple leather cord, and he looked quite beautiful as always. Of course I made a point to not keep my gaze on him too long. No use to start Eric off in a pissy mood.

"Good evening. Let me introduce you to my family," I said.

The introductions only took a few moments, introducing each of our vampires in turn. There were lots of nods, and in the usual manner of vampires, very little small talk. Niall arrived shortly after, coming to the door rather than just popping in. I repeated the introductions before we all sat down for our little meeting, Claudine playing on my lap, and Dante settling down at the Prince's feet.

Niall and the Prince looked at each other with some hostility. I wasn't sure what that was about, but I had a feeling that it wasn't so much personal, but something that started long ago, cultural perhaps?

"It is in all of our best interests to understand what has led us to this situation," Eric began.

"And I think it might be a good idea to set a few ground rules," I said, before anyone could start off.

"Mr. Cataliades isn't here, but he was very direct about the protocol of dealing with the Demon world. We were led to believe that information wasn't something that you get for free. I just want to know what we are committing ourselves to, so that there aren't any misunderstandings."

My vampires all seemed to approve of my little speech, and Eric patted me on the leg, as if he were proud that I had taken the initiative.

"It is a tradition among my people to consider information as a commodity, that is true," the Prince responded. "In our infrequent dealings with the humans, we have found that what demands a high price is valued accordingly. In this situation, I believe we may consider a free exchange of information to be of value to all concerned and as such, I will set no price. However, any agreement that is arrived at would be subject to negotiation, and any promises that are sworn to should be well considered. We do not take oath breaking lightly."

"I think we can all agree that what is said here must be the truth as we know it, that any agreements that are negotiated must be held to, and that anything said here tonight must be kept in the strictest confidence," Eric said, summing it up nicely.

Both of the men looked at Niall, who nodded in agreement. He was looking a little sullen, and I had a feeling he wasn't used to, and didn't care to be in a situation where he might not be considered the top dog. Unlike Eric, who had had to bow before his queen, and later king, Niall had been the ruler in his little piece of the universe for quite some time. Now, he was in a room surrounded by vampires, a natural enemy of the fairies, and with two other sovereigns who might very well be more powerful than he was, especially if they were allies.

"I guess we are all here tonight because of our interest in Claudine. And I guess it's time to find out just what that interest is. Because it seems to me, that if we can all sit down like civilized beings and come to some kind of agreement on what everyone wants out of this situation, then maybe we can focus on the real threat to Claudine, the humans. Cause if they find out about her, every nutcase on the planet is going to want to a piece of her."

"She would be safe in the world of the Fae," my great grandfather said. "All would revere her there."

Eric seemed like he was about to start snarling, but I just poked him and continued on.

"That is just not going to happen, Niall. And you've gotta know that anything that you offer is a little suspect at this point, considering what has happened in the past. What are you even doing here? I thought you closed the portals, and then you show up in my yard. You could have called me or something, let me know you were here, instead of sneaking around spying on us. Why did you even come back?"

"I came for my son, but I stayed when I discovered that you had conceived a child," he said. "You must understand why she is so important to my people. They are your people too."

I wasn't going to get into the "who were whose people" discussion with Niall or anyone else.

"Dermott said that when the angels left the fae world, the fairies began to die off," I said. "But he also said there weren't any more angels, and I guess that wasn't exactly true," I added.

"It is true that the angels that lived in our world perished," Niall said. "But some of our angels lived in other worlds for a time, and we were led to believe that they had perished too."

Jerahmeel scowled a bit at the usage of the term "our" angels, but he didn't offer any more information.

"So, you guys began to die off, and there were very few children born, so you were hoping what? That the descendents of the angels would breed with you or that they would bring back your race somehow?"

"Yes," he said. "Some of course disagreed with that idea, and blamed the interbreeding of humans and angels for the angel's extinction. They thought that our interaction with the humans, angelic or not, would only hasten our end."

"Well, I guess I know about that," I thought, not wanting to dwell on that group of fairies.

"And some of you were able to identify those that carried angel blood?" I asked, thinking of the angel spots that we had seen on the photos.

"Yes."

"So now, you think that Claudine can bring back the children to your world?"

"Already your angelic blood has influenced the course of the fairy world. The pairings of human and fae rarely produce children, and yet in your family, there have been three. My granddaughter Claudine waited for hundreds of years to become with child, and it is only after her time with you that she conceived."

Of course I had figured out most all of this for myself, but I was interested in what he had said about me having something to do with my cousin Claudine's pregnancy.

"So what do you mean that Claudine only got pregnant after spending time with me?"

"The angels can bestow fertility," Jerahmeel chimed in. "It is one of our most precious gifts."

"And would you withhold that gift from us now that we are dying? To punish us for our past arrogance?" Niall snapped at the Prince, distracting me from responding to Jerahmeel's last remark.

If Niall wanted to fool anyone into thinking that his arrogance was something that was in the past, he needed to practice his body language. It was my opinion that there wasn't a humble bone in that man's body.

"And would you welcome back those that were exiled from your world? Would you still exalt yourselves in the face of those who do not meet your standards of power and beauty?"

Jerahmeel looked downright angry as he said this, and his skin took on a fine glow of contained energy. It felt like there was a volcano in the room, ready to erupt, and I didn't think I wanted to be anywhere near the fallout.

"You know, you two obviously have a lot of baggage here, that the rest of us don't know anything about. Maybe you can both calm down a bit, before somebody gets really upset, and we end up with a big mess on the floor," I said.

The Prince gave me that same look that I had seen on his face before, amusement, but at least he didn't look quite so angry anymore.

"There has been much lore of the angelic race in the human world," Eric interjected. "As is so often the case with the humans, they have embellished their stories and used them to interpret their reason for existence or to explain away natural phenomenon that they didn't understand or that was beyond their control. Like the legends of the vampire, some of these myths are no doubt based on the truth, but so distorted as to no longer portray reality. Perhaps it is time to unveil the truth and see what part my daughter plays in this story."

Claudine, hearing her father's little speech, decided that she wanted her daddy, and reached out from my lap to Eric. He took her into his arms, unselfconsciously pricked his finger on a fang, and stuck it in her mouth. She settled into his lap, sucking away happily, as if he was one big pacifier. No one in the room batted an eye.

I almost didn't want to hear what Jerahmeel and Niall had to say about the history of the angels. Most people had a picture of what roll the angels played, even though that had only been lightly touched on in the Bible. Gran had raised me with her own interpretation of angels, and it had often brought me comfort.

"We all have our own personal guardian angel sent from God," she would tell me when I was small. "They watch over us, and keep us from harm."

It was a given that the angels were all beautiful, being created to serve right there in Heaven where God could see them everyday. The fallen angels, those that had tried to defy God's will, well, they were another story. They sounded hideous and evil, and of course they were just sitting right there next to you, waiting to tempt you into sin and drag your soul down with them, away from the sight of God.

"When the devil isn't fishing for souls, he is mending his nets," Gran would say.

Not that Gran had been a fire and brimstone kind of Christian. She had liked to look for where God had granted blessings. But she believed firmly in the devil and that we were all subject to temptation.

She certainly had been, although it hadn't been a demon that had tempted her as it turned out. Still, I hated to let go of the idea of angels as someone that looked out for us, even though no angel had ever yet come to my aid no matter how much I had prayed. All right, I had one in my living room now, but he hadn't come in answer to my prayers, he had come with his own agenda.

On the other hand, the idea that I might find out how life had really begun was an exciting thought, and I listened eagerly as Jerahmeel began to tell the story of the angels.

"I was born into the world that is called Demon," the Prince began. "My father was Ariel, and my mother, Sofiel. They had already left the world of the Fae, following those that were called the Unseelie."

That word was familiar to me. Fairy tales told of the Seelie, the beautiful fae, the ones that looked and acted the most like humans, and the Unseelie, that were hideous, malicious and evil. My great grandfather had said that he represented the Seelie.

"The angels had discovered that there were other worlds besides the world of the fairies, and were able to open portals between these worlds. Two worlds were found, Earth and Demon. The Fairy world was considered the most beautiful and bountiful, the human world the most diverse. The Demon world had very little natural beauty, at least in the eyes of the fairies, but it was fertile and uninhabited."

He didn't speak of the world of he Britlingens, but then Quinn had said that it was actually another dimension. I hadn't ever quite got a handle on what that might mean, but that question could wait for later.

"The world of the humans was the largest of the worlds, and was sparsely populated. The people here were very primitive still, living in small clans, gathering what subsistence they could from the fertile areas of the earth."

"So do you know how the people came to be here?"

"No. I know only what I was told as a child, before my parents died. But they spoke of the humans as being somewhat different then from what they later became."

"But there was no god that sent the angels there? You just found us by accident?"

"Yes. The humans have had many gods, but none that I have ever met."

Not that that really proved anything about God, but it did make you wonder. If the Bible had gotten it wrong about the angels, well…. But this was no time to be soul searching.

"So I guess your people didn't see the dinosaurs or things like that?"

The Prince smiled again, as if remembering something fondly from his childhood.

"No. I can remember the humans finding their bones, which lay closer then to the surface. They created stories about the giants and the fire-breathing dragons that once flew over the earth. But those great beasts were already gone by the time we found your world."

"You spoke of an exile to the world of Demon," Eric prompted.

"The people of the fae world came in many forms, diverse in their bodies and in their magics. They lived together peacefully since time began, loving where they would, equals in the eyes of the law. The angels were one of many races of the fae world, although perhaps the most powerful. Over time, a hierarchy was established. Those fae that most resembled the angels in beauty or magic were held in the highest esteem. Those that failed to meet that standard were assigned to the lowest ranks."

"The disparity grew and there was great dissatisfaction among many of those that were by then being called the Unseelie. The angels took sides, those that held all of the people of fae as equals, and those that judged them by their physical characteristics. When the world of Demon was found to be uninhabited, those that held power began to send the Unseelie away to that world."

"Some were allowed to stay, those that agreed to serve the Seelie, like the Brownies, but they held an inferior position. The Seelie were careful to keep their bloodlines pure. They might take a lover from one of the Unseelie, but if the child born of that union did not look Seelie, he was sent away to Demon. Their ideal was to breed with the angels, and for their children to have wings."

The Demon Prince held us all rapt in attention with his tale. I noticed that Niall let Jerahmeel tell the story, and didn't contradict him at any point. Neither did he look pleased.

"But something unexpected happened when the world was divided. Those that were sent away thrived, while those that remained in fairy were weakened, even the angels. And when the angels began to die, the children born of fairy and angel died along with their parents."

"Some few of the angels left the fae world then along with the Unseelie, and came to Demon, my parents among them. They took up the mantle of leadership there, and closed the portals to fairy, to avoid whatever it was that was killing our kind. I was the last angel to be born, and the only one that survived."

"And you came to check on the children that were born to humans?"

"Yes," he said, looking at Thalia. "There were very few, but some of those children survived."

Well, no wonder the stories talked of all of the angels being male. Probably the only one that had been seen in human memory was Jerahmeel. And maybe the stories of the fallen angels were somehow based on the angels that left the fairy world and ended up in the world of Demon.

"And do you think that the reason the fairies are dying out is because they have no angels?"

I held my hand up to hold off Niall's comments. I knew he wanted to answer this question, but he had already given his opinion, and I wanted Jerahmeel's.

"Perhaps. But they had already weakened themselves, when they destroyed the harmony of that world by sending away those that they did not find pleasing to their eyes."

"And do you think that the exile had anything to do with the angels dying?"

"Again, I don't know. But I rather think that we were like the dinosaurs, and our time to exist had come to an end. I have asked myself for millennia why I alone survived, but to that question I have found no answer."

Tears welled up in my eyes at the bleakness of his voice. He sounded lonely as the wind.


	78. Chapter 78

CHAPTER 78

In the way of children, Claudine seemed to notice the lull in the conversation, and that no one had paid her any attention at all for quite some time. So, grabbing the limelight, she started struggling to get down from Eric's lap, reaching for Dante.

The hound bounded over to her, knocking into everyone on his way over to our side of the room, rustling a few feathers in his path, literally. Eric let her down onto the floor, and she began to pound on the poor pup's head, mimicking the way she had seen the adults petting him.

He licked her face once, eliciting a shriek of surprise from Claudine, then slithering out of her grasp, he ducked under the table, almost knocking it over with his bulk. She crawled after him, and he darted out the other side in a game of chase.

The mood of the room lightened with the antics of the two youngsters and even Niall managed a smile of appreciation.

"Without children, there is no future. The world loses hope and it stagnates," he said mournfully.

"And yet, you killed Breandon's child," I said, the accusation clear in my voice.

My great grandfather made no response.

When Niall had come to me as I was still recovering from the fairy attack, he had told me that he had spared Breandon's mate, since females were so precious to their world, but he had not spared the child of his enemy.

At the time, I had been so swamped with my own hurts and sorrows, that I hadn't really thought that through, letting it all wash over me along with all the other machinations of the supe world that I had heard about. But now, it rankled in my heart.

Children were killed every day in our world. From war, disease, neglect, accident, and of course sometimes intentionally. But to think of a cold-blooded killing of a child for politics, for power, that was another thing.

Fairies weren't the only ones guilty of such crimes. Humanity had slaughtered thousands, millions, and hadn't spared the children in their greed for power and dominance. Petty grievances turned into grudges and feuds that lasted hundreds of years, all members of a family or race being considered fair game.

And of course, I could just look around my own room. I shared my roof with vampires that had mastered the art of murder for a thousand years. But they did not kill children. Did that fine line excuse anything or make them any better? Or was I just justifying their actions because they were predators. "Like lions," I had told Eric once.

Weren't we all predators? Killing whatever was needed to insure our survival? Or were we just murderers? And if there was no one sitting in judgment of our actions, did that mean that the laws that we lived by, that determined what was right or what was wrong, were just arbitrary guidelines, allowing us to form communities?

I felt Eric looking at me intently, a question in his eyes. He couldn't read my thoughts as I could his, but he knew when an idea was forming in my mind. But he didn't say anything. He didn't pull me aside to discuss anything, to advise or caution.

"You know Grace, don't you Niall? She baked today, chocolate cream pie," I said.

"Yes, I know her," he answered. "Her family has served mine for many a year," he said casually, as if having servants was an everyday occurrence. And of course it was for him. "She would know that we love chocolate. We do not have it in fairy."

I didn't disabuse him of the idea that Grace had made the pie for his visit. She had made it for the Demon Prince. But let him think what he wanted. He was my guest after all, and guests should always feel that you thought they were worth going to some trouble.

I got up and served the dessert to the two visitors, offering wine, and pouring blood for the vampires. The vamps were all remarkably quiet, not one sarcastic comment from Jordun yet, and Thomas had stayed put next to Thalia, making a point to not provoke her at all. If I hadn't known that a truce was in force, I would say they all looked in killing mode.

Claudine wanted a taste of course, and I doled out a few spoonfuls to her before she lost interest and crawled off to her toy basket. I thought about showing off her new ability to take steps, but I didn't want to add the debate about flying into the mix tonight.

"Jerahmeel, you said that the angels were the ones that opened the portals between the worlds. Are the other fairies able to do that too?"

I didn't bother addressing him by his title, since we had more than one prince on hand in the room, and a king besides. The whole royalty thing never did sit well with me anyway.

"Yes, My Lady, the angels opened the portals," he said.

Seeing where I was going with this he added, "We are also able to remove the portals, if it pleases you. This is not a skill that the fairies possess, although they can open and close them once they are in place."

"See, what I was thinking is this," I said, turning to address Niall.

"There is no way that I can let Claudine go to the fae world without me or her father while she is still a child. I have no intention of going that far away from my husband, and Eric of course wouldn't be able to restrain himself around that many fairies."

All of the vamps must have thought about the possibilities at once though, since a wash of hunger sort of swept over the room, almost knocking me over with its intensity.

"I don't know exactly how my being with the fairies influenced Claudine's pregnancy, although you obviously think it did. Maybe Jerahmeel has some insight into that. But if we could set up some kind of treaty, assuring our safety, maybe Claudine and I could visit with some of your fairies, here in our world. And maybe that would help with your problem."

"There will be some logistics to figure out of course, since I don't want them in the house, with the smell and all. There are only a few of you that can mask your scent, right?"

I added the last so that no one would think I was offended by fairy smell or something. I probably needn't have bothered, since everyone in the room knew very well how the scent of fairy affected vampires.

"Yes. Dermott and myself," Niall answered.

He wasn't jumping at the chance to approve of my plan, waiting for the axe to fall when I gave my conditions I suppose.

"We would have to figure out something, so that it didn't manage to drive my vamps crazy. And we'd have to come up with a plan for guards. Not that I don't think you would live up to your word, but I don't know your people, and my past experiences haven't been all positive, to say the least."

The weres wouldn't do, since I had already seen how a fairy could compel one of the weres, when they had tricked Trey into drinking poisoned wine.

"Of course, you know that the child and her mother are under my protection," Jerahmeel threw in. "I would be glad to provide guards that are not subject to fairy compulsions."

I assumed he meant the hellhounds, who might not be adverse to eating a few of the fairies, but who wouldn't be attracted to their scent like the vampires were. And the hounds, according to Dermott, were only subject to the Prince's commands.

Then there was the implied threat that if the fairies tried to cause any trouble, Jerahmeel could just remove the portals, locking the fairies away in their world. And they wouldn't be coming out again.

I was about to say that maybe we had ourselves a plan, when Eric stepped up to the plate.

"Perhaps we might address payment for my wife's services," he said.

I didn't think spending a little time with a few fairies was quite in the line of "services", but I didn't interrupt.

"I will listen to any reasonable proposal, of course," Niall said, acting as if he really had any choices in this matter.

"Since we have not addressed one of the major issues that was on the table, the human threat, I would suggest that in return for time spent with my wife and child, you provide instruction to them in all of the magics that are within the scope of their abilities. The most important thing is that they be able to defend themselves, not that my Queen has not shown herself capable of inflicting damage when the need arises," Eric said, giving me an approving smile.

"I suspect that bringing out the fairy side of my Queen will perhaps enhance her ability to aid you in your little problem. Sort of like killing two fairies with one stone, don't you think?"

Eric smiled at his own little joke, and looked gratified when Jerahmeel let out a hearty laugh at the Prince's expense.

"And I have a request too," I said. "I want your promise that you won't harm Dermott."

I still wasn't sure what Niall had been up to when he had placed Dermott in the stasis spell, but it couldn't have been for Dermott's benefit. And I was growing increasingly fond of Dermott. Or maybe it was just that I felt sorry for him. In any case, he was pledged to Claudine, and he had befriended my brother, and if nothing else, he was my uncle, so I wasn't going to agree to anything unless I knew that he was going to be safe.

"I will agree to these terms," Niall said. "We will have to assign a location to meet."

"Maybe in Bon Temps, at my Gran's," I suggested. "That's near a portal, and I can wash up there before I come home, so the fairy scent won't be a problem. I'll have to talk to Amelia of course."

"There is still the matter of what price the Demon will exact for his part in this," Eric pointed out.

"I believe that the time spent in the company of your family has been payment enough for now," the Prince said graciously. "Especially with the added inducement of the fine confection provided by your housekeeper. I believe she prepared this with my tastes in mind, did she not?"

It was all I could do to not snort at the subtle dig he aimed at my Great Grandfather. I could tell these two were never going to be hanging out over beers together.

"I will tell her how much you appreciated it," I said, noticing his empty plate.

"Then I will ask Cataliades to write up a contract," Eric said, standing to signal that the meeting was over.

After the usual salutations, Jerahmeel opened his portal, and stepped out, leaving a faint smell of sulfur in the air. My Great Grandfather kissed my hand in his old fashioned manner, patted the top of Claudine's head, and "popped" out of the room, in the fairy manner. That was definitely going to be the first trick I learned from him.

"I'm just going to clear this stuff up before I get Claudine into bed," I said to the room in general, and headed to the kitchen with the leftover pie.

The vampires followed me in, bringing glasses and the extra chairs back into the kitchen. I was surprised that they were stooping so low as to assist in the cleanup, rather than let it wait for Grace to deal with. They all seemed to be in a good mood, now that the guests had made their departure.

"Thalia, a glass of milk for your mistress," Eric said, taking the pie from my hands, and setting it on the table.

"You didn't eat anything tonight, Sookie. Why don't you sit down and have some of this," he said, getting a plate out of the cupboard.

"No, really, Eric, I'm not hungry at all. My stomach just feels a little bit off, maybe from everything that's been going on. I've been a little stressed how this was all going to turn out. But it went well, don't you think?"

"I think you should eat something," he said, handing me the glass of milk that Thalia had poured.

"But yes, I think things went very well. I think things are just about perfect," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, everyone seems to be willing to work together, and that's a good thing," I said. "But I don't know that it's enough to make you quite so giddy, Eric."

I took a small sip of my milk, and looked at the pie sitting on the table. Just the thought of it made me feel queasy.

"You smell exceptionally delicious tonight, Lover," he whispered into my ear.

He inhaled to take in my scent, and then kissed the back of my neck.

"Eric, stop that. We aren't private here," I said, pushing him away as I got up to put the food away.

The whole group of vampires seemed to have caught whatever was in the air and were standing around looking at me, all of them grinning. If I hadn't been used to it, and known that it was good humor, I might have been worried about my survival.

"So are you going to tell me what is up with all of you?" I asked. "Or are you going to leave me guessing what is so amusing?"

"Can you not guess then, Sookie? Think of what the Prince had to say tonight."

I thought about all that Jerahmeel had said about the early world that the angels had stumbled onto. I didn't actually want to think about that, since the implications of what he had said were more than my tired brain could deal with tonight.

He hadn't really said much else that night, since I had done most of the talking. He had confirmed that the angels had found and opened the portals between the worlds, and how he and the Unseelie fae had ended up in the world of Demon.

And then it hit me. I looked again at the glass of milk that Eric was so insistent that I have, and thought about how tired I had been the last few days.

"The angels can bestow fertility," Jerahmeel had said. "It is one of our most precious gifts."

"Holy shit!" I said.

END OF PART 4

Author's Note: Writing of Jerahmeel has put me in mind of the "Last of the Mohicans" by James Fennimore Cooper, one of the most widely read American novels of the nineteenth century. Although considered one of Cooper's masterworks, I won't recommend it, as it might be found a bit heavy reading for those in the mood for vampires and romance.

But for those who have not seen the movie, I must say that Daniel Day Lewis, running through the woods of the beautiful state of North Carolina, is a treat for the eyes. And then there is the gorgeous and tragic Uncas…what can I say!

Since our dear Pam and her music have been absent for the last few chapters, may I personally suggest the soundtrack from the movie for your listening pleasure?

Thank you to Ms. Charlaine Harris for the use of her characters for this story, and thank you to the kind and supportive readers who have made this such a pleasant experience for me.


	79. Chapter 79

Thank you to Charlaine Harris for the use of her characters for this story. She retains all rights to those characters. I am just borrowing them for this derivative work.

PART 5

CHAPTER 79

"I think I'm going to bed," I said to the room at large.

My family was still standing all around me in the kitchen, watching me intently and grinning at my discomfiture.

"That is an excellent idea, Kjære, but finish your milk first."

I stared at the glass for a long moment, as if it held all the secrets of the universe, then took it from Eric's hand and gulped it down. The ice-cold milk hit my stomach like a lead weight. Eric gave me a grin of approval and took the empty glass, setting it down on the table.

"Can somebody let the dog out before y'all go to bed?" I said as I turned on my heel and headed to the stairs. Eric followed, carrying the baby up to the nursery.

Claudine managed to make it as difficult as possible to get her into a fresh diaper and put on her jammies. Eric, reaching around me to grab her toes or tickle her belly, was no help at all. The baby wiggled and kicked and almost flung herself off the table and onto the floor with their game. She was smiling fit to beat the band, and between her and Eric, all that jollity was sort of getting on my nerves.

"Do you two have to be so cheerful at a time like this?" I whined, no doubt sounding like the world's biggest spoilsport.

Eric kissed the top of my head, then taking me gently by the shoulders, turned me round to face him, his face bright with happiness.

"A time like what, Sookie? Are you not happy?"

His question was a good one. I had no idea why I wasn't smiling too. Hadn't I always wanted children? And hadn't I gotten Claudine? And now maybe another child?

Who was I kidding? There was no maybe about it. It was early yet, but the minute I'd seen that glass of milk I had just known that I was pregnant again. So why did I feel this knot in my throat, and why did I feel like crying?

I watched the joy drain out of Eric's face, replaced with concern. Taking my face between his cool hands, he kissed me softly on the lips.

"Are you not well, Sookie?"

The love and care in his voice were like cracks in the dam, and the tears just began to flow.

"Yes, of course I'm happy, sweetie," I blubbered between sobs. "It's just…it's just that it's all so sudden, and I never thought this could happen in a million years, and I feel like the luckiest woman in the universe and I don't even know why I am crying."

My vampire ran his finger over each of my cheeks, brought the finger to his mouth, and licked off the tears. He examined the taste for a moment and then his smile returned, a tiny crease forming on one side of his mouth.

"I think I understand the problem," he said, his usual cocky attitude returning as he licked his lips. "Your hormones are in control of the situation for now. Perhaps that will be to my benefit later when they incite something besides tears."

Of course I couldn't help but try to smile at a comment like that. I took the clean white handkerchief that he was holding out to me, and wiped my eyes and blew my nose.

"You are so bad, Eric Northman," I chided, already feeling his charm working to calm the hormones that were definitely raging inside me.

"I will take that as a compliment," he said, his smile growing even bigger.

"I think I might have meant it that way," I teased.

I nestled my head against his chest, wrapping my arms around him, and letting his particular magic work its way with me, calming and soothing.

"Perhaps we should have the doctor come to see you," Eric suggested.

His deep, masculine voice vibrated through me as I pressed my face against his chest. I inhaled deeply, taking in the dry, sweet scent that was my vampire. A house call was so definitely not on my agenda at that moment.

"Not tonight," I said.

"No, not tonight," he agreed.

I headed from the nursery into our bathroom to get ready for bed, leaving Eric to tuck Claudine into her crib.

"Goodness," I thought as I washed my face. "Will she even be out of the crib by the time we have the next one?"

As I pulled a towel off the rack to pat myself dry, I looked around the familiar room. My makeup was strewn about the counter sharing the space comfortably with Eric's hairbrush and a few of Claudine's favorite bath toys. This was home.

The house that had seemed so huge to me less than a year ago was getting smaller and smaller as our family grew. The dog took up enough room for three people it seemed, and he wasn't even full-grown. Now there would be another child in the house. Where would we put everybody? And how would I manage everything? Stepping out of the bathroom, turning the light off on my way out, I decided to leave that problem for another day.

The soft light from the bedside lamp played off the golden highlights of Eric's hair as he leaned over the side of the crib. His hand stroked Claudine's feathers rhythmically as he hummed a familiar lullaby, the deep tones lulling her into sleep. I was struck once again with how beautiful he was.

I walked quietly over to the bed and slipped under the covers, not wanting to disturb them, and watched him with his daughter, this apex predator tamed by a child.

He didn't say anything as he threw off his clothes and slid into the bed beside me. I rolled to my side and felt his cool body spoon around my back as he wrapped his arm protectively over my waist. I pressed back into him, and felt all the tension of the day begin to drain out of me.

"Eric?"

"Shhh," he said, burying his face into my hair. "Shhh. All will be well, My Love."

But something had occurred to me, and I wanted to just get it out of my system.

"Eric?" I persisted.

A small sound came from him, not quite a sigh, but a signal of his resignation. He would let me say my piece, knowing that I wouldn't settle until I got it out.

I slid a little away from him, and turned so that I could see his face.

"I was thinking," I began.

"You have been doing that a lot lately," he said, but not without a little pride in his tone.

"Well, some people might say it's about time I started thinking."

Eric was kind enough to not mention it, if he was one of those people. He looked at me expectantly, to see what my mind had cooked up this time.

"If it's true that I'm part demon, or angel, or whatever, and if I might have some of the same magic that they have, which is beginning to seem like the case…"

I paused a moment to collect my thoughts, which really hadn't formed completely in my mind yet.

"I was thinking about what Mr. Blackman found out with the DNA. You know, how there were those mutations. I think that's what he called them. And Claudine and Jerahmeel had six of them, so I guess that's what makes a real angel. I only had three, so I'm not quite the same thing. Anyway, maybe I'm like them, but not full strength, kind of like Dermott with the other fairies."

"I think that not all of this can be explained by science, Lover."

"I guess I know that, but don't discount technology, Eric. Lots of stuff that was once considered magic has a perfectly good explanation in science."

He waved that off, granting me that point, but waiting to see where this was all leading.

"Okay. Maybe the science doesn't really matter anyway, but let's say that Jerahmeel has some way to grant fertility, or maybe just his presence is enough to make things fertile. Niall seems to think I can do it too, although I am not totally convinced of that. But if he is right, and I'm not saying that he is…"

Eric's brow was furrowing, and he looked downright impatient for me to say what I wanted to say.

"What if you were already fertile before we even met Jerahmeel, because of me? Before I was kidnapped with the fairies I mean? Do you think maybe Claudine really is your child? It could be possible, if Niall is right."

"That would never have occurred to me," he said. "Since it isn't possible for vampires…"

He didn't bother to finish that statement, since now the whole game had changed.

"And you were with me, not very long before - before everything happened. So it could be possible. And she never looked a bit like Lachlan."

I cringed a bit and a fine shiver ran over my skin just saying that name. Eric reached out and put his hand on my waist, running his cool fingers down over my hip. Although the stroke of his hand was meant to be soothing, his face showed utter shock at what I had said. It wasn't often that Eric was taken unawares, but he looked well and truly dumbstruck.

"I am not sure what to say," he admitted, and that in itself told me how totally surprised he was.

"You don't have to say anything. I mean, I suppose we can never really be sure. Even if we tested your DNA, which I'm sure you would never agree to, it might not really be identifiable, you know, because you…"

"Because I am dead?"

He sat up a little straighter in the bed, and just watched me for a moment. His face was totally impassive again, but his emotions were sort of all over the map. Maybe not quite as erratic as my "raging female" hormones, as he called them, but for a vampire, they were definitely going wild.

"I would have said that I couldn't love the child more than I already do, but…"

"Yeah. I know just what you mean," I said. "It just makes everything so much more perfect."

The idea of what I had just said seemed to take hold in Eric's mind and he broke out in a very self-satisfied smile.

"You are what makes all of this so perfect, Kjære," he said, bending to kiss me.

Our bond was beginning to hum with his happiness and I could feel its chords as he ran his hand down my back, cupping my bottom and pulling me closer.

"Perfect," he said softly.

His look no longer held curiosity or amazement. He was focused on me now, and in the dim light of the room, his eyes looked dark with desire.

He lowered his mouth to mine, and kissed me with a slow intensity, then his lips moved down my throat, stopping to lick at the pulse points of my neck. One fang pricked the skin, sending a shiver of anticipation through me, as he lapped up the few drops of blood. His tongue traced the curve of my collarbone, and then moved to my breast, his mouth closing over the taut nipple, sucking and nipping.

My back arched involuntarily and I pushed closer to him, my legs parting in invitation. He kissed a path down my body, his hands following the slope of my hips, and I moaned with pleasure as his lips found more sensitive parts, his tongue parting my flesh, and stroking, stroking, until I was sure I would burst into flames with the heat of it.

"Eric, please," I begged, hovering on the edge, and wanting, needing him inside me.

He moved quickly, his own need apparent as he lowered himself on top of me, almost growling as he pushed deep inside. I gasped as his teeth punctured the skin of my neck and the first wave of pleasure washed over me. His mouth pulled the first taste of my blood from the small wound, and I felt his body shudder as he had his own release.

We lay together for a long moment, my breath coming in short gasps, Eric lapping lazily at the wound in my neck, almost purring with his contentment.

When we pulled apart, Eric rolled over onto his side, and I snuggled up against him, safe and happy in his embrace.

"Perfect," he said again.

My body was sated, and limp with exhaustion, and I craved sleep, but my mind couldn't rest. It was almost as if I it couldn't contain all the possibilities for the future.

I could give Eric a son. If not this child, then maybe the next. Not that that thought didn't open up another whole can of worms. We had never discussed how many children we wanted. It would never have occurred to us.

Eric was lying wide-awake beside me, his open palm pressed against my belly. No doubt he was mulling this all over too. I didn't need to ask if he was happy about another baby, since his joy had been written plainly across his face. But it had been a surprise and he might be asking himself some of the same questions that I was asking.

"Eric?"

"Yes, Lover?"

"You know what else this means, right?"

"I am sure you will enlighten me, Kjære, although I cannot think of what can be more surprising than the revelations that we have had already tonight."

"We are really going to have to decide how many kids we plan to have, cause I don't know about you, but I'm not sure I'm going to want to do this every year."

"Do what, Sookie?"

"Get pregnant," I said.

Eric didn't seem to have a reply to that, but his body went completely still, in the way only vampires could.

"I guess they didn't have birth control when you were human?"

"No," he said after a long moment, a note of caution in his voice now. "Surely you are not considering…what are you considering, Sookie?"

"I guess I'll have to bring you up to speed on our options."

"I am not sure I like where this conversation is heading," he said.

"Well, I am not proposing that we stop having sex, if that's what you are thinking. But there is more than one way to skin a cat, as my Gran used to say. We'll come up with something. Thank God for scientific progress."

"You have already told me I am not allowed to skin the cat, Sookie, and those that worshipped your god were burning scientists at the stake for heresy not long ago, so I am not so sure about that last statement."

I laughed at that. Eric, for all his mastery of the English language, didn't always get the idioms. Although I admit, some of the ones Gran used were pretty old fashioned. But I had an even better one to teach him.

"There is something else that Gran used to say, Eric."

"And what pearl of wisdom would that be, Lover?"

I turned to face him, and traced a finger along the side of his beautiful face, looking into his beautiful blue eyes.

As I lowered my mouth to kiss him, I said, "Make hay while the sun shines."


	80. Chapter 80

CHAPTER 80

"Ma'am? It looks like your escort is here. Do you want us to stay with you?" Travis said.

"No, I think it's okay, Travis. I'll be well guarded. Better if you just stay here in the yard so no one follows us into the woods."

My weres were not too happy with the arrangement we had made with Niall to meet the fairies in the woods. But they weren't so naïve as to think that they could take on a pack of fairies, and reluctantly conceded that the hellhounds would be a more effective guard.

"Yes, Ma'am. We'll make sure of that. I guess no one is going to get through that pack of hounds anyway."

"Hardly!" I said as I walked out the door. "Amelia, I should be back in an hour or so," I called back into the house.

"Okay, Sook. Good luck."

Four hellhounds were sitting patiently just inside the edge of the woods of my family home in Bon Temps. Dante ran over to join them and began nipping at the ear of a young female who couldn't look less interested if she tried.

"You're gonna get snapped at if you don't knock it off, Dante," I scolded.

"Faint heart ne'er won fair lady."

I jumped at the voice coming from the trees and would have run back towards the yard if I hadn't spotted Jerahmeel out of the corner of my eye, casually leaning against the trunk of a huge old oak.

"Oh! You surprised me!" I said, walking forward into the clearing under the canopy of the tree. I had expected the hounds, but not their Prince.

Dante abandoned his games with the "fair lady" and ran over to Jerahmeel, flopping down at his feet and rolling over to expose his belly. Jerahmeel went down to one knee and began to stroke the young hound's fur.

"Is that from Shakespeare?" I asked the Prince.

"Cervantes, from Don Quixote."

"I don't think I've read that one," I said. It seemed more surprising that he had read it, than that I hadn't. "That's the windmill guy, isn't it?"

Maybe I should put that book on the list for when it was my turn to pick the evening's reading selection.

"Yes, the windmill guy," he said, his voice amused. "Does it displease you that I have come to join you?"

"No, I guess not. I just wasn't expecting you today."

Claudine was wriggling like an eel to get down, so I set her down on the forest floor and she toddled over to Jerahmeel and Dante. He didn't explain his presence, but instead focused on Claudine who was beaming like a ray of sunshine at seeing the Prince.

"She grows more beautiful every day, like her mother."

"Thank you," I said, blushing like a teenager.

Jerahmeel didn't look up to see my reaction to his words, so I cleared my throat and decided to do a little digging, since he was here and this was the first opportunity I had had to talk with him alone.

"I was sort of wondering," I began.

"My intentions towards your daughter, perhaps?"

Well, I hadn't expected that! Not that I wasn't curious what he might say, of course, but I had pretty much figured what his intentions would be, whether I liked them or not.

"Well, no actually. I don't know if that's a subject we should be talking about, without Eric here I mean. And since she's still just a baby, I don't know if I could be rational about it anyway."

"I have a feeling that you could be quite rational on any subject, but you are right. It is something best addressed in the presence of her father."

If I hadn't just pointed out that same thing, and he hadn't just commented on my ability to be rational, I might have made a comment on being able to make decisions without Eric. But there was no point going on about old-fashioned attitudes or protocol with a guy that was as old as the hills.

"There will be a time for that discussion, but it isn't now. Maybe it will be the right time when Claudine is old enough to choose her own path in life," I said.

"So tell me, what were you wondering?" he said, pushing the topic of Claudine to the side.

It took me a moment to remember what I originally wanted to ask him. He sat down on the ground and Claudine crawled over to him and onto his lap. He pulled something out of his pocket, a toy of some sort, which seemed to fascinate her.

"I was wondering if you would tell me a little about your own world? What is it like? Is it like the earth?"

Before he could answer, Claudine made a grab for the toy. It responded by emitting a yelping noise and jumping onto Jerahmeel's shoulder.

"Yikes! Is that alive?"

"Yes, in a way."

"What does that mean? It won't bite her, will it?"

"No, it will not harm her. It is a construct, a toy."

The "construct" or whatever it was, had walked back down the demon's arm, and was sort of sitting, or hunching, watching the baby. Claudine reached out again, and this time it jumped onto her shoulder. She turned and twisted trying to catch it. I moved closer to get a better look.

The toy looked almost like a small bird, although it seemed more machine than animal by the way it moved. The proportions were off, as if it had been modeled after something a little different from our birds. There were delicate wings of a shiny material, and a soft downy coating of black feathers over the rest of its body. It had two small taloned feet made of some kind of metal, and a short curved beak. Soft clicking noises came from its body each time it made a movement, and it moved very quickly to evade the baby.

"I don't understand. You said it was alive, in a way? What way?"

"It is not flesh, but it has been infused with a small breath of spirit. For a time, it can respond to the child, in play. It is a complex bit of magic and machinery, created by one of our craftsmen."

"So, it isn't just something that you conjured up out of thin air, like the little fireflies?"

"It is a similar magic in some respects, but applied to a machine."

I could see that I had a lot to learn about magic. This was something I thought even Amelia or Octavia wouldn't understand.

"It makes me think of a fairy tale that my grandmother read to me a long time ago, about a nightingale. Does it sing?"

"Would you prefer that it did?"

"A bird is not quite the same without a song," I said.

The hounds, although they had seemed to be lazing in the shade asleep, all seemed to come to attention at once, and Jerahmeel put the little bird back in his pocket. Claudine made as if to protest, but he hushed her with a few words, then got to his feet, handing me the child.

"I will wait for you," he said. "To see that you are safe." And he just disappeared.

In the clearing, the air took on a hazy appearance for a brief moment, and Niall popped into the forest.

"Great granddaughter," Niall greeted me, smiling at Claudine.

"Hello Great grandfather," I answered back, my attention fixed on the two fairies that had accompanied him.

My heartbeat picked up for a moment, and I had an almost irresistible urge to back up.

"Okay, Sookie. Get a grip. These fairies aren't here to hurt you," I thought.

I reminded myself that we were under a truce. I had promised to help the fairy race if I could. The fairy war was over, and the ones that had hurt me were dead. And the five hellhounds that had just moved to form a circle around us weren't going to let anything happen to me.

"This is Mor," he said, introducing a tall fine boned woman with almost white hair down to her waist and impossibly smooth pale skin.

"And this is Cassan."

The male fairy was shorter than the woman, very broad in the shoulder with narrow hips. His shiny blond curls trailed down his back. He was carrying a large basket, and I hoped it had food in it. I hadn't felt well enough to eat much breakfast that morning and I was hungry.

"Very nice to meet you," I said politely, not sure if I should be nodding or bowing or what, but figuring it probably wasn't a good idea to try to shake hands.

"This is Claudine."

Both of the fairies made a deep bow, but remained silent. Their eyes were intently focused on Claudine who was already reaching out to touch them. I kept her fixed firmly in my arms.

Niall had already taken in our surroundings, staring at the hounds for a moment, and then sniffing the air, as if he suspected that we weren't quite alone. But he didn't comment on his suspicions.

"We have brought some few offerings from our gardens, if you would care to share them with us," the woman said politely, seeming eager to establish goodwill.

"That would be very nice, thank you," I said.

I wished that I had thought to bring a blanket or something, or had Mark set up some folding chairs out here, but the fairies had planned better than I had, and drew a piece of cloth from the basket, spreading it out over the ground.

Niall waved for me to sit, and I eased myself down to the ground, not yet letting go of Claudine although she was squirming like crazy. I was glad that I had worn slacks, although they did look a little paltry next to the gown of fine woven cloth that Mor was wearing.

The awkwardness of the situation was soon relieved by the business of setting out the food, and by the laughter as Claudine managed to almost topple the basket in her haste to see what was in it.

"She is a beautiful child," the woman said, and the longing in the fairy's voice made me warm to her, and her partner.

"Thanks. Of course I think so, but I'm her mom," I said proudly.

Knowing that Mor and Cassan were there in the hopes of having a child of their own, I felt a little hesitant to brag about my own baby. But of course I just couldn't help myself.

"She is just starting to walk. And Eric, that's my husband, he says he is going to teach her how to fly. Although he doesn't have any wings, so I'm not sure how he thinks he is qualified. He can fly, but I don't think it's the same thing at all," I babbled.

"He is vampire," Mor said, looking a little uncomfortable just saying the word. Fairies were like heroine to a junkie for vampires, after all.

"Yes, he is. Do you come to this world often?" I asked, moving the subject away from Eric.

"This is our first time through the portal," Mor said, looking around the forest.

Her voice was quiet, and a little unsure, as if she wasn't used to speaking the language.

Niall had joined us on the blanket, and handed me a small fruit, maybe some kind of plum. I took a bite, and then leaned over quickly as the juice ran down my chin. It was sweet and delicious.

Cassan had pulled a small knife from a pocket in the side of his tunic, and was cutting up a loaf of dark bread. When Claudine reached out for some, he looked at me for permission, and after I nodded, he broke off a small piece for her. She crammed the whole thing into her mouth and before she could even begin to swallow it all, had her hand out for more.

No one was speaking, and I wasn't exactly sure if they expected me to lead the conversation, so I just enjoyed the food for a short while. I would have expected it to be quite different, but it was much like our own; bread, fruit, a mild cheese, but no meat of any kind. Perhaps they were vegetarians? But I remembered that my great grandfather had eaten salmon with me at a restaurant in Shreveport, and that Eric had said that fairies sampled all types of food, even blood sometimes.

"May Cassan hold the child?" Mor said, her soft voice shattering the uneasy silence.

"Sure," I said, and watched as he picked Claudine up gently as if she was something very precious and delicate, being careful of her wings.

The baby, in her usually friendly manner, seemed happy to go to the fairy, and gave him a happy smile, before stuffing another piece of bread into her mouth.

Cassan spoke a few words to Mor in what I took to be the language of the fae, and she responded with a happy laugh, the sound like small bells echoing through the clearing. Claudine laughed too, although she couldn't have understood them.

"Cassan says that her magic feels like…"

She paused, as if she didn't know the words, then she reached over and tickled the baby, sending Claudine into peels of laughter.

"It tickles?" I finished for her, and she nodded, repeating the word as if she were memorizing it.

"Your magic is the same," she said.

At one time I would have argued that I didn't have any magic, but that certainly didn't seem to be true anymore. I was surprised that she could feel it without even touching me though.

Cassan held Claudine for a few more minutes, holding her hand and whispering in her ear before he passed her to Mor. Mor stroked Claudine's cheek, then taking the child's hand, placed it onto her own palm. I felt that funny buzz in the air that seemed to signal the exchange of magic.

"To bring the wind, when she would fly faster," she explained, "and from Cassan, to call small animals to her side."

"Thank you," I said.

I wondered if those were skills that were particular to each of the fairies. The wind thing might come in useful, but I really couldn't see what she would do with the other magic. But knowledge was power, wasn't it? At least that was what Eric always said. And I couldn't see that it would hurt.

If Mor could control wind, then maybe she was one of the sky people, like my great grandfather. Breandon's clan had been water people. I wasn't sure what group Cassan would be considered though. Did people of different clans intermarry? Would the water clan be part of this plan to increase their population, or would they be left to die out as a punishment for their rebellion? I really knew so little about the fairies, but maybe this was not the best time to ask about their political situation.

We sat like this, eating quietly in the woods until most of the food was gone. Niall poured glasses of a sweet drink that tasted a lot like apple juice, and when our glasses were empty it seemed to signal that our time together was done. The fairy couple quietly gathered up the few remaining items into the basket, leaving the blanket for Niall and me. They each bowed and then stepping a few feet away to the place where they had entered the forest, they poofed away in the time it had taken me to say, "Nice to have met you."

"You are well, Sookie?" Niall said, once we were alone.

"Yes. A little tired these days, but that is to be expected. You know that I am pregnant again?" I asked, figuring he could probably smell it on me. The idea of that was a little gross, but the ability to smell a pregnant woman seemed to be normal among the supes.

"Yes," he said, not looking happy with the idea. "With the vampire's child?"

I nodded, trying not to show my surprise that he might think that the baby could be anyone else's. Or maybe it wasn't that he was questioning the parentage as much as expressing his disappointment in my choice of fathers.

I hadn't had a choice when I'd been raped, but it had been a fairy, and that coupling, at least as far as my great grandfather knew, had produced an angel. This time, there was no telling what the baby would be. But if he or she wasn't an angel, or didn't have what Niall called the "essential spark", the child would probably be considered insignificant to him, the way Jason was.

I was a little curious if he had stopped to consider that Claudine might be Eric's child, and if that would make a difference in how he felt about her.

"You will be even more attractive to them now. It will cause disruption in his world," he warned.

"Maybe. I don't know what we can do about it though. If the council decides that I hold some secret to vampire fertility, who knows what they will decide. I'm pretty sure that I won't like it though."

"You have brought some of the most powerful vampires in the world to your side. They are a force to be reckoned with in that society. Listen to your mate, and let him be ruthless when he would, for the others of his kind certainly will be."

"It's not like anything is going to be up to me," I said.

"You have more influence than you imagine," he said. "Do not be afraid to use it, but don't discount his judgment."

"No. I won't. I guess I have learned the hard way to listen to Eric."

"You are young, and have much to learn, but I will help you, as you have helped us."

"Do you think this made any difference? I didn't spend much time with Mor and Cassan, and they didn't even touch me."

"You carry the child of a vampire and you doubt the power of this magic?"

"I still don't know if it is me or if Jerahmeel is responsible for that," I said.

"If it is not within your power, then it is certainly within the child's, although it may yet be beyond her understanding."

Niall looked at Claudine and I could see that, if not certainty, then at least hope was in his eyes.

"Now you must learn to protect yourself and your child. You will have many enemies. To evade is sometimes more important than to fight. If your enemy is stronger than you are, it is better to survive to fight another day."

"Are you going to show me how you pop away?"

"Yes. I will show you this magic."

He picked up Claudine and walked a little way from the blanket, signaling me to follow him. When we were about ten feet away, he placed his hand in mine and I felt his magic begin to flow through me, leaving a unique but not unpleasant taste in my mouth.

I let the feel of the magic sort of seep into me. Niall's magic had a different taste than either Dermott's or Jerahmeel's or even Claudine's. Mor had said that both the baby's and my magic "tickled". That might just be an angel blood thing, since I certainly didn't notice that with Niall. I was sort of curious to know if my magic would have its own unique flavor too after I had mastered it.

"At first you may only be able to travel short distances. The ability will grow with use and with time. Once you have mastered short trips, you will be able to travel farther and carry others with you, but for now, it must be only yourself. You must focus on something to arrive safely where you wish to go, having your destination firmly in mind. It is best to start with a fixed object. Now, picture the blanket in your mind."

The first thing that popped into my head was Gran's ugly old afghan that I had managed to incinerate in my kitchen, and I sighed with the memory of it. As if he could tell that my thoughts were not in the right place, Niall prompted me.

"It must be this blanket, not just any blanket that comes to mind. You must have a specific goal to direct the magic. This can be a person, place or thing but there must be something about it that is identifiably unique. When you can picture where you wish to be, think of being there and remember the taste of the magic."

His directions sounded a little bit vague to me, but closing my eyes so I could concentrate, I thought of the blanket on the forest floor of my woods, the soft green cloth stitched with golden threads. Then I thought about being there on the blanket.

My mouth filled with the strange taste of Niall's magic and with an audible "pop" I found myself falling down in the middle of the blanket where we had just eaten lunch. I landed on my hands and knees and the air was completely knocked out of me.

"I did it!" I said, when I got my breath back. "My first try too!"

My knees felt a little banged up, and my hand was a little sore from where I had caught my fall, but I had gotten myself to the blanket and I was feeling pretty good about myself.

"Now you must try again, only this time consider how you will be standing when you arrive," he suggested.

"Okay," I said and walked back over to where he and Claudine were standing.

I closed my eyes and thought again about the details of the blanket, but this time I concentrated on being on my feet, nice and straight on top of it. The magic taste filled my mouth again, and "poof". I was in the middle of the blanket.

This time, when I fell, it was from total exhaustion. I felt like I had run a twenty-mile marathon. Not that I had ever run that far in my life, but I was sure it must feel just like that.

"Ah, you will manage this magic very well with some practice," Niall said, beaming a little at me, as if I had done him proud.

"Will it always make me feel this tired afterwards?"

"At first, but you will strengthen. Practice every day, some place safe in case of a bad landing. Each day you can make the distance a little farther, but no farther than you can see clearly. When next we meet, perhaps you will be ready to carry someone with you."

"What if I am not too sure about the place I want to end up, like in a forest? I wouldn't want to materialize into the middle of a tree or something."

"The magic will learn from you, as you will learn from the magic."

"Okay, I don't really understand what that means, but I guess it's one of those things you just have to experience?"

"Yes." he said. "Be careful to choose only clear locations at first, until your ability grows. Then I will instruct you how to target less clearly defined destinations. Now you should rest. May I escort you back to the house?"

"You know, if you don't mind if we borrow the blanket for a while, I think I'd like to just stay here and enjoy the woods for a bit. I don't often get any time to myself."

"Since you are well guarded, I will leave you to your solitude."

He glanced around at the hellhounds, still guarding the perimeter of the clearing, his scan pausing momentarily at the oak tree where Jerahmeel had been standing earlier.

"Be careful, Sookie," he said.

"Yes, I will. Thank you."

His eyes rested on Claudine for a moment, then turned back to me. I thought I recognized affection in his look and maybe something else – pride. I remembered how willing I had been a year before, to love this man, to accept him as my family, and how I had wanted him to love me.

"I'm glad that you came back," I told him, walking towards him and giving him a big hug.

"As am I, Great Granddaughter," he said.

He kissed Claudine on the top of her head, handed her to me, and then walked to the portal and poofed away.

I had meant to ask him so many things, like what about all the businesses he had left me when he had thought he wouldn't be returning. Was I supposed to give them back now? And what about Dermott? Would he have a chance to be forgiven and would he ever get to go home?

But there would be other times to talk to Niall about those things. And for now, I was pretty excited that I could go home tonight and tell Eric about my new trick.

"I think I'll just try it one more time. What do you think, Claudine?" I asked the baby.

Since she didn't object, I sat her down right next to Dante, knowing he wouldn't let her crawl away, and walked the ten feet away from the blanket where I had stood with Niall. I closed my eyes and focused on where I wanted to be, picturing myself standing straight and tall.

"Beam me up, Scottie," I said.

The familiar taste of the magic filled my mouth, but this time it felt like I was trying to lift something that was too heavy for me. I opened my eyes and I hadn't moved an inch. Although disappointed, I figured maybe I would have to rest a bit before I could do it again. It made me think of something Amelia had said once when she was very tired after performing a lot of magic.

"I have to recharge my magical batteries," she had said.

I definitely needed some recharging. I would take advantage of the blanket and the solitude, and Claudine and I could take a short nap. I assumed that the hellhounds would maintain their guard until I left the woods.

I turned to retrieve the baby and was not totally surprised to see Jerahmeel leaning against the same oak tree, watching me with a quizzical look on his face.

"Who is this Scottie?" he asked, and I couldn't help but laugh.


	81. Chapter 81

CHAPTER 81

"I hardly know where to begin to explain that expression," I said to Jerahmeel, still smiling at his question. "Do you know what television is?"

"Yes. I know of it. It is not a technology that we enjoy in my world."

"Is it that you don't like it or that you don't have it? Have you ever watched television?"

"Both, I would say. And yes, I have seen it. Perhaps I haven't seen enough of it, since it holds little attraction for me."

"Well, more isn't always better I guess, but I grew up with it, so I can't imagine not having it."

I wondered where and when he had seen television. I had been under the impression that he rarely came to the earth, even though he had been here quite a lot lately. What had Dermott said? Something about the one that could control the hounds not being seen by the other fairies in Dermott's lifetime (of course I had no idea how long that was) and that the fairies thought he could no longer leave his world.

I was finding out that maybe the supernaturals might not know as much about each other as I thought they had. Or maybe Dermott just hadn't been kept in the loop. Jerahmeel obviously had read some of our books if he was quoting Don Quixote, but then that was a pretty old book. How old I had no idea. Not that that proved anything about him coming to earth or not. Someone else could have taken the book back into the demon world.

"Do you even have electricity?" I asked.

"There are many in our world who do not do well with electricity flowing through wires. We have other sources of power of course."

"And I guess you guys have the same sensitivity to iron as the other fairies?"

"Iron has no deleterious effects for me, but yes, most of the pure blood fey respond poorly to it. There are very few that do not have that weakness."

I was a little surprised that he would volunteer that information. To think you had the upper edge in battle because you were wielding iron might instill an overconfidence that could prove fatal. That he was not sensitive to iron might be an important thing to know, if we were ever on opposing sides, although that seemed unlikely.

Maybe I was being overconfident by assuming that he and I would always be on the same side?

"You know, I could probably help you with that," I offered.

He raised one eyebrow in curiosity, waiting for me to be more explicit. He was no doubt a little skeptical that I would have the solution to something that would present a big problem for any of his people that wanted to visit this world.

Of course, I was a little skeptical if it was a good idea to even offer. I really didn't know anything about the inhabitants of the Demon world. I didn't really know anything about the demon that stood before me. I might be a child in his eyes, easily manipulated by his charm and flattering attentions.

But I trusted him. Maybe it was out of pity because he had been the only one of his kind for so long. Or maybe I still needed to believe that God set angels to watch over us? Or maybe I was just stupid. But I trusted him.

"When Niall left this world, saying he was closing off the portals, he left behind quite a few assets. He passed some of those to me. There were some businesses that did scientific research: medicine, DNA studies, that kind of thing. He told me that one of the labs had been working on things to help his fairies too. They created a material to make gloves that would protect them from iron when they are here."

"The gloves are almost undetectable. If he hadn't told me about them, I don't think I would have even noticed he was wearing them the first time I met Niall. Anyway, I own that company now. Niall hasn't asked for it back. I could have gloves made for you. I mean, not you personally, if iron doesn't bother you, but for your people."

"Not that I'm encouraging them to come or anything," I continued. "That might not be a good idea. But if they needed to be here anyway, it would help to protect them."

Another thought popped into my head and hoping that I wasn't being offensive in some manner I added, "They do have hands I assume?"

He displayed a brief look of amusement, something I was getting used to seeing on his face. Yeah, I was just a laugh a minute.

"Most of my people have what you would recognize as hands, yes."

It was pretty chilling to think of what his people must look like, especially if legends of demons on the earth were based on the residents of his world. But I wasn't going to be like my great grandfather's people, and the humans, and assume that what someone looked like determined their value.

"Well, we could probably come up with a plan for anyone that didn't. It's a research lab, so I'm sure they could come up with something. Although I guess those people probably wouldn't fit in enough to come anyway."

"And what would M'Lady ask in return for this priceless gift?"

"To be honest, you have already given me something that I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have. It would be my pleasure to do this for you," I said, borrowing his own words.

"Have you considered that I may not have been the one to make this new child possible?"

"Yes, I have. And I don't know that there is any way to determine whether it was your magic or mine, or if it's really true that I have that magic."

Of course Eric and I were wanting to believe that it was my magic, and maybe we mostly did, but still there was no way to be sure. If the Prince knew one way or another, would he volunteer that information?

Jerahmeel was watching my face, his look holding the same intensity that Eric's often held when he would watch me thinking about something. I knew that the Prince could read what was in my mind, if I would open it to him. But he had never tried to use his telepathy to pry, as I had never tried with him. It was like some kind of unwritten agreement, that we respected each other enough to give the other person privacy. I gathered myself together and brought my mind back to the current discussion.

"But you have given me something else too. By promising to protect Claudine, you have given me some piece of mind that I think I have needed for a long time. I can't place a value on that of course, but it is certainly worth something that will cost me almost nothing to provide for you and yours."

"And yet, there is something you would ask of me. Name it, and if it is in my power, I will grant it."

"You agree before you even know what it is?"

"Since you have been so honest with me, yes. You will not ask what I would be unwilling or unable to give, I think."

There was something I wanted from Jerahmeel. I almost hated to admit to myself what it was, but I somehow thought the Prince wouldn't think less of me for wanting it.

"Okay. If something should happen to Eric, God forbid! If he should meet his final death, and I am not still around or able to avenge him, I want you to take out whoever harmed him."

His eyebrows rose in surprise for a moment, but then he smiled as if pleased. I remembered how Eric had had a similar reaction when I had asked him to take out Lorena after Bill had been kidnapped. Of course, I had managed to take care of that little problem all by myself.

"You would have your vampire bear my mark?"

"No," I said definitely. "No. That isn't what I am asking for. And I doubt that he would accept it if you offered. I am not asking you to formally give your oath of protection, or anything like that. Eric is a proud man, and fully capable of taking care of himself, and I think he would never completely forgive me if he thought I had to ask someone else to look out for him. But if I am wrong, and there is someone that should manage to take Eric's life, even if it is my great grandfather, I don't want them to survive it."

He gave me a quick nod of approval and then asked, "And would you want to know that they suffered for their offense against you?"

I had to think about that for a moment, which sort of made me wonder exactly who I was becoming.

"No. As much as the thought of someone killing Eric makes me think of how they should suffer, I have seen what torture is. It is not something I could ever inflict on anyone myself, so I won't ask it of you or anyone else."

"As M'Lady wishes."

I gathered up Claudine, who had been playing in the dirt and was looking almost as tired as I was, and sat down on the blanket to rest. I didn't want to talk about death anymore.

Jerahmeel joined us on the blanket, his wings flaring out briefly before he had them settled comfortably, spilling out onto the ground behind him. He was wearing jeans again, and they pulled nicely on his muscled legs when he folded them in front of him.

"I guess I still haven't heard much about what your world is like."

"It is different in some ways, and in others, the same. It would be my pleasure to show it to you."

"I would love to see it. But I don't think Eric would be too happy about that."

Eric would go bat shit crazy if I even thought about leaving this world, even with Jerahmeel. Especially with Jerahmeel!

"Although I would be willing to welcome your king to my home, I'm afraid that it would be an untenable situation for a vampire."

"Yeah. Eric is pretty much in control with most things, but that many fairies would be too much for any vampire."

"And yet he has married a fairy."

I leaned over onto my side, propping my head up with my elbow. The afternoon sun, now filtering through the tops of the trees, felt warm against my face. Claudine settled down next to me, fidgeting until she was comfy.

"Well, I'm only part fairy, a small part," I said through a yawn that I wasn't able to stifle. "I used to think that was why he was so attracted to me. Well, that and the telepathy. All the vampires would like to have a telepath at their disposal I guess."

"And now there will be another reason for them to want you."

His words ran through my mind, an echo of Niall's warning.

But I was weary to the bone, and the sun was bright, and the vampires were asleep, and I didn't want to think about them or what they would do. I let his last comment rest.

We sat in companionable silence, leaving each other to our own thoughts. A leaf drifted down from the trees, carrying the first colors of autumn. It landed on Claudine, who had fallen asleep, and I lazily brushed it away. Soon it would be winter again. I thought of the long nights with Eric, and how delighted he would be if we should have one of our rare snowfalls this winter. The thought was very comforting to me, as I let sleep overtake me.

"Sookie? You okay, hon? Sookie?"

Something big and warm brushed against my face, and I reached out to push it away, my hand coming up against a soft, but immovable object. I opened my eyes and looked into the very green eyes of Dante, whose lowered head was about to butt me again.

"Sook? Are you okay? We were getting worried about you."

"Amelia?"

I looked around the clearing and saw Amelia standing a few feet away, flanked by Travis and Mark. Jerahmeel appeared to have gone, although I thought I saw the shadow of one of his hounds moving back into the trees.

"Amelia, what's wrong? Where's Claudine?" I asked, panicking for a moment before I realized that she was still sleeping next to me.

"Sorry to disturb you, Ma'am. I know you asked us to stay at the house. But when Miss Amelia insisted that she was going to go looking for you, we figured we better come with her," Travis said.

"You shouldn't be out here without anyone to guard you, Mrs. Northman," Mark said.

"The hounds were with me until you came," I said. "Sorry I worried everyone. How long was I asleep?"

"You've been gone almost three hours," Amelia said. "Did Niall show up?"

"Yes. He's been gone for a while. I must have been pretty tired."

"And you're probably starving. I made you some lunch. You should eat something before you head home."

"Thanks Amelia. I think I'm always starving these days."

That was an understatement. Whenever I wasn't feeling too nauseous to keep any food down, I seemed to be wolfing down everything in sight. Eating for three again. At least Claudine had finally decided to give up nursing. Maybe she knew it was more than I could manage anymore.

"Let's go up to the house then," I said, picking up the baby. "Amelia, can you grab that blanket? I'll have to return it to Niall the next time I see him."

"What's this?" Amelia asked as she bent over to get the blanket. "Did Niall give this to Claudine? It doesn't look like a safe toy for such a young baby."

Amelia picked up the toy bird and examined it. It sat quite still and quiet in her hand.

"Wow, it's really beautiful. Have you looked at this thing closely, Sook?"

"Not really."

"Well, you should. I think it's made out of silver, although that would be kind of a bad idea, since you live in a house full of vampires."

"Let me see that," I said, reaching out to take it from her.

The minute I touched the bird, it opened its beak and burst into song. I had never heard a nightingale before, we didn't have them in Louisiana, but I'd lay odds that that was what they sounded like.

I looked closely at the fine details of the wings, legs and beak. Not silver, I thought. Platinum. With tiny green emeralds for eyes.

Eric wasn't going to like such an obviously valuable gift coming from the Prince. Well, the Viking would just have to suck it up. Anyway, it was meant for Claudine, wasn't it?


	82. Chapter 82

CHAPTER 82

"Spit it out!" I said to Thalia.

She almost choked on the mouthful of True Blood that she had been about to swallow, and I quickly added, "Not the blood!"

"Freaking literal minded vampires!" I thought.

Swallowing, she set down her glass and looked at me with a confused expression.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

All eyes were on me now, waiting for an explanation.

The family was gathered for the evening meal, and everyone had halted their drinking, most of them putting their glasses down on the table. Jordun, looking bemused, was alternately looking at me and at the blood in his glass.

"Considering your aversion to a messy kitchen, Sister, I hope you plan to explain why you would encourage anyone to spit at the table," he teased.

"Well, Thalia has been staring at me all evening like she's waiting for something to happen, so it's time for her to just spill and say what's on her mind."

All eyes moved to Thalia at that point, and her expression changed from confused to annoyed.

"I am trying to see the angel spot," she said in her usual sullen voice.

It took me a moment to figure out what she was talking about.

"You could never see it before, Thalia. Why do you think you would see it now? It only ever showed up in photographs."

Before I could blink, six cell phones were being pulled out of pockets and snapping pictures of me.

"There it is," more than one of the family said, as they looked at each other's screens.

"Then we will have another angel," Thalia said with assurance.

"You don't know that, Thalia. The picture of my gran when she was pregnant had an angel spot, and her kids didn't have wings."

"None the less," Thalia insisted.

"You should ask your Prince about this, Sister," Jordun said.

"He's not my Prince," I said, not certain which prince he was talking about, but figuring he meant the Prince of the Demon World. Everyone now referred to Jerahmeel as "My" prince and Claudine had become the "little princess" instead of the "little angel".

I rolled my eyes at Jordun and then took another bite of my chicken potpie. It was delicious as always. I really needed to give Grace a raise.

"Anyway, it was my Great Grandfather that knew about the angel spots, and he never tells me much of anything, unless we are under some kind of contract or something."

That wasn't totally true, but enough so that I didn't feel like I was exaggerating too much.

"He just thought it represented a descendent of the angels," I continued.

"It will be an angel," Thalia said again.

"As long as it doesn't have fangs," I said to myself, feeling a little bit traitorous at the thought.

The idea of nursing a baby with fangs was just so…well, I didn't know what it was, but I didn't like it. Of course, my husband had fangs…

"My life is just too weird," I mumbled as I took another bite of my dinner.

"Are we talking about my son?" Eric said proudly as he walked into the room.

Of course with his vampire hearing, he knew exactly what we were talking about. He stuffed his phone into his pocket and sat down in the empty seat next to me. I passed him his glass of True Blood and swallowed the food in my mouth before I responded. God, I was hungry!

"We don't know if it's a boy yet, Eric."

Eric made a sound like "Pfft", dismissing my comment completely, and leaned over to sniff the food on my plate.

Unlike with Claudine, we hadn't had any dreams of this baby yet, and it was too early for a sonogram to tell the sex of the baby. I hoped Eric wasn't going to be disappointed if it was a girl, but I knew he would love this baby no matter what.

Hearing a splashing sound from across the room, I said, "Can somebody get the baby out of the dog water?"

Pam picked Claudine up under the arms, leaving the baby's legs dangling to avoid the drips falling off her sopping dress.

"What am I supposed to do with this wet child, Sookie?" Pam said.

"Geez Louise, Pam. I would think you could figure out that she needs changing. Can I just have my dinner without a crisis? I'm starving. Just let her play in the water if you don't want to deal with it, and I'll change her when I'm finished," I said, taking another bite.

"Someone's having a bad hair day, aren't they?" Pam said to Claudine.

I was feeling a little bit grumpy, since tonight was the first night of flight training, and it made me apprehensive. It was all very well and good to know that Eric wouldn't let the baby get hurt, but I was having a hard time getting used to the idea of her that far off the ground, although Pam already had her dangling in the air by her armpits.

Claudine, who was flailing her arms and legs to get out of Pam's grasp, was scrunching up her face ready to indulge herself with a fit of temper. Not that I was going to be sympathetic, but she knew that if she started to cry, she would have a flock of vampires fussing over her with offerings of food and toys to make her happy. Spoiled rotten!

"I'll change her," Clovache offered, muttering something that sounded like "Worthless Vampires!" under her breath.

"Never mind, Clovache. I'll just run her a bath after dinner," I said, hoping that I might postpone the inevitable.

If I could delay enough, we might not have time to get to the flying tonight.

"She is flying after dinner, Lover," Eric said in no uncertain terms.

"Eric," I whined, but was cut off with a merciless gaze from my Viking.

"We agreed," he said.

"You agreed," I muttered. "It's not like I get a say in anything around here."

I reached for my glass of iced tea, and Eric snatched it away before my hand could clasp around it. He snarled in Thalia's direction, and she got up, dumped the tea, and poured me a glass of milk. That certainly confirmed my last observation.

"Who the hell did Eric think he was, anyway? The King?" I thought.

"Did you forget you are seeing the doctor later tonight, Lover?"

God forbid that the doctor should ask if I was eating properly and Eric couldn't assure her that I had had milk with my dinner.

I gave Eric a little of his own back, glaring for all I was worth, but he didn't look impressed. I had held him off as long as I could with the flying business, and he was determined. And there was no arguing with a determined vampire.

"Yeah, I know. Maybe you could change her after all, Clovache, if you don't mind. I guess we are on a schedule."

Clovache was turning out to be a big help with the baby. She seemed to have a way with kids, and was always glad to take Claudine so I could have a little time to indulge in adult pursuits. Not that I had that many of those these days, but sometimes you just want a few minutes where you aren't watching a toddler.

Clovache and Batanya had surprised all of us by the length of their visit. They certainly didn't seem in any hurry to get home. But then we weren't in a rush to get rid of them.

Unlike Jerahmeel, who would obviously be concerned about the first angel born in thousands of years, and Niall, who wanted to bring back fertility to his fairies, the Britlingens' interest in Claudine was less obvious. The angels had been a thing of legend to them, bringers of peace and prosperity, and they said they wanted to help protect that. Apparently fertility wasn't really the issue for them.

And speaking of fertility!

I watched Clovache as she carried Claudine out of the kitchen. Then I turned to look at Jan.

Jan was watching Clovache the same way I would look at one of Grace's pecan pies hot out of the oven – wondering how long it would be before it would cool and I could take a big bite.

Granted, vampires always seemed to be hungry, and any male might enjoy the sight of Clovache's rear end. But even still. Jan didn't look at her like she was dinner, but more like a favorite dessert, and I couldn't help but notice how his demeanor changed when Clovache was around. Both of them were as lethal as water moccasins, but when they were together, their deadly edges seemed to soften.

There was no telling what Clovache had learned at school in her world, besides how to kill people, but I'd lay odds that Jan had never had sex education. If this angel magic was working on vampires, somebody was going to have to sit those two down and have a talk. And I didn't think Eric would be a good choice to take care of that. My vampire might know a lot about the birds and the bees, but he'd never had any reason to know one end of a condom from the other and the Vikings hadn't had birth control pills.

And then there was Daniel and Batanya. Their relationship seemed more one of convenience than passion. But there was affection there too, and a good dose of respect. Sometimes I thought that Batanya mostly stayed because Clovache wasn't ready to leave, but Daniel might very well have something to do with it too. I doubted that starting a family was part of their agenda though.

"Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! Thomas and Thalia!" I thought.

I felt the slight pressure of Eric's hand on my shoulder, and realized that he was watching me watch Jan, and he wasn't happy that he didn't know why I was staring. Jan was furrowing his brow, no doubt wondering what would come out of my mouth when I finally did say something. Not that I was going to broach the subject of family planning. That just wasn't something you talked about at the dinner table.

There was a possibility that I could address the subject with Clovache and Batanya, but there was no way I was going to give that lecture to the men. Maybe I should talk to Dr. Ludwig and she could sit them all down or something? What a can of worms!

"What is it, Sookie?" Eric asked.

"We'll talk about it later," I said, moving my gaze from Jan to focus on Eric.

I pushed my plate away and earned a look of disapproval from my vampire. Let the doctor fume at him. I had lost my appetite.

"I guess we better do this thing before it gets any later," I said. "Let me grab my camera."

Amelia would expect pictures of this new milestone. She and I were continuing to document the baby's life in pictures, and the scrapbooking was turning out to be kind of fun.

It might not be such a smart idea to have all of that evidence of Claudine's "difference" lying around, but nobody would think twice about pictures of a baby with wings anyway. The way a photo could be altered on the computer anymore, I could probably find dozens of pictures of angel babies on the Internet, although I was pretty sure that Claudine was the only real one.

I usually tried to take my camera wherever I went, so I'd have it to hand whenever Claudine was doing something cute. Since Thomas seemed to have gotten bored with moving my camera around (or Thalia had beaten him into abandoning that prank), it was probably still in my purse on the counter where I had left it.

I dug into the bottom of my purse and the first thing I found was the bird that Jerahmeel had left on the blanket in the woods. The minute my hand touched it, it began to sing.

"I forgot all about this," I said, as I pulled it out of my purse. Everyone focused on the little mechanical bird as I set it down on the table. "Jerahmeel brought it to the woods today. I think the song is a nightingale. Pretty amazing, don't you think? Claudine loved it."

Eric leaned forward to examine the bird more closely, not quite touching it. He was definitely frowning.

"What was Jerahmeel doing in your woods, Lover?"

"I guess he just came with the hounds, to make sure the first meeting with the fairies came off okay. Probably checking up on Dante, too."

"And he was bearing gifts?"

"Well, yeah. He brought it out for Claudine to play with, while we waited for Niall."

Eric cocked one eyebrow, and gave me a look that I couldn't quite decipher, then turned to the bird.

After a moment of staring at the toy, Eric cautiously poked a finger at a leg, pulling it back quickly to avoid a serious burn if the metal turned out to be silver. But there was no reaction of any kind. He seemed a little mollified at that.

"I think it's platinum," he said, confirming what I had thought.

"Maybe that's a common metal in the demon world," I said, trying to downplay how valuable the thing was.

"And it sings?" Batanya asked.

"Well, it does for me," I said.

Eric definitely scowled at that statement, so I quickly added the bird's other accomplishments.

"And it sort of jumped around for Claudine, and made her laugh."

I poked the bird again, to see if it would move around, but it just began to sing again.

Bob, who had been napping in the corner, was woken by the bird's song, and got to his feet. He crept stealthily towards the table and then crouched, ready to jump up and pounce on his prey. I stomped my foot loudly, and the cat scurried back into his corner.

"You better leave this bird alone, Bob, or I'll get after you with the squirt bottle."

"Perhaps you will have to provide it with a cage," Daniel suggested.

"That cat's the one that should be caged," Clovache said from the doorway.

Poor Bob. Diantha and I were just about the only people that could really tolerate him.

Clovache was carrying a dry Claudine who was dressed to go outside in a pair of pink sweatpants, soft sneakers and a little sweatshirt embroidered with "Got Blood?" across the front.

"Time for flying lessons," Eric said enthusiastically.

Although not quite as thrilled as Eric was, I slipped into my sweater, grabbed my camera and headed for the back door, bowing to the inevitable. For once, I even left the dirty dishes in the sink for Grace.

We assembled on the grass in the play yard, and Eric wasted no time swooping Claudine up into the air, whispering something in her ear as they hovered in the security lights.

At first he only held her at arm's length, dipping her down so that she could get the feel of being up in the air. She instinctively snapped out her wings and began to beat them furiously. Her face held a surprised look, but not fear, as I had expected. I am sure mine reflected enough terror for both of us though.

After a few moments of that, Eric let go with one hand, letting her take on a little more of her own weight, and then without warning, he let her go.

My heart may have stopped as I imagined her plummeting to earth, and I am sure that I let out a shriek. But she didn't fall. Her wings managed to keep her hovering for all of about ten seconds, and when she began to drop down, Eric was there to catch her. But he didn't bring her back to the ground yet, and she actually seemed to be enjoying the game, if her laughter was any indication.

He repeated the maneuver, and she managed to stay up for a few seconds longer. And my heart skipped another beat. This time, I didn't imagine her falling, but remembered the dream where she had flown off into the night.

Daniel seemed to sense my distress, and he walked up behind me. He patted my shoulder supportively, then eased the camera out of my clenched fingers and began to snap pictures. Somehow, that normal seeming activity made the whole thing less frightening and I began to appreciate what was actually going on here in my backyard.

My little girl was flying!

Eric let her go one more time. This time, the exertion began to take its toll. The speed of her wing beats slowed considerably and she could barely stay up more than five seconds before she started to come down. She had had enough for one night. Any more, and she and I would both be in tears.

"Eric, that's enough. She's getting tired," I called up.

"She is doing fine, Sookie. One more time," he called back.

"Eric, bring her down this very moment or I'll…"

"What will you do, Dearest? Will you stomp your foot?"

"Good Lord, you exasperate me!" I snapped, thinking maybe he was the one I should go after with the damned squirt bottle.

Okay, my temper was a little short these days, but seriously, this whole flying practice had gotten on my nerves.

Eric, who had been thoroughly enjoying himself, was grinning as he slowly lowered himself to the ground, setting Claudine gently down in front of him. I ran over, got down on my knees and clasped her tightly in my arms, until she protested, struggling to get free. She seemed perfectly fine, but I was holding back tears.

"Sookie, don't upset yourself. She was completely safe," Eric cajoled as he walked over to me, pulling me up and wrapping me in his arms.

"I know you'd never let her fall, sweetie, but she's just a baby," I whined.

"And you are her mother, so of course you will worry."

The baby toddled over to Dante, who was sprawled out on his tummy, chewing on a bone and ignoring the whole show. Claudine began trying to climb onto his back.

"We need to go in. Dr. Ludwig will be here any minute," I said, wanting to just be done with the whole evening.

"Unfortunately, yes. Do you think she expects the hound to carry her back to the house?" Eric said, watching as Claudine held onto the scruff of Dante's neck, pushing and tugging as if urging him to get up onto his feet.

"Well, he probably could. He's almost the size of a pony. But if he stands up, she'll most likely end up on the ground on her butt. Go get her Eric, before she breaks a wing or something."

Eric strode over to the playing youngsters, and snatched up Claudine before she could make more than a mild protest over the end of her game.

"Come in, Little Princess, your mother has called an end to our fun."

"Don't call her that, Eric. Her head's swollen enough as it is."

Eric held her out at arm's length and looked closely at Claudine's head.

"It looks normal size to me, Sookie," he laughed as he slung her over his shoulder. The yard echoed with her squeal of delight.

"I think there are some things you may want to tell me, Kjære," Eric said as we walked up to the bedroom.

"Yeah. There are quite a few things, actually, but some of them can wait. I need to tell you what I've been thinking before Dr. Ludwig gets here."

Eric's expression became increasingly more inscrutable as I told him my concerns about the whole fertility thing, and how it might not be quite the blessing I had originally thought.

"So, what I was thinking, was that we could explain the whole story to Dr. Ludwig. She's going to be asking about who the father is anyway, so she can know what to expect. You know, the whole species thing. It bet it will be the first question she asks."

He nodded, but didn't say anything, so I just kept going.

"It might be a good idea if she was the one that talked with everybody. She would have all the information and could answer any questions. She probably has pamphlets and stuff. It might go down better coming from a doctor, don't you think? And anyway, I can't really talk about that kind of thing with them. It would be so embarrassing. And I guess maybe you should be at the lecture too, for down the line, you know?"

He nodded again, but he was looking a little shell shocked, and still didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry, Eric. I don't mean to be so much trouble."

He moved then, and wrapped me into his arms.

"You are trouble, Lover. But you are my trouble, and you are well worth it."

He turned my face up to his and placed a gentle kiss on my lips.

A soft tap on the door signaled us that the doctor was here, and we stepped apart from each other.

"Well, young lady, what can we expect this time?" Dr. Ludwig said as she walked in, Jordun following behind with her medical bag and stool.

I looked over at Eric, as if to say, "I told you so."

"I think the Queen would like some privacy tonight," Eric said to Thalia, who was standing in the doorway, expecting to stand guard during my exam.

Since things like blood tests had been approved at previous prenatal exams, and we had all agreed that Dr. Ludwig was someone to trust, there was no reason to need a guard tonight besides Eric.

I already knew the drill, so when the other vampires had left, I stripped off my clothes and lay down on the bed so the doctor could begin her poking and prodding. I decided to let Eric answer the doctor's question.

It took a few minutes for Eric to repeat the history of the angels that we had heard from Jerahmeel, and the conclusions that we had drawn. He also went over the concerns about the other vampires that we hoped to address.

"So, there is no chance that this is not your vampire's child?" Dr. Ludwig asked.

Eric responded with a low growl, not liking the suggestion that I might have had sex with anyone but him.

"Not a chance in hell," I said. "It is definitely Eric's baby."

She held her hands out over my belly, repeating the gesture that had confirmed my pregnancy with Claudine.

"The spark is strong, as it was with the first child," she said, as she dug around in her bag for a syringe. "I will need a blood sample."

I barely flinched as the needle punctured the vein in my arm. Eric was standing stock still, watching each of the doctor's movements, and when she was finished, he walked over and licked the small wound to close it.

"Why don't you get dressed," the doctor said. "I am sure you will have questions."

Dr. Ludwig packed my blood sample and her equipment away in her bag, and sat down on the little stool.

"Well, Northman, this could go badly," she said.

"Everything looks okay with the baby, doesn't it?" I said, feeling a quick stab of alarm.

"Yes, although it is too early to tell much. I have seen a lot in my practice, but I admit that this is a first for me."

Eric sat down next to me, and took my hand. He actually looked worried, and it was a pretty rare thing for a vampire King to let something like that show.

"Will my being dead damage the child?" he asked.

"There is no certainty one way or the other, but I would suspect that magic powerful enough to resurrect your sperm would produce a strong and healthy child."

I said a quick prayer of thanks for that, although I wasn't sure who I was thanking anymore.

"Has the council been informed of this pregnancy?" she asked Eric.

"No. As you say, it is early days yet. I thought to withhold this information for as long as possible."

"You think they will want to use me? To bring fertility to vampires that want children?" I asked.

"There may be some few that would find that desirable," she answered. "But more likely they will see this as a threat."

"Why would they think of it as threatening?"

"Think about it, Lover," Eric said. "If vampires begin to breed, what will the humans think? They have been repeatedly assured that we cannot impregnate them. And what about the children? Will they see vampire children as something unnatural and evil? Will they be content to leave us to raise our own families, or will they see us as unfit and attempt to take the children away?"

"We may lose what little support we have gained in the last few years. There are not many who would be content to go back into hiding. And those who do not wish to reproduce will not necessarily appreciate the change in lifestyle required to avoid a string of donors taking them to court for child support."

I hadn't really thought this out thoroughly. I began to think about some of the vampires that I had met, and I really couldn't see how they would be fit parents. Some of them were pretty brutal, and their lifestyle was not one you'd want to expose a child to. Okay, I guess you could probably even say that about Eric.

"We don't even know for sure if it will affect the other vamps. And it's not like I'm going to be around all of them. If it looks like I really can make them fertile, I can just stay away from them."

Although I couldn't imagine how heartbreaking it would be to break up our family.

"It may be a little late for some of them, as we were discussing earlier, Sookie."

"Well, there must be a test or something that can tell, like a sperm count."

I couldn't imagine someone like Jan or Jordun going to the clinic for a sperm count, but we could arrange something with Dr. Ludwig.

"And what of Thalia, and Pam?" Eric asked.

Good Lord! Pam! I hadn't even thought about Pam.

"Pam doesn't go out with men very often, does she? So maybe she'll be safe. But Thalia."

I was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed by all of this. It wasn't like these were regular people. Being pregnant when you were virtually immortal, and couldn't go out in daylight, and could only drink blood - it really did seem like an abomination, even in my eyes and I mostly accepted what vampires were. I could imagine how the anti-vampire fanatics would respond. They were going to go nuts if this got out.

"I don't know how this happened. One day I'm just an ordinary girl from a small town and then all of a sudden I can do magic and vampires are having babies."

"You were never an ordinary girl, Sookie."

"No, I guess not. But I wasn't what I am now, either."

We had both sort of forgotten that Dr. Ludwig was part of this conversation until she cleared her throat and began to speak.

"What other magic have you been performing, child?" she asked.

"Well, I set the kitchen table on fire. I'm not sure how I did that though. I just got a little upset one night, and I hit the table and it just burst into flames. And then I made little fireflies come out of my hand. Jerahmeel taught that trick to Claudine, and she showed it to me. Then Dermott showed me how to conceal myself with glamour. And Niall showed me how to do that apparating thing today, but I'm not good at it yet."

Eric's eyebrows rose at that. I hadn't yet had time to tell him about the meeting with Niall, so he wouldn't know about my new ability. I would have to show him later.

"And now this fertility thing. We don't know how long ago that started," I said, and then explained how we had speculated that Claudine was really Eric's child too.

"It may be that it was just time for your own magic to manifest itself," Dr. Ludwig suggested. "Even Niall may not know the answer to this, as you are somewhat unique. When do you meet with him again?"

"We planned to meet once a week for now, to see if repeated contact would work on one of the fairy couples that wants a child. Maybe we should make a list of questions to ask him, although I don't know how much he will answer."

"In the meantime, I would suggest that you not have contact with any vampires outside of your nest. I will arrange for testing of the males. It may be that Northman was affected only because of your blood exchanges. Who else has had your blood?"

"Well, there was Jan," I said, remembering the strange incident when my blood had called to him. "And I gave blood to Jordun when he was injured."

I had to think for a moment to remember who else, and that in itself was a reflection of how out of bounds my life had become.

"Pam had some, after the Maenad attack, remember? Oh! And Bill of course."

I couldn't believe that I had almost forgotten about Bill. He had been completely off my radar for a while now, and I couldn't remember the last time I'd even thought about him.

"I'll need to see him," Dr. Ludwig said.

"He has recently returned from a trip abroad," Eric said, which was news to me. "I'll have him contact you."

"I'll see the rest of them now."

The doctor stood up, and Eric picked up her bag and the small stool.

"She is not getting enough rest, and she needs to eat more," she directed at Eric.

It was my vampire's turn to give me the "I told you so" look, but instead he gave a properly cowed look to the doctor, and quickly agreed with my suggestion that I just go straight to bed instead of accompanying them downstairs.

I really was exhausted, but the fact that going to bed got me out of the discussion that would take place downstairs was an added benefit.

I had planned to show Eric my new trick after the doctor left, but I didn't think I could accomplish it anyway, as tired as I was, and I didn't think I was up to all of his questions about my conversation with Jerahmeel either. All of that could wait for tomorrow. I took care of my human needs in the bathroom, pulled a favorite nightgown over my head and climbed under the covers.

When I woke, it was morning, and Eric was lying dead beside me, his cool hand resting on my belly. I snuggled up closer to him, reluctant to leave his side, taking in the comforting familiarity of his stillness as I listened to the soft sounds of Claudine's breathing from the crib.


	83. Chapter 83

CHAPTER 83

It seemed silly to be so excited about going out to lunch, but it had been so long since I'd gone anywhere without a baby in tow that it almost felt like an adventure. I dressed casually in nice slacks and a blue silk tee, threw on a little makeup and some pretty sapphire earrings and was good to go.

Claudine looked like she was about to cry when I picked up my purse and headed out the door without her, but Amelia quickly distracted the baby with the antics of the mechanical bird. I felt a little guilty about leaving her behind, but the guilt was gone by the time Travis, Mark, Jim and I had gotten settled into the car and were on the road.

Dante followed us to the end of the driveway, and howled mournfully at the back of the car. It was his job to be one of my bodyguards, but there was no way I could take him into a restaurant, and I wasn't going to be one of those people that leave their poor dogs locked in the car to bark at every passerby through a cracked open window.

Mr. Cataliades had agreed to meet me at a steakhouse in Bossier City. I planned to do some shopping on the Boardwalk afterwards, figuring I wouldn't run into anyone there that would know my association with Eric. I hardly ever got out by myself these days and I wanted to remain as anonymous as I could, although it's hard to blend in with a crowd when three big beefy bodyguards bristling with menace constantly surround you.

"I had hoped to see your beautiful daughter today," Mr. Cataliades said as he pulled out my chair and helped me to get seated.

Mr. Cataliades settled his sizeable girth onto a chair at the other side of the table, and nodded pleasantly at the pretty waitress that handed us our menus.

"Amelia offered to babysit for a few hours. It's hard for Claudine to hold her glamour very long when we go out, and I am going to shop til I drop today," I responded cheerfully.

"Miss Broadway is a valuable asset to your family," Mr. Cataliades said graciously.

"Yes, she is. She manages to keep me organized, and she usually takes care of most of the errands. But babysitting isn't really part of her job description, which is one of the reasons I wanted to talk with you today."

A young waitress came over to the table dressed in black slacks and a white shirt, and I watched as she walked briskly back towards the kitchen with our orders, her ponytail swinging against her back. That had been me not too long ago. I almost couldn't remember what that life had been like. So many things had changed.

"I was hoping that you might be able to recommend someone for additional help at home, especially with childcare. Grace is fabulous, but she has so much to do with such a big family, and when the new baby comes, it will mean even more work for her."

Mr. Cataliades raised one eyebrow, and it was only then that I realized that he hadn't known that I was pregnant again. I had become accustomed to the supernaturals divining the situation by my altered scent.

"May I offer my congratulations?" he said.

"Thank you. It will be some months yet, but I thought it would be best for Claudine to get used to someone now. They'd have to be available to help at night sometimes too, when I attend events with Eric. I can't very well go to vampire balls dragging two kids, and of course I can't take children into the bar."

"You would want someone willing to travel with you?"

"Yes, I think they'd have to be willing to travel. I know it's a lot to ask, and it might be hard to find somebody, seeing as how they'd need to be comfortable around the vampires. The cottages should be finished soon, so we'll have accommodations for a live-in after that, but that's just a convenience, not a strict requirement."

Since our house was already bursting at the seams, Eric had planned four cottages on the property in Shreveport to house guests or additional staff. Bigger events were held at Fangtasia or in New Orleans or Vegas, so at least I didn't have to worry about hosting parties at home, but just our family alone was a crowd.

"Do you require a human?" he asked.

I hardly ever saw humans anymore, except for my brief town excursions, and Amelia of course.

"No, I don't think so. Just so long as they don't have an issue with the vamps, like having a fairy scent or something."

I was pretty sure that Eric wouldn't have a problem with a shape shifter. He did seem to be particularly sensitive to their smell, and he always commented if he traced their scent on me, but he hadn't been bothered that the guards sometimes picked up Claudine when she was outside playing.

"I will see what I can find," he said.

I waited until the waitress had set our lunch on the table before I brought up my next request.

"Since you seem pretty familiar with the operations at Niall's lab, I was hoping you might acquire something for me. He used to wear gloves that were designed for the fae, to prevent exposure to iron."

Mr. Cataliades nodded, obviously familiar with what I was referring to.

"I'd like to get about fifty pairs of them, in assorted sizes."

The lawyer's eyebrow rose in surprise again, but he was too discrete to ask why I might be needing the gloves.

"Shall I have them delivered to the house?"

"That would be great," I said.

The conversation turned to more general topics after that, what Diantha had been up to, and the preparations for the upcoming council summit. I didn't mention that I might not be able to attend. Even Mr. Cataliades was not going to be entrusted with the fertility issue, at least not at this stage. Only the immediate family needed to be informed for now.

When we had finished our steaks, and I had sipped the last of my sweet tea, we said our goodbyes, and my guards who had been having their lunch at the next table escorted me out.

"Where next, Ma'am?" Travis asked.

"I thought I would just do some shopping along the boardwalk. Amelia said there are some great stores here."

"We are always available for fashion advice," Jim offered, and I remembered the day that they had patiently sat through the choosing of my wedding dress.

"Good," I said. "It's always nice to have a committee to help decide on new bras!" I said as I spied a lingerie shop.

Travis and Jim laughed at that, but I thought Mark was hiding a blush when he looked down at the pavement for a moment, although it was hard to tell with his coffee colored skin.

"I want to browse at one of the bookstores and maybe pick up a few new videos, and I will need some new gowns for the summit, so your advice might come in handy. I promise to bake you some chocolate chip cookies for dragging you out shopping."

The promise of homemade cookies brought out smiles on all three of them, and we headed off down the boardwalk.

The bookstore housed more books than the Bon Temps public library, and I was like a kid in a candy store as I perused the shelves. It didn't take me long to find Don Quixote, and while I was in the classical fiction section, I picked up a collection by Arthur Conan Doyle. Then off to the romance section for a few of the latest best sellers and to the children's section for a few Dr. Seuss books for Claudine. I could just imagine how entertained she and Eric would be by Green Eggs and Ham.

I managed to snag a video out of the clearance bin on the way out. I wasn't sure how well it would go over in our present circumstances, but I thought it might lighten the mood, if it turned out that the family wasn't too happy with our situation.

I left three men and a pile of shopping bags looking out of place outside the dressing rooms of a lingerie shop as I tried on a few new bras. Since I had barely weaned Claudine and was pregnant again, I hadn't managed to get back to my pre-childbearing size. Of course, Eric was happy as a clam, since he was of the school that size really did count. I was just happy to be able to choose something a little prettier than the nursing bras that had become my uniform for the last year. I threw in some matching panties for good measure, and we were off to find dresses.

With the downturn in the economy, someone walking in with three bodyguards looked like a very promising and much needed sale, so I was swamped with attention at one of the finest shops in town. The weres lined up between the door and me and I played runway model for them as I tried on a succession of gorgeous dresses. They gave me the nod each time I came out of the dressing room with a gown that they liked. It wasn't long before I had three new gowns and the clerks were smiling at the total on the cash register.

Bossier City Boardwalk hosted lots of the big chains, and I was worn out by the time we'd walked it all and hit a café with outdoor tables on the east bank of the Red River. It was a beautiful day and I was ready to sit down, have a coke and take a break.

While Jim went in to get our drinks, I pulled the camera out of my purse and began to take pictures of the view of Shreveport across the water. On my rare days out, I liked to capture what I had seen during the day and show the pictures to Eric, since he never got to see those same sights in daylight.

The river walk was full of people and I later wasn't sure what made one man stand out of the crowd of joggers and shoppers. I almost didn't recognize him at first, but as I directed the lens of the camera in his direction, I became certain that it was Steve Newlin, the former director of the Dallas congregation of the Fellowship of the Sun.

He was Public Enemy #1 in the vamp world and was on just about every kingdom's most wanted list. I wondered what he was up to in our territory. Eric was not going to be happy about him lurking around Bossier City.

I quickly snapped a picture, put down the camera and turned my face, hoping that he wouldn't recognize me. A confrontation with that man couldn't possibly turn out well, especially in the middle of such a public place with three burly werewolves ready to fly to my defense, so I didn't bring him to the guard's attention.

"I think when Jim gets back with the drinks that I'm ready to head home," I told Travis and Mark.

"Whenever you're ready, Ma'am," Travis said.

My sighting of Steve Newlin had spoiled my trip out. I found it hard to participate in the good spirits of the men in the car as they tried to one-up each other with stories of the tortures inflicted on them by females of their past during (as they called them) shopping trips from hell. I smiled good-naturedly for as long as I could keep my eyes open, and then the cadence of their low male voices lulled me to sleep.

"Claudine, bring your brother back down here right now!"

The two pairs of wings seemed to be soaring higher and higher, although the glare of the setting sun blinded me to their exact location. The hound ran round and round in circles in a frenzy of frustration since he couldn't fetch the children and drag them back to safety by the seat of their pants. His constant barking didn't help one bit, only blocking out my voice as I uselessly yelled up at the sky.

"Your father will be up any minute, and you're both gonna get it if you don't get down here this instant!"

When the shadow of a larger pair of wings rose from the darkness of the woods, I shrieked at the children to come back.

"Claudine! Gabriel! Look out!"

And then I noticed the hand on my shoulder. I whirled around, my fist clenching in anticipation of an attack.

"Mrs. Northman? We're home."

"What?" I said, opening my eyes and noticing (not for the first time) that I had been drooling in my sleep, all over Mark's leg.

"Oh! Sorry, Mark. I guess I fell asleep."

"Yes, Ma'am. We're home now," he said softly as I sat up and shook myself awake.

"We'll just carry those packages in for you," he said as he opened the door and maneuvered his big body out of the car.

"Okay, thanks," I said and stumbled out my own door, hoping that Amelia would stay long enough to share a pot of coffee with me. I felt strangely disoriented.

"Look who's here. It's mommy," Amelia said as she opened the door.

Claudine threw her arms up in the air and almost flung herself out of Amelia's arms in her haste to get at me. I snatched her right up and held her tight to my chest, relief flooding over me. All was right in the world. My baby hadn't flown away into the darkness.

"How was your shopping trip? It looks like you bought out the whole Boardwalk," Amelia said as she began to paw through the bags that the men were depositing on the kitchen table.

"I think maybe I did," I replied. "And how was my darling girl all day? Was she good for her Auntie Amelia?"

My darling girl was yawning and looking at me with eyes almost as sleepy as my own. Her Auntie Amelia was holding up each bra in turn, commenting on my choice of colors, and totally oblivious to the looks that the garments were getting from the weres who hadn't quite left out the kitchen door yet. I snatched the underwear out of her hands and stuffed it back into the bag.

"She was an angel, Sookie, but I think she wore herself out. You won't believe what she did! She was standing in the living room, and she just started beating her wings. She went straight up in the air! I couldn't believe it! I wish I could have gotten a picture, but I couldn't find the camera anywhere."

"Good Lord!" I said to Claudine. "I'm gonna have to tie you down, little miss. You are only to fly when Daddy is awake, do you hear me?"

Claudine looked at me like I was speaking Greek, then laid her head back on my chest, her mouth opening wide with another big yawn.

"I had the camera with me," I said. "I was taking pictures down by the river."

For some reason that thought made me feel vaguely uneasy, but I put it down to having seen Steve Newland.

"Well, I am sure she'll do it again, and you'll have to get some pictures. I guess it was a good thing she was inside, or she might have just flown away," Amelia joked, not realizing how scary that scenario sounded to me right then.

"Good Lord! Some days I think I know how Dorothy felt when she figured out she wasn't in Kansas anymore. Although I think Dante is a little bit bigger than Toto," I added as I noticed the hellhound chewing on a big knucklebone under the table. "I think I need a cup of coffee."

"I'll put some on and you can show me what you bought today. What did you get besides the underwear?"

"I got a few new evening dresses, and a bunch of books and a video."

"What movie did you get?" she asked as she measured the grounds into the coffee filter.

"Three Men and a Baby," I said.


	84. Chapter 84

CHAPTER 84

"I knew you would give me a son," Eric said.

I stroked his beautiful golden hair as he rested his head on my belly. It was too early yet to hear any heartbeat except my own, but he seemed quite content just knowing that somewhere inside me, there were the beginnings of his son.

"Just a regular Mr. Know-it-All!"

"You finally concede my omniscience, Lover?"

"I don't even know what that means, Eric, but I'll concede that you had a fifty-fifty chance on that guess."

Eric ran his hand over the side of my hip, and I shivered a bit at his touch, the coolness of his skin only partially responsible.

"Don't you have to be at the office?" I asked, hoping he might remind me that he was the boss, and everyone could just wait for him.

"Unfortunately yes," he said, sitting up and reaching down to pull the blanket over me.

The air was beginning to have that crisp coolness that signaled the start of autumn. It was time to reset the thermostat. I seemed to be the only one in the family that appreciated the fact that we had really good central heating. Not that a vampire didn't enjoy the warmth. They could even freeze if it got cold enough. But it had to be pretty darned cold before they actually suffered from it.

"You know, I was just thinking about something," I said to Eric.

"The last time you started thinking, a roomful of vampires were forced to sit through a lecture from your doctor. It was not a pretty sight, Kjære."

"Yeah, I suppose it was kind of cowardly to wiggle out of that," I said.

Now that it was over, I was sort of sorry to have missed it on some level. On the other hand, I was a little reluctant to even know what took place.

"One thing no one could accuse you of is cowardice, Sookie."

I brushed off that remark. I had spent plenty of time hiding in my house in fear after the fairy war. I might have a few virtues, but I didn't know if bravery wasn't one of them.

"So how did it go? Is everybody mad at me?"

"I wouldn't go so far as to say mad. Perhaps astounded might be a better word to describe their reaction. Dr. Ludwig gave us quite a thorough lecture. Considering our particularly intimate experience with humanity, I think we were all somewhat amazed at the intricacy of female anatomy. It does explain why women so often give men cause to live in terror of their mates," he teased.

Gran used to say, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," and I could well believe it. I wasn't necessarily going to blame that all on their anatomy though. The men they had to deal with might have something to do with it.

"I can't believe there was much that you didn't already know about women, Eric."

"Compared to your short-lived human males, I suppose that is true, Lover, since we have so many more years to gain experience. But a female's inner workings are not something that vampires generally are forced to consider."

"So, I guess they didn't take it all that well?"

"The reactions were varied. Most are withholding their opinion, however Thalia has made a formal petition for a sip of Claudine's blood."

"Excuse me? You can't be serious."

"I am quite serious, Sookie."

"Not my blood? Claudine's? That's just gross!"

"She would not be able to ask for your blood, Lover. That would be an insult punishable by death. But Claudine's status is somewhat less certain. She would be considered more in the same rank as my child, like Pam."

"Well, you are Claudine's father. But what do you mean, 'like Pam'?"

"The blood of a bonded pair belongs exclusively to their mates. I have broken precedent by not killing Jan or Jordun when they tasted your blood, even though you freely offered it to them. However, a vampire's child is within her, or his, rights to give her blood where she will. Granted, the sire could command her to withhold it, but by tradition, she has some autonomy over her own body. Claudine, however, is in a somewhat unique situation and being under what would be considered the age of consent even by vampire standards, her blood would of course come under my jurisdiction."

"This is really kind of unbelievable, Eric, and I'm not even going to bother to point out how arrogant you sound. Anyway, Thalia would never consider feeding from a child. I just know she wouldn't."

"This is not feeding, Sookie, only a small sip. She would be willing to wait for an opportunity that does not require inflicting injury, such as, what do you call it…. a skinned knee or something."

"You really have no idea how grossed out I am at this point, and I have seen some pretty gross things in my life," I said. "What does Thomas think of all of this?"

"I believe Thomas is considered Thalia's pet, and as such, was not asked for his opinion."

I was sure that right about that point, Gran would have been warning me that I was "catching flies", since my mouth was hanging open in disbelief.

"You needn't gape, Sookie. Thomas appears very happy with his situation, although I admit it is unusual to take another vampire as a pet."

"I'm almost afraid to ask any more questions," I said. "But I guess you better tell me about the rest of them."

"Pam has pronounced that she is swearing off men indefinitely, which is apparently not much of a hardship for her. I believe the rest are reserving judgment until the results of their testing is available. There seems to be a general consensus that those that have had your blood are the most likely to be affected, although we have no evidence of that yet. We have all been cautioned by the doctor to use…discretion…until we have more information."

I could imagine what he meant by...discretion, and was a little surprised that Eric would be reluctant to just come out and use the word condom, since modesty was definitely not a word in Eric's vocabulary. But it did sound like he was more disgusted with the idea than embarrassed by it. Of course, in his case, they wouldn't be necessary, since the deed was already done. Did they even come in his size anyway?

"The men were okay with being tested?"

"They were not required to like the idea, Sookie, only to comply with their King's wishes. They will be visiting the doctor's clinic at my earliest convenience."

Talk about arrogant.

"Batanya and Clovache?"

"Apparently some form of embedded birth control technology is required by the terms of their employment contract, so they will be unaffected by this."

I wondered what he meant by "embedded", and Eric seemed to sense my curiosity before I could get the question out of my mouth.

"They were not asked to explain the device, since it would not be something that could be used for vampires."

After my experience watching Eric's body spit out a bullet (one that he had taken to save my life), I didn't need to ask him why that was the case.

"I guess something like a vasectomy wouldn't work either, since a vamp would just heal and grow everything back?"

He sort of shuddered at the very thought, so I figured he knew what I meant by vasectomy.

"Surgery of any kind would be a temporary solution at best, and even though as King I might be within my rights to demand it, I believe I would be reluctant to do so even if would prove effective," he said.

"Yeah, I can see that," I said.

Eric muzzled my neck for a brief moment, gave me a quick kiss on the top of my head, then got up and headed to the closet to pick out his outfit for the evening.

"Depending on what the doctor is able to determine, we must make a decision about your attendance at the conference, Lover."

The vamps held periodic summit meetings to determine strategy with the humans, and Eric, being the newest vampire King, had been asked to host the next one in Las Vegas. The council had specifically requested my attendance, since my "gift" could prove useful during dealings with some of the human representatives that would be coming for negotiations. And of course, being the "Queen" of the Louisiana, Arkansas and Nevada vampires, I would be one of the hosts.

"They'll know I'm pregnant the moment I walk in anyway, from my smell, right?"

"Yes, but that it is not something we could hide for the long term in any case, and it could be explained away with the advances in human technology. But a pregnant vampire could not be easily explained, so it would be better not to risk exposure if your fertility turns out to be infectious."

Putting it that way made it sound like some kind of disease. People had avoided me because of my telepathy for most of my life, but it had been looked at as more of a disability. No one had had to worry about catching it!

"How will the council take it if I don't show up?"

"I'm afraid they will not be pleased, Lover, but what is it that you say? We will cross that bridge when we get to it."

"I have a feeling we're going to have more than one bridge to cross in the near future."

Claudine had begun to stir in her crib, so I decided I better get up and put some clothes on too.

"So you haven't said what answer you gave to Thalia yet," I said to Eric.

"I thought it best to await the test results."

"You were going to consult me though, right?"

He didn't answer for a moment, instead going over to pick up the baby.

"And what would your decision be, Sookie?"

I had no ready answer for that. How did a person decide something like that? It wasn't like I would generally consider it any of my business whether someone had a baby or not. Not that I hadn't thought more than once that some people just shouldn't be allowed to breed! But thinking that and actually having decision-making power were two different things. It was a free country after all. But vampires?

"I really don't know, Eric. She's so good with Claudine. I mean, she won't change diapers or anything like that, but that might be different if it was her own baby. I don't know that I really have the right to restrict her from the opportunity to be a mother if that is what she wants. But on the other hand ('And there is always is another hand', I thought to myself.) I don't know that I can whole-heartedly endorse the idea either. For a good part of her life, she's dead!"

"Yes, Lover, as am I. Fortunately, I have you!"

"And that's another thing," I said. "We can't just act like Thomas has nothing to do with the decision. That's assuming that Thomas is who she has in mind for a father. We can't just take him out of the picture, no matter how the rest of the family looks at his position. He might be a little bit odd sometimes, but if he's to be a father, he needs to have a say about it."

"That will be between him and Thalia, Lover, if I decide to allow her the blood."

From the tone of his voice, it sounded like he didn't think that was a good idea.

"You think he could just catch the fertility from Thalia by drinking from her?" I asked.

"That would be the most likely scenario," Eric said. "In which case, the ball would, as you say, be in his court."

Pam, Bill, Jordun and Jan had already had my blood. Thalia obviously had a plan for her and Thomas; dependent on our generosity with Claudine's blood, or my own if I wanted to offer. So that left Daniel.

"I think if I was going to pick any vampire to be a parent, besides you of course, it would be Daniel," I said.

Daniel, who was always there to look after Thomas. Daniel, who always stepped up to offer comfort when it was needed. Daniel, who lived quietly on the sidelines, never asking for anything, but always with something to give. What a father he would make!

I thought about Thomas finding him crying over his children's graves. Would he even want to put himself again in the position of outliving his own children?

"If it turns out that this is all possible, and if he wants it, I would like to offer Daniel my blood," I told Eric.

Eric gave me a thoughtful look, and it almost disguised his discomfort at the thought of another vampire with my blood in his body…but not quite.

"I will consider it," Eric said, and his tone left no room for doubt that he was finished with that conversation for now.

I wasn't finished by a long shot, but there was no point beating it into the ground if the possibility of vampire parenthood turned out to be just speculation. Until we knew more, I would let the whole thing lie. I knew that Eric hadn't dismissed it, but he didn't want to make a decision that might upset the apple cart if it turned out that there was nothing to decide.

I threw a light sweater over my jeans and tee shirt and grabbed a brush from the bathroom, gesturing for Eric to sit while I brushed his hair.

He settled on the side of the bed with Claudine in his lap, quietly sipping blood from one of his fingers.

"You were going to tell me what you'd been thinking, Sookie," Eric said as I began to pull the brush through his tangles. "And you haven't yet told me about your time with the fairies."

It took me a moment to remember what I had planned to say earlier. There was a lot to tell Eric, so I started with meeting up with Jerahmeel in the woods, and my picnic with Mor and Cassan. When he asked me to demonstrate my new "popping" technique, I remembered Niall's caution to keep my practice to wide open spaces for now, and promised that I would show him later when we could go out to the yard.

Then I told him about my offer of the gloves, and about my meeting with Mr. Cataliades.

"I will reserve judgment on the gloves," he said, looking slightly concerned, "but I am glad that you are considering more help with the house, especially with our family growing so fast."

"We'll see what Grace says about it. I haven't told her yet. Whoever we find will have to meet with her approval."

Eric smiled a bit at the mention of our fierce little Brownie, who so efficiently ruled the kitchen. He liked feisty women, he had told me.

"So that was what you were thinking about earlier, Sookie?"

"Well, no. I actually was trying to remember if I put my camera back in my purse. And the more that I think about it, the more I think I may have left it in the cafe on the Boardwalk."

"Have Amelia pick up a new one for you, Lover."

And that's when I told him how I had thought I'd seen Steve Newlin, and that he may have recognized me.

"I managed to snap a picture of him, and then I put the camera down when I turned around so he wouldn't see me. At least I hope he didn't see me. I'm not really sure."

That got a reaction from him, but not as big as his response to my next statement.

"All the pictures of you teaching Claudine to fly were on that camera."


	85. Chapter 85

CHAPTER 85

"I guess I really screwed up," I said to Eric.

"These things happen, Kjære," Eric said.

His voice sounded kindly enough, but he looked like he wanted to tear something into little pieces as he said it. Not that I would be the one he wanted to tear up, but it was a little scary when he got that look. I hoped no one decided to annoy him tonight at the club. They would end up regretting it if they did.

"I'll send someone to the café to look for the camera. If it is still there, he will retrieve it. If someone has picked it up, we will attempt to find out who it was."

I had no idea how he expected to find out anything at this point. Even if there were security cameras, they probably didn't operate out on the café patio. And seeing a picture of someone on one of those cameras wouldn't let you know who they were and how to find them.

"They're probably closed by now," I said.

"I am sure that will not be a problem for Jonathan," Eric said.

I didn't comment on that. I was sure Jonathan, our spymaster extraordinaire, would have the owner up and out of bed within the hour if that were what it took to look into the lost and found box. Not that I had any hopes that anyone who found my camera would have turned it in, but there were still a few people out in the world that would do something nice like that.

"I probably should have told the guards when I saw Steve Newlin."

I don't know what they would have done about it, but maybe one of them could have followed his scent or something. I wasn't sure if they could even track people in their human form. Maybe I should know these things, since I was surrounded by supernaturals. I was such an idiot!

"The guards should not have left the area before it was secured. Go down and have your meal, Sookie. The baby is hungry. I'll be down shortly," Eric said as he opened his phone.

"Come on, Claudine, let's get you something to eat," I said, taking the baby from Eric's arms, and heading downstairs.

I wasn't anxious to head downstairs by myself, since I still was feeling guilty about the trouble I had caused everyone with the fertility thing. Not that that was my fault.

The camera thing was definitely my fault, but hopefully it wouldn't come to anything. Yeah, like there was much chance of that! I didn't go out of my way to cause trouble, but it sure seemed to follow me wherever I went. Maybe I was just "Born Under a Bad Sign" as the song said.

The kitchen looked a little deserted compared to our usual crowd. Batanya, Daniel, and Jordun were having their dinner, and mine was laid out on the table for me. I put Claudine in her high chair and grabbed us both some milk before I began cutting up green beans for the baby.

"Where is everybody tonight?" I asked, since the room was unusually silent.

"Visiting the clinic," Batanya said, her face betraying her amusement.

"Oh!" was about all I could say to that.

Everybody seemed to be looking at me, as if I should have something more to say on the subject, but really, what can you say about something like that?

"I got us a new book for tonight," I offered.

The movie I'd been so enthusiastic about earlier now seemed a little "in your face", and I decided to hold off on that one for a while.

"Sherlock Holmes," I said.

Claudine was getting in some target practice with her green beans, and was actually making quite a few hits on Dante's nose, although I suspected he knew just exactly where his nose should be to get the most benefit out of her little game.

"Quit throwing your food, Claudine, or I'll take it away."

She looked at me with her beatific smile and threw another bean. I didn't bother to take her beans away. The dog had to eat too!

"Okay, listen, I'm sorry about all of this. It's not like I planned it or something, and there's nothing I can do about it, or at least I don't think so, so I hope you all won't stay mad at me for too long," I said and took a bite of my meatloaf, even though I knew it would stick in my throat.

"I think Pam's the only one that's mad, Sister, and she's pretty much mad at the world these days, since Eric says she has to go back to Las Vegas," Jordun said.

"She likes Las Vegas," I said.

"She said it's more fun to stay here and see what new trouble you'll get into next."

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Claudine, stop that!"

The milk was dribbling down out of her sippy cup as she held it over the side of her tray. Who said she was an angel?

I took the cup away from the baby and got up to get a rag, but Dante was already mopping up the mess with his big tongue.

"I don't think you're even hungry, you little devil."

Sitting back at the table, I pushed my plate away. The food was just making me nauseous.

Daniel pulled the plate in front of him and began to break off little pieces of meat loaf, handing them one at a time to Claudine. She popped them in her mouth and chewed contentedly.

"She doesn't like beans," Daniel said.

Now, how would Daniel know that when I obviously didn't? I wasn't even a very good mother these days.

"I can't do anything right," I said.

"I can think of something," Eric said, startling me as he crept up behind me.

"Yikes! Do you have to do that?"

"Yes, Lover. I think I do," he said, laughing softly at my expense.

"Do you have to go to work?" I whined.

I was feeling ready for a good sulk, and I fully intended to blame it on my "raging hormones" as Eric called them.

"I'll try to get home early. Get some sleep. I'll wake you when I return."

"I think we'll read for a bit," I said, looking to Daniel for confirmation.

"Sherlock Holmes," he said.

Eric brushed my hair to the side and kissed the back of my neck.

"Drink your milk," he said and walked out the door.

I picked up the glass as a matter of course, habituated to complying with his demands that I drink my milk. Then realizing that he was already gone, I set it back down. It wasn't like Jordun and Daniel would tattle on me, and screw Mr. Eric Northman if I didn't do what I was told. I was a grown up.

But I didn't feel like a grown up. I felt vulnerable. I felt like I didn't understand this world I had entered into, where losing a camera meant more than just having to save up for a few months to buy another one. I found myself thinking about the waitress at the restaurant that afternoon. I bet she didn't come home to hellhounds eating her daughter's beans, or vampires eyeing her across the table.

"What are you thinking, Sister?" Jordun asked.

"I am thinking I would much rather have a stiff gin and tonic," I said, and picked up my glass and drained it dry.

When the last of the dishes were washed up, we all settled in the living room to read. Claudine took over the middle of the floor with her basket of toys, and I kicked off my shoes, settled under an afghan and just listened to the story. I was so tired that I found it hard to really pay attention, drifting halfway between sleeping and waking.

"_The moon was shining bright upon the clearing, and there in the centre lay the unhappy maid where she had fallen dead of fear and of fatigue. But it was not the sight of her body, nor yet was it that of the body of Hugo Baskerville lying near her, which raised the hair upon the heads of these three dare-devil roysterers, but it was that, standing over Hugo, and plucking at his throat, there stood a foul thing, a great, black beast, shaped like a hound, yet larger than any hound that ever mortal eye has rested upon. And even as they looked the thing tore the throat out of Hugo Baskerville, on which, as it turned its blazing eyes and dripping jaws upon them, the three shrieked with fear and rode for dear life, still screaming, across the moor. One, it is said, died that very night of what he had seen, and the other twain were but broken men for the rest of their days_."

Daniel's voice broke off at the sound of a loud snap. We all turned in the direction of the noise to see that our hound had managed to put a sizable crack in the knucklebone of a cow he'd been chewing on. Grace had managed to find a butcher that kept a steady supply of bones set aside for the big dog. He was supposed to chew on them outside, but when Grace wasn't there, he usually snuck them into the house.

Claudine was snuggled up next to him on the floor, half asleep. The noise hadn't disturbed her at all. She and the dog were pretty inseparable these days. Considering there weren't any other kids for her to play with, that might be a good thing. Once the new baby came, I wouldn't have as much time to spend playing with her, and it was good for her to have a companion. The fact that that companion was a hellhound was a little disturbing though, especially seeing how his huge jaws could snap a bone that size.

It wouldn't be long before we would have to come up with a plan to provide Claudine with playmates. It couldn't be good for her to spend all of her time with adults. She enjoyed Hunter when he came to visit, but he was enough older that he grew bored with her simple games before very long at all, and she became just a nuisance to him. And we didn't really see him all that often, as Remy was still a little nervous about the whole relationship.

I had managed to invite Tara and Jackson over a few times, but Claudine could only manage to hold her glamour for about and hour before the strain got to her. Then I had to make excuses that she was ready for her nap and haul her off to the nursery upstairs.

What we needed was another supernatural child, one that could see her in her true guise. I had thought of asking Niall if there were any young fairies that might do for a playmate, but I knew that there were very few children in fairy, and the fairies still made me nervous.

Of course, there might be someone who would do from the world of the demons, but with Eric being so reluctant for me to spend time with Jerahmeel unless he was around, I hadn't yet brought up the subject. And of course we couldn't arrange a visit from one of the fae when my vampires were awake. It wouldn't do for anyone to get carried away with the fragrance of fairy and eat one of their children or something.

While I was pondering the angel and the hellhound on my living room floor, Daniel had resumed his reading of the "Hound of the Baskervilles". I wasn't sure how much I had missed with my inattention by the time I resumed listening.

"_Sir Charles lay on his face, his arms out, his fingers dug into the ground, and his features convulsed with some strong emotion to such an extent that I could hardly have sworn to his identity. There was certainly no physical injury of any kind. But one false statement was made by Barrymore at the inquest. He said that there were no traces upon the ground round the body. He did not observe any. But I did—some little distance off, but fresh and clear."_

"_Footprints?"_

"_Footprints."_

"_A man's or a woman's?"_

"_Dr. Mortimer looked strangely at us for an instant, and his voice sank almost to a whisper as he answered."_

"_Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!_"

Dante dropped his bone with a loud thunk just as my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. At least I hadn't lost that! Daniel paused in his reading, and I pulled out the phone.

"Hey Amelia, you're up late, what's up?"

"Sook, get online. I don't know how they got them, but somebody got hold of photos of Claudine and Eric flying, and it's viral on the net. The Fellowship is using it for propaganda."

"Holy shit!" was about all I could say.

"You can say that again," she said. "Type in 'baby angel'."

"Okay, hold on and I'll get it going.

I took the phone with me into the kitchen and turned on the laptop.

"Steve Newlin is behind this somehow," I said.

"Isn't he wanted by the FBI or something?"

"Yeah, for weapons violations and for that dead body they found in his church in Dallas, but I saw him down on the boardwalk in Bossier City, so they haven't got him yet."

"What about that guy from the FBI that came to the house, Sook? Don't you think you should call him and tell him where you saw Newlin?"

"Agent Lattesta? I'm not talking to him unless I have to. Okay, I think I found it," I told Amelia as I clicked on the first site on the list.

"Child of Satan," it read in big red letters across the screen, followed by a photo of Claudine and Eric up in the air.

Daniel had managed to get some very good pictures. Not many people would be able to identify Claudine, but Eric's face was well known in Louisiana, and it was very clear that it was him.

Interspersed with the flying pictures were some photos from the Halloween party at Fangtasia from the year before. I had thought Eric just looked beautiful in his dark outfit with the huge black wings. But I could see how someone who was anticipating the real devil would see him as something frightening. His whole being shouted menace, and with his fangs and the costume, I suppose he could be perceived as the personification of Lucifer himself.

"Jesus H. Christ," I said.

"I knew you weren't going to be happy about this," Amelia said, reminding me that I still held the phone to my ear.

"Not one bit," I said.

But I liked it even less when the photos paused and the screen was filled with a bible verse.

"And if they give birth, I will slaughter their beloved children. (Hosea 9:16)."

I gasped as I read the so-called word of God leading into another view of Claudine's laughing, happy face. A few more photos flashed on the screen before another verse came on, again in bold red lettering.

"They shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up (Hosea 13:16)," it read, followed by the logo of the Fellowship of the Sun.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Pretty scary, isn't it? Eric's gonna be so pissed."

Pissed was an understatement. Somebody was going to die over this one, and for once I thought I might have no regrets when that was accomplished.

"How is this possible? I only lost my camera this afternoon."

"Is that how they got the pictures? Shit, Sook, you screwed up."

"Thanks for reminding me of that, Amelia. I couldn't have figured that out by myself."

Okay, I sounded a little snarky, but really. It wasn't like Amelia had never screwed up. I could think of at least one time!

"Sorry," she said. "Anyway, it doesn't take long for somebody to throw something like that together, Sookie. And once it goes online, it can take off like wildfire. I bet there'll be at least a dozen variations on the same thing online by tomorrow. Most people will think it's just photoshopped or something, but you know how people are. Some of them are going to get pretty upset."

And when people got upset, horrendous things sometimes happened.

"Listen, Amelia, these Fellowship people are nuts, and I don't know if they know about the house in Bon Temps. Who knows what they will do. Maybe you should head over here, just to be safe. And I better call Eric. Bill should know about this too. It wouldn't do to have Bubba roaming around out there and getting caught on camera or something."

"Maybe this would be a good time to head over to my dad's for a few days until we see how people react. He's been wanting me to come anyway. Can you do without me for a bit?"

"Sure. I can manage."

"Then I think I'll throw some stuff together in a bag and head out tonight. I'll give you a call tomorrow, from my dad's."

"Okay. That sounds like a good idea. Have a good trip, Amelia."

I closed the phone and got up, shrieking as I almost ran into Pam, who had been silently lurking behind me.

"Geez, Pam. When did you get here? And why are you sneaking up behind me? You guys are always scaring me to death."

"I really don't think we're the ones you need to be afraid of," Pam said ominously.

"I wish you wouldn't say stuff like that. Have you seen this video?"

"Sookie, I do have a phone. I knew about it by the time I got to the office."

"Oh, so Eric knows already?"

"Of course. There is already a sizeable price on Newlin's head. We probably won't see Jan again until the hunt has been concluded."

Eric had been on his phone and probably knew all about it before he had left the house. Did he just forget to mention all of this to me? Yeah, right.

Pam walked over to the weapon's cabinet and began sizing up the blades.

"I thought Jan was at the clinic."

Pam rolled her eyes as she checked the balance on what I thought were a set of throwing knives.

"He has come and gone," she said, laughing at her own joke. "I think these will do nicely."

Pam pulled out a lather sheathe with multiple compartments and began tucking in the knives.

"So do you know what the results were?"

"Do I look like Florence Nightingale? You will have to ask a medical professional. I'm off."

"Where are you going, Pam?"

"It is always so much more fun around here since you came along, Sookie," Pam said as she headed towards the back door.

I could just catch the words to the song she was singing as she stepped off the porch.

"Angel baby, my angel baby."


	86. Chapter 86

CHAPTER 86

"Kjære? Where is the baby?"

"Eric? She's upstairs asleep. I was waiting up for you."

"I can see that, Lover. Come to bed."

He didn't wait for me to get up off the couch. Considering that I hadn't even opened my eyes yet, he might have been waiting a while before I was mobile. I wasn't even sure if I was awake yet and that he was really there. I decided he must be when I got carried up the stairs, plopped onto the bed and my clothes started coming off.

"Eric? I'm sorry about the camera. Are you really mad at me?"

"I am beyond mad, Dearest, but not at you. But we will talk about it tomorrow."

"Amelia called me and told me about the video. She…"

"Tomorrow, Sookie."

That sounded like a good plan to me, especially since I kind of liked having him undress me, and now that my eyes were open, I could see that Eric was liking it too.

"Are you hungry, sweetie?"

"Famished," he said as he began to pull my jeans over my hips.

I wiggled a little to help the process along, and his fangs popped out. I was beginning to think I was awake.

"What time is it?"

"Almost dawn, there is little time. Hush," he said, covering my mouth with his kisses and leaving me quite incapable of speech.

While his lips kept mine occupied, his hands ripped open the front of my shirt. A little impatient, perhaps? I didn't really mind, even though it occurred to me that I wouldn't be going on any shopping trips to replace it in the near future. I was kind of glad I wasn't wearing my new underwear though, when his mouth moved down, and he bit through the front of my bra.

When his fang brushed against the sensitive skin of my breast, a shudder rushed through my body and I lost all interest in clothes or anything else besides the body that was sliding over mine.

Wrapping my legs around his beautiful butt, I drew him close, my breath catching as he brushed against me.

"Look at me, Lover."

My eyes focused on his, and I could see his hunger, an angry beast lurking below the surface. His gaze fixed on the vein that I knew was throbbing in my neck, just below the skin.

He lowered his head, and I turned to the side so he could find my neck. As his fangs pierced my skin, a wash of pleasure rolled over my body, leaving me breathless below him as he had his own release.

His tongue lapped gently at the small wound in my neck, before his body stilled completely.

"Eric?" I said after a moment.

But Eric was dead to the world. Talk about cutting things close.

Two hundred pounds of dead vampire got heavy pretty quickly and some of us needed to breathe to maintain life. Pushing with all of my strength and leveraging myself with my heels against the bed, I managed to heave Eric to the side enough to roll out from under him. He didn't protest, of course.

Propping myself up on one elbow, I just watched him for a while, a golden haired god, completely at peace in his enchanted sleep.

Deciding that removing the remnants of my shredded clothing and making a trip to the bathroom was a good idea before I settled down to sleep, I pulled the covers up over Eric and climbed out of bed. I noticed the pile of clothes on the floor when I managed to trip over Eric's jeans. There was more than a little blood on them. They'd have to be soaked before Grace could wash them. That could wait until the morning.

It wasn't until after I had brushed my teeth and put on a clean nightgown that I started to question the whole idea of blood stained clothing. It probably wasn't a good sign that my first response had been more in the line of stain removal than concern over whose blood it might be.

If it was Steve Newlin's, I wasn't exactly sure that I even cared. If he was going to go after my daughter for not being human, I wasn't going to waste what humanity I had worrying over that piece of trash.

But when you're dealing with vampires, there's likely to be some "collateral damage", and I hated to think about the methods that Eric, Jan, or any of the rest of my family might use for interrogation when the goal was finding the man that had threatened Claudine. Better not to think about it. Better to focus on the laundry.

I climbed back onto the bed, pulling up the covers and snuggling in next to my Viking warrior. I liked the idea that he had been out being our champion, but I liked it even more that he had come home to me.

I woke up feeling starved. It didn't seem logical that I could feel so hungry and at the same time, the thought of food kind of turned my stomach. One of those weird pregnancy things I guessed. But I knew it was important to eat, so I showered and dressed quickly and headed down to breakfast.

Grace was in the kitchen and she had coffee poured and sitting at my place by the time I had Claudine in her high chair.

"Morning Grace," I said, although it was probably past noon.

"Good morning," Grace said curtly. Something going on there, I guessed.

She placed a sippy cup of juice on Claudine's tray before she poured batter onto the griddle. I could smell the sausages that were being kept warm in the oven, and decided that I might just be able to manage breakfast after all. Everything smelled so good.

"I was talking to Mr. Cataliades yesterday," I said after I had swallowed a big bite of the first pancake, dripping with maple syrup.

Claudine took hers cut up without syrup, which of course saved quite a bit of cleanup. She must have been pretty hungry too, because no matter how big Dante's puppy dog eyes grew, she was stuffing the food into her own mouth and ignoring his begging.

"He left a message for you, about someone coming to help out with the house."

Her tone was pretty crisp, and I realized that I should have talked with her first before I asked Mr. Cataliades about hiring more help. I hadn't thought he would come through with anything so quickly.

"Yeah. Sorry I haven't mentioned it to you yet. I was going to ask you how you felt about having someone to help with Claudine and the new baby when he comes. They wouldn't be in the kitchen. Well, not unless you wanted help. And they could do some of the shopping and laundry, so you wouldn't have to work so hard."

She seemed a little mollified when I mentioned that they wouldn't be in the kitchen, so I figured she wasn't totally opposed to the idea.

"Of course, I'd like you to be involved in the interviews. We can't have anyone that you don't think you'd like to work with."

"Hmmpf," she said, which I took to be an assent.

"The pancakes are heavenly," I said, taking another bite.

"Your brother called, and Calvin Norris, and Travis has been waiting to talk to you," she said, and this time the ice had left her voice, so I assumed that the plan for more help met with her approval.

"Oh, okay. Why don't you tell Travis I'm up?"

I wondered what Calvin wanted. I hadn't seen him in a coon's age, and my brother hadn't called for a while either. I pulled my phone out and realized I'd had it turned off. No wonder Grace had taken so many messages. I had a ton of voice mails. I ate a little more of my breakfast and called Jason first. He answered after one ring.

"Hey Sook. I've been waiting for you to call back. You just get up?"

"Yeah, I'm having breakfast. What's up?"

"Listen, Dermott was hanging around over to gran's place around dawn, and he saw some guys over there and..."

I cut Jason off before he could finish his sentence.

"Is Amelia okay? She said she was going to her dad's and I haven't heard from her."

"Yeah, she called me and asked me to keep an eye on the place. That's why Dermott was over there. I guess she got off okay. There wasn't anybody home. Anyway, good thing you got that phone for Dermott, cause he called me. He saw some guys hanging around in your woods, humans he said. So I called Calvin, and me and him and some of the guys out to Hot Shot went over there to check it out."

"Were they still there when you got there? Is the house okay?"

"Yeah. Old Dermott came through, Sook. I guess they were planning on torching your house, and the old Compton place too, and they were just waiting to make sure Bill was down for the count. I don't know how he did it, but Dermott had 'em all down when we got there."

"Are they dead?"

"No. Calvin said we better save that for Eric. Something about it being his right, and that Eric would want to question them. Dermott's not happy about it. He said we should just ask our questions and then kill 'em, but I told him to wait and see what you wanted to do."

"Okay. Calvin called me and left a message. I'll give him a call, and then let you know. Eric won't be up for a couple of hours yet."

"Yeah, well, you call Calvin, and I guess we'll take care of this tonight."

"Thanks, brother."

The first thing I did was listen to my voice mails. Amelia had checked in from her dad's, so that was okay. There were the calls from Jason, Mr. Cataliades and several from Calvin. I was just about to return Calvin's call when Travis opened the back door. He carefully wiped his boots on the mat by the door, and stepped into the kitchen. He looked tired, as if he hadn't gotten much sleep.

"Good morning, Travis. You want some coffee?"

"Thank you, Ma'am. That would be nice."

Grace was ready with a cup by the time he'd pulled out a chair, and set it down in front of him. He liked his black.

"You want some breakfast?"

"No, thank you. I won't take too much of your time, but I wanted to say that Mark and Jim and I are real sorry about this whole incident. If we'd done our jobs properly, we would have secured the area before we left the café. That was my responsibility and if the King decides to replace me, I wanted you to know that it has been an honor to work for you."

"It was my fault, Travis. I'm the one that left the pictures on the camera, and I'm the one that left it at the café. But there's no use crying over spilled milk. I'm sure that Eric will agree with me that I couldn't ask for better bodyguards."

From the look on his face, I gathered that Eric had probably already had something quite different to say to the weres, and I probably didn't want to hear what that was. But he hadn't fired them yet, or worse.

"I intend to keep you for as long as you want to work for me," I added.

Eric might have a different plan, but I was going to put my foot down on this one.

"Thank you, Ma'am."

"Was there any trouble last night?"

"A small crowd gathered outside the bar, and I guess some of them got a little out of hand. No one was seriously hurt. It helped that there are no windows there. There was a small fire, but it was put out quickly."

I took a drink of my coffee and waited to see if he was going to offer more details.

"I think most of the people were there out of curiosity and weren't looking for trouble. The Shreveport Police sent a few cars out, and everybody went home after that. We've got guards there today of course."

"Let me tell you what I just heard from Jason," I said and told him about my conversation.

"I'll send some people over there to keep an eye on the house."

"Maybe I should go on over there and talk to Dermott. And I can get more information out of them than anyone else probably can," I said. "Eric could meet me after he gets up. I don't know about Claudine though."

"Ma'am, I don't think it's worth my life to take you off this property today."

"I'd be perfectly safe with my Uncle," I said.

"Well the thing is this. If I don't keep you here, I think the King's going to kill me for letting you into a situation that's potentially dangerous. And if I try to restrain you from going, I think he will kill me for putting my hands on you. So you can see the situation I'm in."

I sighed and nodded my head. If Eric was determined that I stay put, then that was probably the smart thing to do anyway. And if Travis was on Eric's bad side already, I didn't want to add to that problem.

"Okay, I'm going to call Calvin and see what's going on over there, and then Eric can decide what to do when he gets up."

"Thank you, Ma'am."

"You know you can call me Sookie, Travis," I suggested.

"Yes, Ma'am," he said, and headed back out to the yard. He hadn't touched his coffee.

Calvin answered on the first ring too. He'd been expecting my call.

"Hey Calvin, it's Sookie."

"You talk to your brother?"

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago. He told me a little bit about what's going on."

"We've got five guys here, Sookie. They were all unconscious when we got to your place. I guess that was your Uncle's doing, some spell or something. He's agreed not to do anything until either you or Eric shows up. We locked them up in one of the sheds here, and they're not going anywhere."

"So you didn't get a chance to question them?"

"No. We found their can of gasoline and Dermott told Jason he heard them talking about setting fire to the house, so that's good enough I guess."

"Okay. We're going to send out some weres from here to keep an eye on my gran's house, and I guess Eric and I will come out after he wakes for the night. Thanks for helping out with this, Calvin."

"You always stood up for the shifters, Sookie, and your brother is part of our pack. We can't let these people go after the kids. And I got a feeling Eric is going to want to talk to these guys. One of them looks like that guy from the Fellowship of the Sun."

"Oh! Listen, Calvin, we'll be there as soon as we can after first dark."

"We'll be here," he said and then hung up the phone.

I wasn't sure how to react to Calvin's announcement. It seemed like I should be happy that Steve Newlin had been caught right off the bat. He'd been in the forefront of forming the so-called church of the Fellowship of the Sun. There were no doubts in my mind that he'd seen me the day before and had been the one to find the camera. And that video was probably just the first of the attacks aimed at Claudine, and me, that he would have planned.

Eric would be happy about this development. Sure, he'd probably be pissed that Dermott had been the one to find his prey, and that the panthers out at Hot Shot were involved, but as long as he was in on the kill, the rest was all window dressing.

Taking Steve Newlin out of the picture wasn't going to put out the fire that was started by the exposure of Claudine's nature, but it would take out a key player. Since the vampires had wanted this guy for a while, his capture in Eric's territory would certainly look good in the eyes of the council too. The council probably wasn't happy about the publicity surrounding Eric and Claudine, so this would help his position there.

Not that I could begin to understand how the vampires viewed any of this. They had their own way of looking at things, and their political maneuverings were complex and sometimes convoluted, at least the little I'd seen of it. Eric had managed to keep me out of the picture as much as possible, for my safety as well as his. Now we'd ended up right in the thick of things despite his careful planning.

Well, I could beat myself up all day about my carelessness being the cause of all kinds of potential problems, or I could get on with life. I'd just have to leave the political end of things to Eric.

But as I went upstairs to get Eric's clothes to put them to soak, I couldn't help but think about what it really meant that Newlin was captured. It meant that someone was going to die that night, because of me.

The first time I had worked for Eric, I had made a bargain with him. I would get information out of the humans, but only if he turned anyone that I found guilty over to the police. I suppose that bargain was still in place, but I doubted it was going to fly in this situation. If I insisted, Eric would just question them himself. With five people to work on, I didn't doubt that Eric would eventually get what he wanted out of one or all of them. They'd suffer a lot more than if I got that same information, and they'd die anyway. Of that I was sure.

I wasn't going to pretend to myself that I was standing on high moral ground here. But on the other hand, and there always was another hand, if I'd been home when they'd come to burn my house, I would have taken them out with Jason's shotgun without thinking twice. Maybe there just wasn't any high ground left in my life.


	87. Chapter 87

CHAPTER 87

Eric was lying in bed, covers kicked off, when I opened the door to the bedroom. He rolled to face me, propping his head up on an elbow, looking good enough to eat. It never ceased to surprise me that after all the time we'd been together, the sight of his gorgeous body still made me feel weak in the knees.

"As attractive as your outfit is, Lover, I think you are overdressed."

Since I was wearing my loosest jeans, hiking boots and a button down shirt that had seen better days and that I usually saved for spring cleaning, I just smiled and ignored his comment. If I was going to be tromping around Calvin's shed, I wasn't going to wear anything that I cared about damaging.

"Hey sweetie. As tempting as you look, I think after you hear what I have to say, you will understand my choice of clothes and why they need to stay on."

I walked over to the bed and leaned down to kiss him. His lips caressed mine, and his arms wrapped around me, pulling me onto the bed with him.

"I am sure nothing you can say will be more interesting than what I might find under this shirt," he teased, his fingers deftly opening the first few buttons of my blouse.

I took hold of his hands and pushed them away from distraction.

"Even if I tell you that Calvin's got Steve Newlin locked up in his shed over in Hot Shot?"

One eyebrow rose at that, and he sat up in bed.

"Perhaps you might enlighten me on what has gone on since the sun rose," he said grimly.

"Why don't you get up and I can tell you while you're getting dressed. I told Calvin we'd be there as soon as we could after dark."

Eric gave me another quick kiss, and leapt out of bed, heading to the closet. The sight of his backside as he walked across the room was almost enough to make me forget about the ordeal that he was dressing for.

"Where's Claudine?"

"She's downstairs with Clovache and Batanya. They said they would babysit."

He made a little motion with his hands as if I should continue, so I told him everything I had found out from Calvin Norris and Jason.

"Perhaps you should stay here with the baby, Sookie. I will leave Thalia and Thomas to guard you."

"I think I better go too, Eric. We'll need to question them, and I can probably get information a lot easier than anyone else."

Eric pulled a pair of jeans up over his bare and glorious butt, and then dug around for some boots. When he found what he was looking for, he turned to me, his face grave and forbidding.

"Sookie, there will be no police involvement in this. You can't hold me to promises made in the past if you have no part in this. Steve Newlin cannot be allowed to live. Do you understand that?"

"Yes. I understand that. I've thought about it and I'm not going to ask that you spare his life, even if I do the questioning. I'm not letting you off the bargain we made for the future, but for this one situation, I'll let you decide his fate. I know that he wouldn't spare me or Claudine if he had us in his grasp."

He walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulders, looking down into my face as if he could divine the truth of my words.

"You must be certain of this, Sookie. For once you are set on this course, nothing you say, no amount of tears that fall from your beautiful eyes will dissuade me. He will die tonight, whether you are there or not."

I met his gaze, and nodded my head to let him know that I understood what he was saying, and that I agreed.

"Say it, Sookie. Say the words."

"Steve Newlin will die tonight," I said, knowing that a little piece of my soul was dying tonight too, with the vow I was making.

He watched me for a moment longer, and then nodded his own head before turning back to his clothes.

He was dressed in just a few minutes, and we headed down to the kitchen. I got out some True Blood and began to warm it up for everybody. The family would be down soon.

Eric took his bottle and headed outside, probably to arrange our transportation, and make whatever phone calls he needed to make. I knew that Jan hadn't come home that night. I could identify the blank spots that a vampire mind left in each of the rooms, and his wasn't there. Pam wasn't there either, but she often stayed at her own house.

As the rest of the family emerged from their bedrooms, I handed out bloods and checked that everything was laid out for Claudine while we were gone. I trusted Thalia with the baby, and the Britlingens would be there too, but I still hated to leave her home. Our evening excursion was no place for a child though. I wasn't even sure it was suitable for me!

Dante seemed quite insistent that he accompany us and bounded into the van as soon as the door was opened. No one suggested that he be left behind, but the vamps seemed to hesitate at sitting next to him. Before they started to line up by pecking order and pick the underdog that had to share the seat with the hound, I just climbed into the back and sat down. Dante instantly curled up, placed his huge head on my lap, and went to sleep. I just hoped he wouldn't start drooling. I got enough of that with the baby.

When we pulled up to Calvin's house, Jan and Pam were standing by the van waiting for us. The lights were on in Calvin's yard, and a good percentage of the adult panthers of Hot Shot were assembled, including my brother. Considering our contingent of vampires, (Daniel, Jan, Pam, Jordun and Eric) there wasn't much that was going to be coming at this group tonight, not if they expected to survive that is.

A few of the panthers snarled a bit when Dante jumped out of the van, but Calvin growled at them, and they quieted. Dante just ignored the panthers as if they were of no consequence, and walked over to Dermott, who was standing quietly at the edge of the yard with Jason.

Another car pulled up and I was surprised to see Mr. Cataliades step out, with his niece Diantha. In the years that I had known the half-demon, I had never seen him in anything but business attire. That night he was slumming it in crisp khaki slacks and he had left his tie at home. Diantha had her usual bird of paradise theme going and her excited grin left her wickedly pointed teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

"Why is Mr. Cataliades here?" I whispered to Eric.

"Cataliades has sworn his protection to Claudine, so of course he has a right to be here. I have asked him that he inform the Prince also," Eric answered.

As if on cue, Jerahmeel appeared at the edge of the tree line. He wasn't alone, but I couldn't quite say exactly who his companions were, since they almost blended into the woods with their dark clothes, and even darker aspects. Maybe I should say I couldn't quite tell what they were either. Eric seemed to notice them too, but made no move to invite them over, instead walking over to Calvin.

Calvin was standing next to his wife Tanya. I had never much cared for Tanya, but Jason had said that she and Calvin were a happy match. Calvin was not a big man, and was nearing fifty, but he still had the commanding presence that had managed to hold the panther pack together, before and after the revelation of the shifters. He'd have to be a strong man to keep a hellcat like Tanya at his side.

"Norris," Eric said, nodding to Calvin. "I am indebted to you for housing my enemies for the day."

"Sookie, Northman," Calvin said, nodding to each of us. "They are enemies to all of us, and they have threatened a child," he said.

Looking up at the sky he added. "It is full moon."

"Newlin is mine," Eric said and a look passed between the two men as if some kind of agreement had just been reached.

"How do you want to do this?" Calvin asked.

A moment of silence passed before I realized he had addressed his question to me, and that everyone was waiting for my answer.

"Uh, I guess I better see them one at a time. It's better if I can touch them too. Maybe hold their hand or something? Has Dermott taken his spell off?"

"He wouldn't do that until you got here."

"Okay, I'll talk to him," I said.

I walked over to where Jason and Dermott were waiting on the sidelines. Jason gave me a hug and Dermott just bowed his head, not saying a word.

"Hey Sis. Where's the baby?"

"You don't bring a baby to something like this, Jason," I said, dismissing him and focusing on Dermott. My brother was such an idiot sometimes, and I really wasn't in the mood to deal with him.

Actually no one should have to be at an event like this, I thought, but Calvin's front yard was looking like the Grand Central Station of the supernatural world.

"Hello, Uncle Dermott. Thank you for saving my gran's house."

"It was my pleasure, Niece."

"I'm going to ask the men you captured some questions, so maybe you could release them now. I don't think they're going to be going anywhere with this crowd."

"They cannot be allowed to live," he said in no uncertain terms.

He was looking at me the same way that Eric had, as if he knew what it might cost me to be a party to this.

"I know that, Uncle," I said, sighing.

Eric and Calvin were intimidating enough on their own, but with the ring of Hot Shot men and our vampires thrown in, the first man that was brought out just pissed his pants right off the bat. The panther that brought him out of the shed threw him in a heap near my feet, and I scrambled back from him, bumping right into Jan who was guarding my back. But there wasn't any fight in the man on the ground at all.

He looked up from his huddle, and I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

I got down on my knees next to him and put my hand out to his.

"I need to ask you some questions," I said in my most non-threatening voice. "You can cooperate, or you can deal with the vampires. I won't hurt you, but they will. Do you understand me?"

He just nodded and I took his hand in mine.

It didn't take long to get information out of this guy. He had mostly come along for the ride. He hated vampires, thought they were an abomination, and thought the government should have staked the lot of them. He'd gone to the Fellowship church for a while now, and his buddy told him they were going to torch a house belonging to some vamp's whore. He figured it would be like going out and shooting alligators, which they sometimes did for fun. Alligators and vampires were just about the same thing to him, something to kill.

Eric asked a few more questions, but there was not really much to glean from this guy's mind. Like so many others I had read, it was filled with hate and fear and I wanted to take a shower when I finally took my hand away from his, but he didn't really know much that was worthwhile.

The next three men were a little different. A man by the name of Bob spat at me when I went to take his hand and Eric backhanded him so fast that I don't think he even knew what hit him. Blood was leaking out of his nose and mouth as he glared at me with so much hatred that I had to close my eyes, unable to look at him. He knew a little bit more about the plans of the Fellowship.

It didn't take him long to figure out that I could tell when he was lying, and that each time I confronted him with that, pain followed. I had to ask Eric to back off because he was becoming so focused on his fear of the vampires that I couldn't get a clear thought out of him.

"Leave him be, Eric," I finally said. "Let me do this."

Eric reluctantly backed off, but not out of striking range. That was fine with me. Although the fight was going out of the guy pretty fast, I didn't want to end up getting hit if he struck out.

"Listen, we can do this the hard way, or you can just tell me what I need to know. You know they'll have it out of you one way or another."

I didn't promise him that he would walk away from this, and I could hear in his mind that he thought that he wouldn't either, but he didn't want to be hit anymore, and he held onto a small thread of hope that somehow he'd live through this if he just gave us what we wanted to know. So I listened as the questions flew at him. I relayed to Eric what his mind was saying but his mouth wasn't. When it didn't seem that I could get anything else, he was hauled to the side to await his fate.

The next one didn't need much persuasion to talk. He stood looking defiantly around, but his defiance didn't last past Eric's first growl.

By the time we got to the fourth man, the plot to burn gran's house was old news. It paled in comparison to the plans that were building to destroy the progress that the vamps had made since their coming out. Members of the Fellowship had infiltrated not only Eric's kingdom, but almost all of the southern states. They knew about the upcoming council meeting and had people in place even now to disrupt it. They had already begun their assault, capturing vampires and holding them with silver, torturing them for information about the hierarchy of vampire society and their vulnerabilities.

And of course, one of those vulnerabilities was the vamp's food supply, the willing donors. So many of them were not much more than drug addicts after a while, craving the bite of a vamp. Some were the young and the desperate, like the hopeless young girls that I had seen in New Orleans, thankful for a sandwich or a ride back to the shelter in a cab. I pictured one of them in the man's random thoughts and remembered a conversation in the kitchen at the compound.

She had been so young, and her friends had been worried about her. She had met a nice man in the crowd outside, one of the many that congregated hoping to get an interview with a vampire. She had left with him, and she hadn't come back. Her friends were hoping for a "Pretty Woman" ending, but I now knew that she had ended up in the swamps, her dead body thrown away after they had gotten all of the information that their beatings could get out of her.

I couldn't even remember her name. I should have done something for that girl—for all of those girls. I had meant to, but life had just seemed so full and so busy that I had forgotten them, just like they had been forgotten by the rest of society.

Cataliades was taking notes-names, addresses, times and places-and it became clear that at least one of them would have to be kept alive for further questioning. There had never been any question that Eric would allow Steve Newlin to survive this night of course. Watching him as Newlin was brought out of the shed, I could see it was all that Eric could do to not tear him limb from limb before I could even question him.

Newlin's men were followers. On their own, they would have stuck to victims where the odds were a little more evenly matched, like a gay man out alone at night, or hapless wildlife that was no match for a high-powered weapon. They might not have liked the vampires, but they might not have taken them on without a group to back them up, a group riled up and organized by a dynamic leader.

But Newlin was a leader, a man of ideas, albeit the ideas of a madman. He was organized and cunning and he had a cause and an agenda.

When I had seen Newlin in Dallas, he had been sporting a hundred plus dollar haircut and a well-tailored suit. He had been cocky and full of purpose, charming and magnetic. But now he looked disheveled, his later-than-five o'clock shadow made his face look menacing, and it was obvious that living in hiding had taken a toll. Yet stiff and sore as he must have been from his day in the shed, he carried himself like the leader he was. He wasn't going to go gently into that good night. He came out of the shed with his head held high, full of self-righteousness and the wrath of a vengeful god.

"Whore of Babylon!" he spat when he was forced to his knees in front of me.

I didn't have to reach out for his hand after that. Eric just grabbed his wrist, breaking the bones with a crackling sound, and handing the flopping appendage to me. He tried ineffectually to stifle his scream while I gagged and lowered my spinning head, but I took hold of the reddened and already swelling flesh of his hand. This man would kill me and mine, and even if he died tonight, his organization might still accomplish his goals. I couldn't allow myself to feel pity or mercy.

Unlike Rene Lenier, whose damaged, disturbed brain had superimposed fantasies on life's realities, Newlin's mind was clear and calculating. He saw things as they were, as they happened, but he layered them with his own interpretations and twisted goals. The fact that he was sincere in his beliefs didn't excuse his well-laid plans to cruelly destroy anything he saw as the devil's work. Nothing could excuse the things that I saw in this mind.

I held on to his hand, and I looked into what I now knew was the face of evil.

I don't know why I asked the question that I did. It seemed to come out of my mouth before I could really give any thought to what to ask.

"Where is my camera?" I demanded.

If he hadn't been trying to control his reaction to the pain in his hand, I think he would have laughed. As it was, he could only manage a smirk.

"I will not answer your questions," he answered.

But it didn't matter if he spoke. As soon as he thought of the camera he had snatched from the café table, his mind flashed on it, and I knew where it was, and who had done the video work for him. I saw the rooms behind the small storefront that he used as a cover, a Christian bookstore. It couldn't compare to the fine churches he had built across the south, but it served as headquarters for recruitment of a small, militant band of fanatics that had something to prove to themselves and the world, and who didn't care who they hurt when they did it.

Steve Newlin knew what I was, but he didn't know how to keep me out, and he saw too late that I didn't need his answers. I could find my own.

"Mistress of Satan!" he hissed. "You can't hide your devil child from the world anymore. You can kill me, but I have shown her face to the world. The righteous will come for her, and you will watch her burn before God strikes you down for the witch that you are."

A vision of his plan for Claudine filled my mind, and I threw up my shields to block it out. It was burned into my soul though, and for a moment I thought I might never be able to see anything else when I looked at my daughter.

"Everything burns," Diantha had once said to me, and the sound of that phrase repeating over and over in my mind almost blotted out the sound of someone screaming…and screaming.

"Everything burns," I told Steve Newlin.

"Sookie! Sookie!"

Eric's voice brought me back to reality, and I looked up, to see that the vampires had taken a step back from me. Their faces held shock, and maybe even fear. I couldn't blame them when I turned to see what their eyes were focused on.

From my hand, the same hand that held the mark of the Demon Prince, flames were slowly licking their way across Steve Newlin's flesh. His hand was useless, the broken bones poking through the skin as he tried to pull his arm away from me. But my grip was iron, and all he could do was scream.

The flame burned white-hot, blistering his skin. I could hear the blood under the skin as it sizzled in the heat and my nose filled with the smell of frying meat, but my hand stayed cool and untouched. My mouth filled with the flavor of my own magic, and it tasted cold and sweet…like vengeance.

For a moment, I just relished the delicious flavor, the satisfying rush of power. And then whatever humanity was left in me seemed to come back and take in what was really happening. I saw the agony on his face, heard the torment in his screams, and I dropped Steve Newlin's hand.

My voice was a bare whisper.

"Just kill him," I said to Eric.


	88. Chapter 88

CHAPTER 88

Like water unleashed from a broken dam, Eric's let loose his controlled rage. He roared as he reached down for Steve Newlin, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and hurling him into the center of Calvin Norris's yard. The panthers answered with a resounding din of growls and screams.

Newlin landed in a heap with an audible thud on the hard packed ground, unmoving. I thought for a moment that just the force of the fall had killed him, but it had only knocked the wind out of him for a moment. As Eric strode towards him, his lips began to move in prayer, his words audible in the stillness that had settled over the watching crowd of supernaturals.

"Merciful Lord, hear me in my time of need. In Jesus' name, spare me this torment at the hand of demons," he pleaded between desperate gasps for air and what sounded like sobs.

"Perhaps your god has heard you calling," Eric said in a voice full of menace and foreboding. "Perhaps in his mercy he will send his angels."

He laughed then, as if he had made a joke, and the frigid temperature of that laugh could have frozen a lake.

Newlin scrambled back from the threat in Eric's voice, looking desperately around for somewhere to hide, someone to aid him. But there was nothing in this vicinity that would offer him succor.

"On your knees, I think," Eric continued. "Isn't that how it's done?"

With a motion faster than my eyes could follow, Eric was at Newlin's side, hoisting him effortlessly from the ground and forcing him to his knees.

"Yes, that's better."

Eric's voice was appeasing now, almost purring, and his movements were catlike as he lowered himself to Newlin's level. He ran his hand down the man's uninjured arm with a gentle, comforting stroke.

"Come now, you have your god's ear, do you not? Call for an angel. Surely he will not ignore the pleas of such a faithful servant."

Newlin turned his head away from Eric's cajoling voice and remained silent.

"You will do as I say," my vampire hissed, his voice returned to ice as he grabbed and twisted the arm until a loud wet-sounding crack cut the silence of the night.

I gasped at the sound, and covered my ears to block out the scream.

"Angel of the Lord, help me in this time of need! Help me, someone help me!"

The fear and the desperation expressed in that plea were like a call of the wild to the panthers, and they began to snarl and move forward. Some of them fell to the ground, beginning to change into their animal form, no longer able to resist the pull of the moon rising in the night sky.

And from the edge of the woods, wings unfurled, his skin glowing with power against the dark of the trees, strode Jerahmeel.

"Your prayers have been answered, I think," Eric said, looking towards the Prince of Demons with a wicked smile.

I wasn't sure what Eric was up to. I had thought he would just kill the man. Surely he was angry enough. I could feel the force of his anger radiating through me, all the way to my toes.

But Eric, for all of his ruthlessness, was never reckless and rarely impulsive. Jerahmeel was Claudine's and my protector, and he could be a useful ally in the fight against the humans. And what better way to form an alliance than to allow him some part of this-the family that kills together or something in that vein, I guess.

Jerahmeel glowed with a savage beauty as he approached the one that had threatened his charge. He moved with the grace of a hawk just before its talons rip into its prey.

For a long moment, Steve Newlin gazed in wonder at the sight before him. He had asked for an angel and an angel had appeared in all of its glory. But the brief hopefulness in his eyes turned to terror when he saw what walked out from behind the Prince's outspread wings.

Nothing could have prepared him for the Prince's minions. The hellhounds had been frightening, for their size and obvious strength, for the lore that surrounded their kind. But these beings were the things of nightmares. Death at Eric's hands seemed a Sunday school picnic compared to what they might have to offer.

They were naked, except for small pieces of cloth wrapped around their loins. There was something about them that seemed all wrong. They walked on two legs, and had two arms, but all of my instincts told me to run when they glanced in my direction. If I hadn't known where they came from, I would have suspected a UFO and called NASA.

"Hey, we got some aliens landed out here in Hot Shot. You better come collect 'em before they hit us with a ray gun or take us up to their ship for some kind of probe."

Their skin was dark, if you could call it skin. It had the look of faux leather upholstery, only not the smooth soft buttery stuff that people nowadays used. It was more like the cheap Naugahyde from my grandmother's era. And it looked like someone had been using it since that era too, until it was old and cracked and stained.

The conversation of the night that Niall and Jerahmeel had sat down in my living room flashed through my mind.

"Their ideal was to breed with the angels, and for their children to have wings," Jerahmeel had said about the Seelie Fae.

Well, these things had wings, but I could almost see why Niall's followers would hold them in contempt. They were the antithesis (a nice calendar word) of everything that you would associate with the fairies. Unlike the sleek, feathered wings of my angel, theirs were leathery skin stretched tight over thin, twisted-looking bone.

And yet the Prince must value them, if he brought them with him into this world. And people (or should I say creatures) weren't always what they seemed to be on the outside. Steve Newlin had looked the poster boy of all things bright and beautiful, and he was evil to the core.

"My honor demands that I taste this human, and prudence requires that one be kept for further questioning," Eric said.

He walked over to the other four prisoners, who sat huddled together on the ground, Pam and Daniel at their backs. He tapped one on the head, the one that I had questioned last and who had seemed to be "in the know" about Newlin's operations.

"The panthers are hungry," he said, tapping another one seemingly at random, "but I would share one of these if either is to your tastes."

I guess the leftover guy would go to the vampires who were standing with their fangs out, looking pretty hungry.

The little twin nightmare demons skipped around the two men that remained, acting like children that had just been offered a candy bar. I wondered if they were children, or maybe some kind of pet? But that raised a whole series of questions that I didn't want to know the answer to.

The Prince watched the two men for a moment as they tried to dodge away from the creatures, only to be backed into the vampires who forced them forward again. Then he scanned the woods that surrounded the small town of Hot Shot.

The moon had risen and it shone brightly, not diminished even by the harsh glare of the lights in the yard. Only Calvin and a few of the strongest shape shifters had retained their human form. My brother already sported the half man, half panther form that designated him as a were that had been bitten, not born. Dermott still clung to the shadows at the outskirts of the scene, taking it all in, but not participating.

"The Seelie is blood of your lady," Jerahmeel said, glancing at Dermott, "but no longer of Niall's world. I would invite him to hunt with us."

Something in what the Prince said seemed to excite his two companions and they rushed back to his side, tugging at his pants legs and speaking rapidly in some language that sounded more than just foreign.

He bent down and indulgently stroked each of their heads. He whispered something in that same strange language, and they scampered off towards the tree line.

Eric said something to Pam, and then incapacitated the man that he had designated as a keeper with a quick blow to the head. Pam flung the man over her shoulder as if he were a twenty-pound sack of rice, and sprinted over to the van.

"So that no one may say that I am not a sporting man, I will give you a head start," Eric said to the others. "Run!"

He pointed to the woods, and the men, after a moment of indecision, and some small amount of prodding from the vampires, began to run. They took off towards the trees, not bothering to look back, but literally running for their lives. I wasn't sure what game Eric was playing, but I doubted that it included letting them get away.

While Eric and Jerahmeel had been having their little coffee klatch, everyone's attention on them, Newlin had been scuttling away from the center of the yard. Maybe he thought no one would notice if he just ran away too? Yeah, and bears didn't shit in the woods.

But Eric was finished with whatever wheeling and dealing was needed, and in a few long strides, he had Newlin cowering in his shadow. My vampire was done playing now and got down to business.

"I am afraid that your invitation to the hunt has been lost in the mail," he said cryptically.

Even Steve Newlin looked puzzled at that, but the surprise on his face was nothing to the expression of shock and pain when Eric reached down without warning and began to snap the bones of his legs, one at a time. He paused for a moment, as if relishing the sound of the other's misery before he bent down to pick up the now crying man. Grabbing him by the hair and one shoulder, and brutally yanking his head to the side, Eric buried his fangs in the man's throat.

What sounds Steve Newlin had been making were hushed quickly, and replaced by a wet sucking sound as Eric consumed his life. It seemed interminable, but it was only minutes before Eric had drunk his fill and cast the now dead body to the side. The moonlight glistened off the darkly crimson blood dripping from Eric's mouth, until he licked his lips with his tongue, not wanting to miss those last few drops.

A warm wash of deep satisfaction flowed through our blood bond. It was different from the simple appeasement of hunger, something much more fundamental to my vampire's nature. Something I thought could only come while drinking in that final moment when death claims its victim.

I didn't know whether to feel sickened or to feel pleased at Eric's satisfaction. It wasn't that I could fault Eric for taking pleasure in the man's death. I could still remember the desire to burn the man to death, and the satisfaction I had felt as I had first begun to burn his hand. And I called myself human. How much more compelling it must be for a vampire, a hunter and predator, to make a meal of someone who had threatened his young.

And what had it cost Eric to go for all of these years without killing, to have lived on synthetic blood and the small sips he took from me? Wasn't this who Eric really was? How much had he given up to be part of the human world, to stay within the framework that humanity prescribed?

I had no pity for Steve Newlin. He had bought his ticket and Eric had punched it. He had died and Claudine would live. The method might not be humane, or the sentiment, but we weren't humans, and be damned to any that thought that we were or that we would go down without a fight.

I didn't get a chance to muse on this for very long. Dante, whom I had assumed was still at the side of my brother Jason, watching the show, began to bay. His unearthly howl was answered by more of his kind as they came out from the edge of the woods, followed by a sight that I am sure very few if any mortal men had witnessed, or could imagine in their wildest dreams.

The panthers growled, forming into a defensive arc, but the Prince beckoned the visitors over, unconcerned, as they rode, scurried, ran or flew from the trees.

The little twins were at the head of the pack, leading what might be considered a horse, but would probably be more appropriately called a steed. The proud creature flung his head up and flared his nostrils when he spied his Prince. His hooves struck the hard ground with the sound of a kettledrum, leaving divots in the wake of his heavy body as he gamboled to Jerahmeel's side.

His gleaming coat lay over a frame that was almost skeletal in it's appearance. His small eyes gleamed red, and held a sentient quality that made me think this was no ordinary beast of burden. The creature was a horse, but in the same way that Dante was just a dog.

Behind the horse and the twins came the rest of the party, a motley mix of humanoid and not quite describable beings—lords and ladies, clothed and naked, small and gigantic, walking, flying and creeping. Most were armed with gleaming weapons, many encrusted with jewels, but others sported only claws. It was the army of the damned, the minions of Satan, the dream of a madman. Take your pick. Mardi Gras paled in comparison.

Even the vampires looked amazed at this Parade of Demons, and Dermott was standing open mouthed in shock. It was impossible to tell what the panthers thought, but they made no aggressive moves in the demons' direction.

The Prince walked towards me, the steed following close behind, and I had a feeling that I was looking at my ride for the evening. I didn't know how to feel about being a part of this wild hunt of the fairies. I wasn't even sure that I was still awake. Maybe I had fallen asleep and this was all some strange nightmare. I would wake and be back at home, in my not-quite-real everyday world.

But I knew that I wasn't dreaming when Pam clapped me on the shoulder, startling me out of my reverie.

"Ah, Sookie," she said, looking down at her very fashionable low heeled boots. "It's a perfect night for a jog in the woods, don't you think? I'm so glad I didn't wear my Ferragamos."


	89. Chapter 89

CHAPTER 89

"_And now", cried Max. "Let the wild rumpus start!"_

I had often read "Where the Wild Things Are" to Arlene's kids when I had babysat for her. Little did I know that Max was not far wrong when he envisioned the wild rumpus.

"Will you ride, M'Lady?" the Prince asked me.

He was stroking the mane of the demon steed, and he almost made it look harmless. As if to prove the point, the horse lowered his big head, nudging my hand softly with his nose. A warm puff of air came from his mouth, smelling vaguely of sulfur. I really wasn't all that sure what horses were supposed to smell like, but I didn't think they smelled like this. I hadn't ridden one since my father had taken us to visit an old friend of his that kept horses. I had been very small, and the horse had seemed very big. But it had been gentle, as this one was trying to be.

"I don't know if I remember how to ride," I answered. "It's been a long time since I've been on a horse."

"Like riding a bicycle," Eric said, coming up behind me, and scooping me up in the air.

He sat me down on the back of the horse, and although the animal stayed still and quiet, I squeaked and wiggled to get back off. It looked so far down to the ground from up on the animal's back.

"Like you've ever ridden a bicycle, Eric," I scoffed.

"Well, no, I haven't," he admitted. "But how hard can it be? Even children do it. But I have ridden many a horse. Hold on here," he said, moving my hand to the horse's mane. "I will run beside you and catch you if you start to fall."

"I can't do this, Eric," I whined. "And I'm not supposed to be riding horses."

The excitement in his eyes was not quite contagious enough to make me want to accompany him on this hunt. I could only imagine what would happen when we encountered the "prey". Maybe I could sit in the car and wait? I knew better than to think I could call this thing off. There was no way those men were going to be allowed to get away.

I think I might have argued for the sitting in the car option if a sound from the clearing hadn't choked off my words.

The horn's notes were high and clear and cut through the crisp night air. It called to me like an enchantment, to some wild part deep inside, that part where the fire resided. I sat up straighter on the steed's back, feeling the tension in the animal's muscles as he responded to the sound. Eric tensed beside me, ready to run, his eyes almost as wild as the horse's.

The horn sounded again and everyone assembled in the clearing, their battle cries a blanket of sound that must have carried for miles.

Vampires and panthers and demons, oh my! And yes, humans too, although only a few of us, and none of us pure blooded. I wondered if this was what the Britlingens had meant when they said that the angels could unite the other supernatural races.

Surely they had meant united in peace, not joining together for slaughter. We weren't pursuing innocents, but did that make us any better than those we pursued? Where was the dividing line?

I didn't know the answer to that, but I knew that I didn't want to be the one that meted out vengeance anymore. I understood that violence was a way of life for many, humans and supernaturals alike. I understood that violence was part of the nature of the man I loved, and that had fathered the child that I carried. There was no way that I could live a life that straddled the human and the supernatural and not see some of that violence. But I had seen enough for tonight.

"I want to go home," I told Eric.

He looked up and into my eyes, and for a miracle, he didn't argue with me, although I knew that I was disappointing him. He just reached up and took me into his arms.

We stepped back from the horse, now figuratively chomping at the bit to join his Prince at the head of the hunt.

"Go. Join your master," Eric told the steed, releasing him, then turned to tell Pam that we were leaving, but everyone else could stay for the hunt.

When the riderless horse reached Jerahmeel, the demon Prince looked back at us with regret for a moment, then bowed and sprung onto the horse's back, pulling his wings in close to his body as he spurred his mount into the line of trees. The demon twins ran beside him, side by side with panthers and vampires, their growls and screams blending into a cacophony that would instill fear into the bravest of hearts.

We stood in the moonlight and watched them go, the sound of the horn and its followers fading into the distance.

"Are you tired, Lover?" Eric said as he buckled me into my seatbelt.

"Yes. But I'm always tired these days," I answered. "I guess that's to be expected."

"You don't eat enough," he chastised, closing my door and going around to the driver's side.

As the car pulled away from Calvin's, a bone weary exhaustion seemed to overtake me. I wondered if it was just one of those pregnancy things, or if it was from using my magic.

I sunk into the comfortable leather seat of the SUV and closed my eyes, but I wasn't ready to sleep. My mind was too preoccupied with all that had happened that night.

"A penny for your thoughts," Eric said.

Eric had begun to use more and more of my expressions in his daily interaction with me. I wasn't sure sometimes if he was humoring me, or just trying to expand his grasp of the vernacular.

"Haven't we had this conversation before?" I asked him.

"Yes. And no, I don't have a penny to give you. However, I believe that last time we concluded that my credit was good."

I had to laugh a bit at that. His credit was good for a lot more than just what I was thinking.

"I think I should up the price to a dollar with all of the things on my mind tonight," I said.

"Cheap at any price, Lover."

"Ha! A lesser woman would make you pay dear after a remark like that," I teased.

"A lesser woman's thoughts would not interest me enough to make the offer."

I sat quietly for a moment, not sure where to start.

Eric glanced over to me several times, looking anxious, before he finally said, "The negotiations are still open. Name your price."

"I'll give you this one for free," I said. "Why wasn't there any fairy smell?"

Eric looked a little relieved after he heard my question. What had he thought I was going to say?

"Do you think the demons just don't smell like Niall's fairies? You had to be almost pulled off my cousin Claudine when you first met her and Niall always has to mask his scent when he's around vampires. Claudine always smelled so good, even to me. But that horse, or whatever it was, it sort of smelled like sulfur. And none of the vamps went into a fairy feeding frenzy."

"Now that you mention it, it does seem odd. But at the time…" Eric said, looking thoughtful.

"Exactly! I didn't think of it then either. With only a fraction of fairy blood, my scent is noticeably different to most vamps. It's strong enough to make me more attractive, even if it doesn't incite a shark fest. But Mr. Cataliades and Diantha are part demon, and they don't smell like fairy at all, right?"

"No, if anything, their smell is somewhat unappetizing to vampires."

"Well, I find that kind of interesting. If the demons are really fairies too, only just the less powerful and less attractive varieties, I would have thought that they'd have that same smell. Do you think those were hand picked ones that either smell different or can mask themselves? Or that the Prince laid some kind of enchantment?"

"I don't know. You have made a very interesting point, Sookie. The fact that vampires cannot easily resist the smell of fairy has made it almost impossible to ally with them, although until now, we've rarely had common goals. But perhaps the demons will not present the same problem."

I guessed that I was now the common goal, or rather, my children. And the common enemy would probably be the humans.

"I would be interested to hear any other insights you might have had, Lover."

"Well, I don't think it's an insight exactly. I guess it's more of a question."

"You have my full attention," Eric said.

"Do you think those little winged demons were the Prince's children?"

"I think they may be his offspring, but I would not assume that they are children."

I waited to see if he would add to that, but I guess he didn't know any more about them than I did. There was no reason that he should, since he had never been in the demon realm, but he always seemed to know everything.

"Does it bother you that he may have children?" Eric continued.

"Well, I know it shouldn't. I mean, he's a zillion years old and so he's probably got a whole slew of them."

"A slew?"

He raised one eyebrow as if he was having trouble following me.

"Yeah, it means like a whole lot of something. Anyway, I was thinking about that, and then I started thinking about the box."

"The box," Eric said, sounding puzzled.

He looked over at me again, and I wanted to tell him to keep his eyes on the road. Not that he would do it. Vampires seemed to have a sixth sense about what was coming at them on the highway, which might be why I had never heard of a vampire having a traffic accident. I didn't want to be involved in the test case of that theory though.

"Watch the road, Eric. Baby on Board!"

He made a small gesture of dismissal with his hand as if watching the road was not a requirement for driving in his case, but I noticed that he turned his attention back to the road.

"You were thinking about a box," he prompted.

"You know the box with the big honking emerald? I'm trying to remember what it said."

"Den dype isen til isbreen gir vei til heten fra vulkanen."

God, I loved it when he spoke foreign languages, even though I couldn't understand a word he said. My mind wandered to the time that he had spoken to me in French. Maybe he would do that again if I asked him.

As if sensing that he had lost my full attention, his eyes glanced from the road to my blank face and he put it in words that made a little more sense to me.

"The deep ice of the glacier yields to the heat of the volcano," he translated.

"Yeah, that's what I thought it said. And you said that it sounded like a love poem. Don't you find that at all disturbing, Eric?"

I watched his face in the rear view mirror as he drove, and I could see that he looked vaguely amused.

"Let me see if I have correctly deciphered your musings, Kjære," he said, pausing for a moment as he considered his next comment.

"You think the Prince is going to court Claudine. Even when she comes of age, she will be young and innocent, and he will have had many lovers and perhaps many children, some of them hundreds of years old and looking quite different from the Prince. And you see this as what? Unnatural? Unwholesome?"

"Well, okay, that about sums it up, except that his lovers are probably more like a cast of thousands, and why wouldn't he have talked about his kids if he had them, and yes, it sort of seems…. I'm not sure what it seems, but it's icky."

"Icky?"

"Okay, not the best choice of words maybe, but weird anyway."

"Have you considered that the sentiment on the box may be a comment on our child's parentage? Vampires are certainly cold, and fire is apparently part of your heritage."

After tonight, there seemed to be no doubt about the fire thing, even if there hadn't already been enough evidence of that when I ignited the kitchen table. And there was no question that vampire bodies ran a few degrees above dead.

But it wasn't as if Eric would yield to anybody. Certainly not to oncoming traffic, I thought, as he abruptly pulled onto the highway, no doubt causing the poor guy in the merge lane to have a heart attack.

And anyway, he was the one who had wanted me to yield to him. I could still remember him in that skin-tight Lycra saying, "Yield to me", as he pressed me against the hood of his car.

"I guess it could be about us, assuming that you are Claudine's natural father," I said, hating to bring up the doubt we still had about Eric being the father.

"Still the gift disturbs you," he said in a patient voice as if he was explaining something to a child. "Did you think because he is an angel that he would be sexless, or would remain celibate like a priest? Did you see him as some tortured soul, waiting thousands of years for his one true love?"

"Well, no," I said, although maybe I had been seeing him that way. "I guess I don't know what I thought exactly. I just never thought about him having a family already until tonight. And then I got thinking about his gift, and those demon twins and what it all might mean for Claudine."

"You knew that I'd had many sexual encounters before you married me, Sookie. And you knew that I had fathered children."

"Yes. But somehow it doesn't seem like the same thing at all."

He didn't say anything for a few minutes, but at the next available side road, he pulled the car off the highway and turned off the engine.

"So what is it that's really on your mind, Sookie?" he said, turning in his seat to face me.

He looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes, small lines forming between his brows as they creased in concern.

"I just forget sometimes what you are, and what I am too, I guess. It's not like we're the Brady Bunch or something. I know that. But besides the daylight thing, sometimes we almost seem like a regular family, you know? Okay, there's the blood thing too, but that just never seems about violence. It's about food and we all have to eat. And then, all of this happens."

"So it disturbs you that I killed the man?"

"No, I knew he had to die, and maybe it should bother me that I think that, but it doesn't. No. It disturbs me that we tortured him."

"Ahh," he said and went very quiet, as if he had been waiting for this conversation.

"It's not that I'm mad at you, or that I'm going to freak out about it. I understand that it is part of your nature, of who you are. But I never thought it was part of mine."

"We all have our dark sides," he said quietly.

"Yeah. If anybody knows that, it's me. I've seen what's in people's minds, and I know about the dark side. But acting on it is something else entirely."

"What do you want me to say, Sookie?" he said, taking my hand in his.

I looked down at my hand, my hand of fire. It didn't look any different than it had that morning.

"Nothing, Eric. I just have to work this all out in my mind. Okay?"

I knew that he was remembering Christmas Eve, when we had stood on the porch and he had told me his fear—that I might hate him, if I ever came to understand what he really was. I was beginning to understand it.

"I could never hate you, Eric," I told him, lifting his hand to my mouth and pressing my lips to his cool skin.

He didn't say anything. He just sat and watched me intently, like he was worried that if he took his eyes off me, I'd be gone. Finally, after a long moment, his nodded and his face relaxed.

"Let's go home, sweetie," I said.

He leaned over and gave me a gentle kiss before he started up the car and turned back towards Shreveport. I didn't think we had said all there was to say about the topic, but I was too tired to really examine what we had done. It would just have to join the growing list of things that I didn't know how to feel about.

When we got back to the house, the first thing I noticed was the increased security presence. There were several vampires standing by the porch, including Jonathan the spy who was most likely waiting to speak to Eric, and half a dozen heavily armed men dressed in the dark outfits preferred by professional bodyguards. My weres were probably out running in the woods, since it was full moon. Thinking of the wolves made me realize we had totally forgotten about the hound and left him back in Hot Shot.

"Eric, what about Dante?"

We'd left our vampires at the hunt too, but they could all squeeze into the van to get back. None of them were going to be happy about sitting with the hellhound. Daniel would probably make sure he wasn't left behind though.

"I am sure that he will find his way home, Lover. Go inside. I'll join you shortly."

I watched him walk off to deal with his vampire business, and turned to the house. I was so relieved to be home. Home where the heart is. Home where Claudine was waiting for me. A home that I might not be leaving very much in the near future if it was up to Eric.

In some respects, I would be a well-guarded prisoner. Eric would make sure that I stayed put until this situation reached some kind of conclusion and he felt more comfortable with my safety. But my heart felt lighter with each step I took towards the door.

"Hi, I'm home," I called as I walked into the kitchen.

The table was set with Gran's company teapot and the fancy teacups and saucers that usually collected dust in the china cabinet, although I suspected that the dark liquid now filling them wasn't tea.

Thomas was standing guard behind the high chair. He wore his long, red hair loose and it flowed down over the scabbard and sword that was slung over his back. He was smiling down at Claudine who was making a mess of her cookie and a cup of milk.

Thalia sat on one side of the table, her cup poised gracefully in her delicate hand.

Opposite her, sat her vampire doll Velma, propped up in the chair on a stack of books. Velma had a cup and saucer in front of her too, sitting untouched next to a cookie.

"Welcome home, Mistress," Thalia said. "We are having a tea party."

The happiness on the ancient vampire's face was a matched set to the smile on my little angel's. This was definitely not the typical American family. It was more like something you'd find falling down the rabbit hole. The only thing missing was the Mad Hatter.

How I wished I had my camera at that moment!


	90. Chapter 90

CHAPTER 90

I felt Eric walk into the room, although he was being as silent as a mouse. Claudine was sound asleep and I was curled up under the quilts, snug and warm. His cold feet startled me as he slid in beside me.

"Are you awake, Lover?" he whispered into my ear.

"I am now, sweetie," I said, not bothering to open my eyes. "We should get you some of those battery operated socks that warm up your feet. I got some for Jason for Christmas, for when he sits up in his duck blind during hunting season."

"An amazing invention, no doubt, but I would rather warm up next to you," he said, snuggling up a little closer.

He reached down under the hem of my nightie, and slid his cold hand up my thigh to my hip.

"Geez Louise, Eric!" I shrieked, breaking out in a shiver.

He laughed, and wrapped his arms around me as I tried to escape his frigid body.

"You're so warm," he said, "and you smell so good."

He pulled my tousled hair away from my neck and nuzzled against my skin, inhaling my scent. It would take a few minutes for his body to warm up next to mine, but my temperature shot up immediately.

He flicked his tongue against my ear, sending a different kind of shiver through me.

I rolled over to face him, my hand coming up to caress his beautiful face.

It was his turn to flinch, and he moved so fast I barely saw it, grabbing my forearm as he pulled away from my touch. Even in the dim light coming from the open bathroom door, I could see the strange look on his face.

"Eric? What's wrong?"

In all our together, my vampire had never shied away from me, just the opposite. He didn't look afraid exactly. It's not that easy to frighten someone like Eric. And if he did experience fear, he certainly never let it show on his face. I wasn't sure what the look was, but why would he pull away like that?

"Your hand, Sookie," he said, so softly I almost didn't hear him.

I pulled back away from him, and tucked my hand under the quilt. I knew that fire was one of the few things that threatened final death for a vampire. Was he reacting to the fire that I had created earlier that night?

"I don't want to talk about my hand, Eric," I said.

"Sookie, just look at your hand. Please," he said, throwing the covers back far enough that I had to sit up to grab them back.

And then I saw it too. It was softly glowing…and it was warm.

"Holy shit!" was about all I could say before I burst into tears.

"Kjære, hush, don't cry."

"But what is it doing, Eric? Oh my God. You don't think it would burn you, do you?"

"No," he said, although he sounded a little uncertain, and then again he said, "No," and this time with more conviction.

He reached over to the table and grabbed a tissue from the box I always kept next to the bed. He handed it to me, and while I wiped my eyes and blew my nose (with my other hand, my safe hand), he pulled the covers back over me and tucked me in.

"What were you thinking, Kjære? Right before you put your hand to my face, what were you thinking?"

I sniffed a few times, dabbed at my eyes again, and thought about it.

"I don't know. When you touched my ear…with your tongue…"

I had to think about that for a moment. It's not like you always have clear thoughts when you have sex on your mind. Eric took my hesitation for embarrassment.

"You are my wife, Kjære. We can talk about these things. Tell me what you were thinking."

"Well, I was thinking how that just made my temperature shoot up right quick, and how nice it was going to be to just rub you all over with my hands and warm you up."

He smiled at that, a teasing half-smile that usually signaled that I was going to like whatever was coming next. But he wasn't ready to let me off the hook yet.

"And what were you thinking earlier tonight?"

"I don't want to talk about that," I said.

I knew that he was asking what I had been thinking before the flames had come out of my hand, the flames that had burned Steve Newlin.

"I think we must, Sookie. This is not going to go away by not talking about it."

Those thoughts, although very disturbing, were a little bit easier to clarify in my mind-Diantha, creeping into my yard when I was sunbathing, during the fairy war, to let me know that the fairies were out for my blood.

"I was trying not to see what he planned for Claudine, it was so horrible. And I remembered something Diantha said once. She was showing me how she could make a small flame on her hand, and she told me that everything will burn," I said as the tears began to fall again. "And then he started screaming. I didn't mean to do it. I don't know that I even realized it was happening at first."

"Hush," he said and this time he wiped the tears from my cheeks himself, and then licked his finger.

"What is happening to me, Eric?"

He watched me for a moment, his blue eyes taking in my tear-streaked face. I knew I must look a fright, but there was nothing but love and pride looking back at me.

"I think you are coming into your birthright, Lover. And I think as you accept your own magic, you will begin to be able to control it."

"But what if I can't control it? What if I burn you, or Claudine? What if I can't even touch you?"

"Ahh, my lovely little fairy, you won't burn me. I don't think you could if you wanted to. You and I are bonded, and what hurts one, hurts the other. Just as I could never drain you, no matter how tempting your blood. It would be like ramming a stake through my own heart."

Just the thought of a stake in Eric's heart sent chills down my spine that no amount of fire on my hands could warm up.

"I don't know if I want this magic. It just goes against everything I've been brought up to believe in. I can't see any use for it, except to hurt someone."

"We must each play the hand we are dealt, Sookie. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, and sometimes we just bluff our way through."

If I were talking with Pam I would be waiting for her to break out in the Kenny Rogers song. The words ran through my head.

_You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run._

"Just the sight of your power would be enough to give any vampire pause," he continued, "even myself. And that pause may be all the time you need to be able to escape."

Especially if I could master the other new power that I apparently had. I could just pop myself to safety.

"Yeah, I guess I can see that as an advantage, although why I should always be having to escape something is another question."

"I think we should discuss this with the demon. If you can learn to control this, you will not have to be worrying that it will come into play inadvertently."

"You mean Diantha?"

He rolled his eyes, demonstrating that his evaluation of Diantha as an instructor was pretty close to mine. Diantha was one of the strangest people I had ever met, and even though she did seem to know a lot more than I did about the supernatural world, I couldn't see her patiently walking me through any kind of training.

"I think in this case, the Prince would be a better choice. Although even Cataliades might be useful on this point."

Eric had very probably seen Mr. Cataliades, as I had, going after the vampire Jade Flower with a flame on his hand at Sophie Anne's party. Jade Flower had killed Mr. Cataliades' niece, Gladiola, and the half demon had been out for vengeance.

"I know you're right, Eric, and that not facing up to this magic won't make it go away, but I've got to wonder what I did to deserve all of this."

"I think it is not so much a question of what you have done, but what you are, Kjære."

"Next you're going to tell me that life isn't fair, right? Or that I should count my blessings. You're starting to sound like my grandmother."

"Considering the esteem in which you hold your grandmother, I will take that as a compliment, Lover," he said, his voice low and quiet. "But I would rather not have you thinking of your grandmother when you are in bed with me."

And certainly, looking at Eric lying naked in my bed was nothing like looking at anyone's grandmother.

"Well it's better than thinking about this hand thing," I said.

"I think that might depend on where that warm hand of yours decides to rub," he said.

He reached over to me, pulling down the covers that I was hiding under, and pulled my arm out. Not flinching this time, he placed my hand over his heart, and let out a contented sigh.

"Yes, I think this hand might very well be capable of magic," he said, beginning to whisper in my ear, as he moved my hand slowly down to places that were very responsive to my heat.

I woke to the sound of Claudine chattering away in her crib. I wasn't sure, but it almost sounded like she was saying, "Mama."

"Good morning, angel," I called from the bed. "I'll be right there."

I was tangled up in the covers and Eric's big old leg was wrapped around me. It took me a few minutes to find the nightie that I had thrown off and slip it over my head, and to rearrange my vampire so he was a little bit more decently covered.

Maybe it was time to move Claudine into her own room. There wouldn't be an advantage to having someone in the house to care for her when I was sleeping, if they couldn't get in to take her out of the crib. And there was no way that anyone besides Eric, Jordun and myself were going to get the code into the room where Eric slept during the day. We had made that mistake once.

I stumbled into the bathroom and quickly took care of necessities, washing and brushing and throwing on some clothes. I wasn't going out, so jeans and a tee would be just fine, along with a light sweater. Fall weather was often unpredictable, but it had been a little cool lately.

I stopped to grab a few things from the room, including my phone, then picked up the baby and headed downstairs.

I don't know how Grace did it, but no matter what time of day I managed to get out of bed, she had coffee and breakfast going. I set the little wooden box I had taken out of the bedroom safe down on the table next to my coffee cup, and got Claudine settled into her high chair.

"Good morning, Grace. I see that Dante made it back home last night."

The pup was lying on a towel, looking a little bit the worse for wear and properly cowed. The end of his tail was thumping, but he hadn't gotten up for his usual frenzied morning greeting. I figured he was confined to the corner of the kitchen so he wouldn't track up the floors. Grace was giving him a disgusted look, and I decided that I better let her in on why the dog had come home covered in…mud?

"I'll give him a bath after breakfast," I offered after I had told her an abridged version of the previous night's adventures.

"And what is this?" she asked, glancing at the wooden box as she put a plate of waffles in front of me.

I told her about some of the thoughts I had had the night before, about the twins, and the box, and what the runes might mean.

"I just can't stop thinking about the runes. It's probably just some cryptic demon stuff. Do you think it's a love poem, Grace?"

"Do I look like an English professor?"

"No. But since it isn't English, I don't think that would matter anyway. These waffles are better than Camellia Grill's by the way."

The Camellia Grill was the place to go for pecan waffles in New Orleans. Tourists lined up outside the door. Everything was delicious there. Of course they used a ladle to pour the butter on, so it was hard to go wrong.

"Hmmpf!" Grace said, but she looked pleased at my comment.

"So, why would you give something like this to a baby?"

What I hadn't thought about the night before was that Jordun had given an unset stone to Claudine too, a diamond. Maybe it wasn't such an odd gift when you were dealing with people from another time, people who could afford to own precious gems in the first place. Maybe men of power and fortune gave those kinds of things to the children of other powerful rulers.

Grace turned off the faucet, wiped her hands on her apron, and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"May I see it?" she asked as she sat down to join me at the table.

"Sure," I said, pushing the little box in her direction.

The jewel gleamed from its little nest inside when she opened the box. Grace's eyes got big when she saw the size of it.

"Flawless stones of such a deep color are very rare, although emeralds can be made in a lab now. The best emeralds in this world are from Colombia. A natural emerald of this size would be extremely valuable," Grace said. "But they might not be such an uncommon stone in the demon world," she added.

"You don't look like a geology professor either."

"I read a lot," she said.

Her face crinkled with fine lines when she smiled. She didn't smile at me a lot, usually just giving me a look of approval or rolling her eyes. But she had a lovely smile.

"I read a lot too, but not about anything important I guess."

"Everything's important," she said.

I put my fork down and pushed my plate away. It seemed like I was almost always hungry, but no matter what I ate, it seemed to upset my stomach. There was just so little good to be said about the early stages of pregnancy.

"So what else do you know about emeralds?"

"Legend says that Lucifer wore a magnificent emerald in his crown. When he rebelled against his god, the emerald fell to earth."

"And what happened to it?"

"Some say it adorned the goblet that is the grail of legend."

"Huh! I don't think this is the Holy Grail or anything," I said, pulling the box towards me and touching the emerald. "Although after last night, I wouldn't be surprised if the Knights of the Round Table showed up for dinner."

"If you are expecting them, I better send someone out for more steaks," Grace said.

I laughed and almost spit my coffee across the table. Grace grabbed a napkin and mopped up the mess.

"Sorry. But who knows what to expect anymore. When all the legends and myths and nightmares start turning out to be true, anything could walk in the front door and I'd believe it."

"Where there's smoke, there's fire. Legends aren't just arbitrary. They are usually based on something that happened, even if it couldn't be explained or accepted at the time."

I wished that she hadn't mentioned smoke or fire. I looked down at my hands again. They still looked the same, so why did they feel like someone else's hands?

I picked up the jewel again, just staring at it, but couldn't see anything special about it. Well, besides the fact that it was beautiful, and huge, and worth a fortune.

Claudine, who had been wolfing down her breakfast, reached out for the stone, and I thought, what the heck. As long as I was watching her so she didn't choke on it or lose it or something. It was hers, after all. The worse she could do was get it sticky.

She grabbed it with her tiny fingers and brought it up in front of her face. Then, she began to laugh and babble at the thing. It was almost as if she was seeing something in the stone, something that I couldn't see. Or maybe something that could see her.

Batanya came into the kitchen carrying a box and big manila envelope, and laid them on the table.

"Diantha brought this box for you, and the paperwork is in from Dr. Ludwig's office," she said.

Grace poured her a cup of coffee, and I quickly glanced at the contents of the box. It was filled with packages of gloves, each marked with a size but nothing else, just small, medium, or large. I had been expecting those.

I had also been waiting for the information from Dr. Ludwig's office, and I tore the envelope open. Inside were four business sized envelopes, each marked confidential, and each bearing one of our male vampire's names. They were all sealed of course.

"Huh! You'd think there'd be some kind of report or something," I said, fishing around inside the big envelope, but not finding anything else.

"Is that an emerald that the child is playing with?" Batanya asked.

"Yeah. It was a gift from Prince Jerry. It's almost like she's talking to it," I said as my attention went back to Claudine and the stone.

"Maybe she is," Batanya said, putting her hand out to Claudine and trying to coax her into letting go of the jewel.

Claudine was having none of that, and grabbed it tighter in her little fists. As soon as Batanya pulled her hand back, Claudine went back to watching the stone and babbling.

"She'll get tired of it soon," I said.

I couldn't believe there wasn't some kind of report, and I looked through the envelopes again. I guess it was medical information, and that was confidential, but wouldn't Eric have to know what was going on? He was the king, after all, and this sort of concerned all of us.

Okay, mostly I was nosy, and couldn't wait to find out what the story was. A thought flashed through my mind of how Nancy Drew would have steamed the envelopes open with the teakettle, and then sealed them up again after she found out the contents. Not that I would ever do something like that, but it was tempting. And I couldn't hold them up to the light hoping to see the writing through the envelope, either. Not with Grace and Batanya in the room, anyway.

"Did Daniel say anything about his results, Batanya?"

Grace harrumphed in disapproval at my bold question, and I almost felt embarrassed for asking, but my curiosity was taking the place of my good manners. Of course, Gran would have reminded me of what happened to the cat that got too curious, but on the other hand, Gran had always seemed to know everyone in town's business.

"I don't think he knows them yet," she said, her attention pulled away from the baby and the emerald to the envelopes on the table.

They probably didn't have Nancy Drew books in her dimension, but I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't thinking the same thing that I was about the teakettle.

"Clovache has gone home for a few days though," she added.

"When? She's not going to miss Claudine's party, is she? Did she say why she's going?"

"She left this morning, and she will be back before the little one's birthday. She said it was personal," Batanya answered in a tone that said she was pretty suspicious about what personal meant.

"Hmm," I said, because of course I couldn't outright ask what was going on, if Batanya wasn't volunteering the information, or didn't even know.

"Should I have told her to stay?" Batanya asked me.

I knew that Batanya was senior to Clovache, although I had sort of been thinking of them on leave, so hadn't really thought about Clovache needing to ask permission.

"Oh, no. You both are free to come and go whenever. You don't need to ask my permission. We kind of think of you as family now, but I realize you have ties and obligations in your own world."

The amount of people that were starting to feel like family was actually kind of amazing to me, especially since I had had so little in the way of family for such a long time. These ties weren't forged from blood necessarily, but from mutual interest and respect in some cases, and in other cases, from a deep-seated need to have a place to belong. We didn't really even know a lot about each other, but then look at how much I hadn't known about my grandmother, or my cousin Hadley, or even my parents.

Blood might be thicker than water, but I had never trusted my brother to consider my welfare the way I felt I could trust the members of my household. Of course, you could say I did have a blood tie to some of them, the vampires anyway.

Well, just because we might be family, didn't mean I could open their mail, so I put the envelopes in the inbox by the phone, figuring I would find out soon enough what was in them.

Dante, who had been looking miserable stuck in his corner, had begun to inch his way off the towel, and was slinking on his belly towards the table, no doubt hoping the baby had lost interest in her breakfast and would toss some of her waffle overboard.

"Okay, Mister," I told him. "Let's get you cleaned up, or Grace is going to banish you permanently to the yard."

He looked up at me with his big green puppy dog eyes, hoping I would take pity on him, but I could feel Grace's eyes on the muddy hound, and knew I would have to be stern.

"Batanya, can you make sure that Claudine doesn't choke on that emerald or something? I'm going to give the dog a bath."

Grace bent down to the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a bottle of flea shampoo for dogs and handed it to me as I got up from the table. As if any flea in his right mind would chew on a hellhound, I thought.

"Come on, you big moose," I told Dante and headed out the back door.


	91. Chapter 91

CHAPTER 91

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Northman."

"Yikes! Uh, hello Mr. Cataliades. You've caught me right in the middle of the dog's bath."

I had been humming away, in flip-flops with my jeans rolled up, struggling to keep the dog still while I gave him a good scrubbing.

"Yes, I see that. I'm sorry to have caught you at a bad time."

"Well, I'm almost done here," I answered as I rinsed the last of the dog shampoo from Dante's tail. "I'm sure Grace will have something for you in the kitchen if you'd like to wait a few minutes for me."

"Thank you, dear. I've brought a candidate for the open position in your household. This is Ms. Castalia Maimonides."

The woman standing slightly behind Cataliades was middle-aged, tall and very slender, and looked decidedly human, well, until she smiled. Her markedly pointed teeth looked a little unusual contrasted with her no-nonsense slacks suit and conservative haircut.

"Hi. Nice to meet you," I said, almost holding out my hand to shake, then realizing it was holding the still streaming hose.

Dante took that opportunity to decide he was finished with his bath, and began to shimmy himself dry, sending droplets of water in every direction. How they mostly ended up on me while my guests seemed to gracefully move out of reach, I had no idea.

"We'll just wait inside, dear," Cataliades said, stepping carefully around the puddles and leading the potential new nanny inside.

I was sure the lawyer had said three o'clock on his message. Not that I had any idea what time it was, but surely it wasn't that late in the day. Wouldn't Grace have warned me if I were going to get caught unprepared for company? Yeah, probably…if I'd bothered to tell her that they were coming. Usually Amelia was the one that kept track of these kinds of things. I was missing her already.

I didn't think it would be polite to leave the always busy Mr. Cataliades cooling his heels while I took a shower and changed, so I just dried off a bit, slipped off my shoes (Grace would kill me if I came in with muddy feet!) and walked in barefoot into the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry about this, Mr. Cataliades," I said. "I guess I wasn't aware of the time."

Grace looked at me as if to say "Ha!", knowing that I had totally forgotten about the appointment.

"No problem at all, my dear. We are all just getting acquainted."

By getting acquainted, he meant being cross examined by Grace while under the wary gaze of Batanya who was standing guard next to Claudine, looking menacing. I noticed that Grace had at least set out some tea and cookies on the table, and that the breakfast things were cleared. Claudine's face had been wiped off too, although there was still syrup down the front of her shirt.

Grace was standing next to the stove, looking like the headmistress at a boarding school. She watched the nanny with a critical eye as if just waiting to catch her out at something, and Batanya left off her bodyguard pose only long enough to scoff at my discomfort. The only person who seemed totally at ease was Claudine. She was holding out her emerald to show our visitor her new toy and smiling fit to beat the band.

"I was just explaining to your housekeeper that Miss Castalia here is my brother-in-laws sister. I believe you have met my brother in law, Mrs. Northman?" Mr. Cataliades continued as I finished washing up at the sink.

"Oh yes, several times," I said, extending my hand out now that it was clean and dry. Very nice to meet you, Miss Maimonides."

"You may call me Cat, Madame."

"Thank you, Cat. You can just call me Sookie. Umm, I guess you've met everybody? That was Dante out there," I said, pointing to the door. "He's our dog."

Considering how dirty and wiped out Dante had been, I wondered that the lawyer was looking so fresh and well rested. Had he joined in on the hunt with the others? I was sort of dying to know about it on one hand, but then again, I had a feeling I wouldn't really want to know the details.

I felt like a complete idiot, having forgotten our appointment and been caught out giving the dog a bath of all things. I had planned to be totally professional with this interview, not like a country bumpkin. I sat down, straightened my clothes a bit, tucked my bare feet under the table and jumped right in.

"Well," I said, since no one else was talking. "I guess Mr. Cataliades has told you that we are not quite your ordinary household, Ms…um…Cat. Are you okay with working around vampires?"

"Yes. I'm quite comfortable with that," she said in a clear, confident voice, touched with a Cajun accent. "I would not consider myself a willing donor, of course."

"Oh no! Absolutely not! We do take-out around here primarily, well, except for those who have mates, and we have synthetic blood of course. What we were looking for mostly was someone to help with the children. There's Claudine, and we are expecting another child next spring, a boy. Grace is really in charge of the running of the house, and it would be nice if you could help her out when she needs it too."

"And you will be traveling?"

"Yes. Sometimes we go to New Orleans or Las Vegas when Eric has business. I mostly try to stick around here though, since it isn't easy on Claudine to be out in public."

Since we hadn't really seen what the reaction to the video was yet, it might be that Claudine wouldn't be able to go out in public at all for a while, even using her glamour.

"We would like someone at night sometimes, so Eric and I could go out without the kids. Claudine always has guards of course, but I don't like to ask them to do childcare. And during the day, it's often just me and Grace around the house, but since I keep such late hours, it would be nice to have someone to keep the kids company while I sleep."

While I was babbling away, I noticed that Cat's attention had drifted to the baby. Claudine was still holding tight to her emerald, but she had put it up to her mouth, and was attempting to chew on it.

"That is not food, little Miss," Cat said softly, and extended her hand to Claudine.

Without batting an eyelash, Claudine relinquished her treasure and placed it into Cat's outstretched palm. Batanya shifted on her feet and scowled a bit, since she hadn't been able to get it away from the baby earlier. Mr. Cataliades passed Cat a napkin.

"Here, let me take that," I said, grabbing the stone and getting up to wash it off in the sink. It was a sticky mess. I took a quick glance at it as I was drying it off with a dishtowel, still not seeing whatever it was that had fascinated Claudine, then shoved it into my jeans pocket.

"I think we can have one of the cottages ready for you by next week or the week after," I said, "if you'd prefer to live in. It might be more convenient for all of us. We can furnish it if you need."

"That would be fine," Cat said. "Mr. Cataliades mentioned the possibility of a vehicle being provided?"

"There's your car that you never use," Grace prompted.

She had noticed the little interaction with the emerald too, and I could tell that she was reevaluating Ms. Maimonides already.

"Oh! Oh yes. I'll have Travis show it to you. It's out in the garage. He has the keys."

"I can start the day after tomorrow," Cat said, and that was all she wrote.

"Let me just show you the house," Grace told her, and led Cat out of the kitchen.

I wasn't sure what had prompted me to offer the job to the woman so soon. I had planned to ask about her references and experience, and maybe even let her spend a little time with me and Claudine and see if our styles of child rearing would be compatible. But something about the way Claudine had just complied with her request, without any balking at all, and something about the tone of her voice when she'd made that request, told me that we would all get along fine. And it seemed like even Grace was making no objection. A win-win situation for sure.

"Well, Mrs. Northman. I hope this arrangement will work out satisfactorily for everyone," Mr. Cataliades said as he got up from his chair. "I will take care of the paper work and make sure that Ms. Maimonides is put on the payroll. Is there anything else I can do for you, my dear?"

"No. Thank you, Mr. Cataliades. I think that's everything for now."

"You received the box I had sent over?" he asked.

Since the box was still sitting on the kitchen floor, he knew that I had gotten it, but if he was waiting for me to explain why I wanted it's contents, he would be disappointed.

"Yes, thanks again. It came this morning," was all I answered.

The two part demons (and I was pretty sure that that was what Cat was) were ready to leave shortly after, leaving me with Cat's card and a promise to return in two days to start learning our routines.

I walked them out to the porch and happened to notice that Dante was having a field day rolling around on the grass, no doubt drying himself off. His feet were up in the air, kicking wildly, as his huge body slithered side to side, covering himself with the clippings from the freshly mowed lawn. Well, if he got himself all filthy again, he could just sleep out on the porch. I wasn't going to bathe him again. Although, I suppose I could just give him a good brushing.

"A woman's work is never done," Gran would have said.

The rest of the day, or at least the few hours left before my Viking would wake, seemed to go very quickly. Claudine needed to be bathed and changed since more food had gotten on her than down her. There was always the laundry and cleaning, and there were the lists to be made and emailed to Amelia for the birthday party supplies that we would need.

Batanya and I were sitting down to our supper, a nicely grilled steak and baked potato, by the time my vampires came downstairs to have theirs.

Daniel waved for me not to get up, and started the bottles of blood warming in the microwave, carefully stepping over Dante who was back to his usual evening occupation of sprawling in the middle of the kitchen, waiting for the dog food gods to refill his dinner bowl. At least he was clean. I had given in before the sun went down, and brushed him to Grace's satisfaction. If you'd ever heard a hellhound whining, you would have done the same thing.

"You are looking radiant, dearest," Eric said as he walked in behind me, placing a soft kiss on my neck.

"Not too bad yourself, Viking," I answered, looking at his tight fitting black jeans as he walked to his place beside me at the table.

He was wearing what I called (to myself) his shit kicking boots and one of his over-the-top belt buckles that only a man with his kind of confidence could pull off. The belt was holding up a holster that carried a very wicked looking knife. The boys were planning to check out Steve Newlin's headquarters that night.

Eric bent down to kiss Claudine, who was hanging on my leg, and trying her best to get her little hand into my pocket.

"What is she doing, Lover? Do you have something in your pocket?"

I swallowed my bite of steak (I was so hungry!) and moved Claudine's hand away, as I had been doing for the last ten minutes while I ate.

"She wants the emerald," I said. "I put it in my pocket when the new nanny got her to finally give it up. I'm waiting for her to go to bed, so I can hide it and she'll quit bugging me about it."

Eric sat down, looking quite puzzled, as well he might, since he had missed the whole day while he was so busy being dead.

"Perhaps you might care to explain, Sookie."

"Well," I began, putting my fork down, but was distracted by the sight of Jordun going through the in box next to the phone.

"Listen, Eric, that's not important. I'll tell you later, okay? Why don't you stick Claudine in her high chair and I'll get her some milk."

I got up to get the milk out of the fridge, watching carefully to see everyone's reaction as Jordun handed round the mail.

"Dr. Ludwig was here today?" Eric asked, noticing the hush that had fallen over the kitchen as each of the men took their white envelope.

"She sent those over. I guess it's the results," I said, plopping Claudine's milk in front of her and returning to my seat.

The level of anticipation in the kitchen had become almost palpable, and we all waited for someone to move first. Finally, Daniel slid a small knife out of his boot and slit open his envelope. His brief look of disappointment said it all, and he crumpled the letter up and stuffed it into his pocket.

Jordun ripped his open, and after a quick perusal, showed almost visible signs of relief. "A big no for me," he said, sounding quite content with his results.

Thalia was almost hanging over Thomas' shoulder, and after he turned his envelope over and over in his hands a few times, he just passed it to her. She ripped the end off, quickly read the letter, handed it back to Thomas and wordlessly walked out of the kitchen, slamming the door hard enough that it barely survived the assault. Thomas followed quickly after, this time leaving a crack in the doorframe that would no doubt require a visit from the contractor.

"I guess that was a no," I whispered to Eric.

Jan, who had been standing very quietly to one side of the table, looked briefly at Eric, who nodded, and then he ripped open his envelope.

If it was possible for a vampire to blanche, I think Jan would have done it. As it was, he dropped into the nearest chair and gasped, his whole body shuddering with the huge intake of breath before he bent double, his head falling to his knees. He sat that way for a moment and then he began to cry.

"Jan?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

As if on cue that something was going on, Pam strolled in. She was dressed for an evening at Fangtasia in a very tight fitting black gown that looked like something out of the Addam's Family. If it wasn't for the drama playing out in the kitchen, I might have made a crack about Morticia.

"What did you do now, Sookie? Have you used your magic on Jan again?"

"Get out!" Eric barked, and Pam, looking startled, scurried out, grabbing a set of keys from the rack on the wall.

Batanya and Daniel didn't wait to be told, but left their chairs and headed to the door.

"Where is Clovache?" Eric asked me, looking unsure what to do.

"She has gone home for a few days," I said.

It wasn't often that I saw men crying. Sometimes at a funeral, although by the time a loved one was being buried, the worst of the tears had often already been shed. I had seen my brother break down over the death of his wife, Crystal, and his unborn child, and Eric had cried tears of joy at the birth of his daughter.

But this was a bitter, wrenching thing. Jan's body heaved with each sob, the unfamiliar breaths sounding painful, and the tears a bloody stain upon his face.

I dropped to my knees and enfolded him in my arms, holding him as tightly as I could, as if by stopping the motion of his body, I could stop the pain in his heart.

Eric tensed when I touched him, but it wasn't from jealousy or possessiveness. It was if the grief that I felt when I touched Jan transferred to Eric as well.

My hand began to stroke Jan's soft auburn curls, and with each stroke, he calmed, although his eyes still streamed bloody tears. And I saw in his mind what had happened.

She was lying very still. The unborn child had stopped moving some time before, and the village midwife had shaken her head and left him to mourn alone. Blood still flowed from between the woman's legs, but it was a trickle now, barely noticeable against the flood on the linen cloths that had been pressed under her.

She had said she was so very cold, and he had built up the fire, and then covered her with the heavy fur rug from the floor. He climbed in beside her, holding her tight, trying to keep her warmth from leaving. Her breast no longer heaved from her labors, and her rough, homespun linen shift stuck to her skin, still damp with sweat from her exertion.

He willed his body's warmth into her, rubbing her hands, her chest, her belly, begging her to take one more breath, just one. But she grew colder lying next to him, and when the last rattles of breath ceased, the room seemed unnaturally quiet.

I could see the room so plainly as the last rays of sunlight seeped through the cracks around the door and window. Firelight danced over the simple furnishings, the basin of bloody rags, her few favorite possessions on the chest by the bed, a comb and a simple broach, and a gown for the expected child. And as the night descended on the room, and the fire burned low, even he had no warmth left to give her.

Her name had been Oda.

The report from Dr. Ludwig had drifted down to the floor, and Eric picked it up, scanned it quickly and passed it to me.

There seemed like a lot of information, much of which was lost on me. There were numbers for fructose, something called alpha-glucosidase, and something else called inhibin B. All within normal levels. Count: normal. Motility: normal. Morphology: normal. Prognosis for impregnation: excellent.

In a box at the bottom designated for recommended follow-ups, Dr. Ludwig had handwritten in, "Buy some condoms".

Jan was sitting quietly now, with that creepy stillness that only vampires seemed to have.

"Are you okay, Jan?" I asked again.

He nodded, almost imperceptibly, and I got to my feet. Going over to the counter, I picked up a dishtowel, dampened it under the faucet, and went back to Jan. Putting a hand under his chin, I lifted up his head, and wiped the blood from his face. The sadness was still in his eyes, but the tears had stopped. He watched me for a long moment, and then he seemed to collect himself, sitting up straighter, the confidence back in his squared shoulders.

"Come, old friend," Eric said, patting him on the back lightly. "There are those who would destroy us, and leave our family undefended."

Jan looked up at Eric and nodded. Then standing, he looked back to me.

"Thank you, Mistress," he said, and followed Eric out the door.

Authors note: Since our dear Pam has been lacking in musical suggestions lately, may I suggest "I Grieve" by Peter Gabriel.

Thank you again for your continued support of this story, and for your very kind reviews. As always, most of the characters in this story are the creation and sole property of Charlaine Harris. I am only borrowing them for this derivative work, and reap no profit or monetary rewards from their use.


	92. Chapter 92

CHAPTER 92

"Shall I leave my socks on?" Eric said, not wanting to repeat the cold feet incident from the night before.

I had been lying in bed waiting for Eric to get home, thinking that maybe I ought to try out some of those flannel sheets that Amelia always raved about. Either that, or turn up the thermostat. You never thought about things like that during the day, when it was warm.

"No, but you can leave your hat on," I said, smiling to myself, the tune of an old song popping into my head. Gads! I must be channeling Pam!

Maybe Eric would enjoy it if I did a little dance for him, down to my black high heels and a saucy little black hat. It might depend on whether I could do it and not fall on my butt in the heels, I thought.

"I'm not wearing a hat, Lover, but I certainly don't see why I would want to leave it on in bed if I was."

"Oh, never mind, Eric. I was just thinking about an old song I heard once. Anyway, I think it's supposed to be me that leaves my hat on."

Eric looked at me as if I had lost my mind, but decided the better part of valor was to give up on the hat conversation. He stripped off his shirt and jeans, and climbed onto the bed.

"Take your socks off, Eric. It's gross to have sex in nothing but socks."

Actually we had had sex in just about every state of dress and undress, and it hadn't been gross yet, but I wanted him naked, even down to his feet.

"Are we having sex, Lover? I'm very glad to hear that. But what difference would it make if we have socks on? I thought you liked warm feet."

"Just get over here. I'll give you warm feet!" I said.

The socks came flying off and joined the pile of clothes on the floor. No doubt I would trip over them getting out of bed in the morning, but I wasn't the type of wife that was going to make a big deal out of a little thing like whether Eric picked up his own laundry. Life was too short for that. Or at least it was for some of us.

"My feet are all yours to do with as you please, Madame," Eric said, running his foot down the side of my thigh.

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph! It must be cold outside," I said. "Get under the blanket."

He laughed and snuggled under the quilts with me, wrapping me up in his long arms.

"Stay put," I told him, wiggling out of his grasp, and sliding down to the bottom of the bed.

He obediently stayed put, lying very still except for a slight movement of his chest as he laughed again.

I decided that I would try and repeat what had happened the night before, hopefully by my own choice and without setting the bed on fire.

I thought about how nice it would be to warm up Eric's cool body with my hands, starting with his feet, working up over his calves and then over the chiseled muscle of his thighs. I began to feel the warmth in my hand, and in the darkness under the quilts, I could see the faint glow of the magic.

My hands continued up Eric's beautiful body, skirting his second best asset, which had already risen to the occasion. Moving over the slight curve of his hip and up to the fine curls of hair on his chest, my fingers trailed a circular path around his nipples.

I heard a soft moan of appreciation from my vampire and decided I kind of liked this new magic.

"I am becoming fond of this new trick of yours," he said, echoing my own thoughts. "And now I am very curious what you are planning to do with a hat."

"Hush. You're distracting me," I said, feeling my hands cool a bit as I lost concentration.

"My lips are sealed," he said, and laughed again as I pinched his nipple for being such a brat.

He quit laughing when I slid my hand down between us, spreading my warmth over his hard, smooth flesh. I was rewarded by another low moan.

"Must I stay put, Lover?" he said, his voice husky now, and dripping with sex.

"No," I whispered back, the word barely out before he had rolled on top of me, rubbing himself against my entrance before he thrust inside.

There was no more reason for words, as he began to move, slowly at first, tenderly. His fingers caressed my nipple, and his mouth pressed against mine, sucking and teasing, the prick of his fang against my tongue a little taste of heaven and hell, pain and pleasure.

I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him in farther, my gasps spurring him on to push harder, deeper, as a warm flush spread across my skin. His mouth moved to my neck, and the brush of his fang sent a tingle of excitement through me just before his bite punctured my skin.

The tension in our two joined bodies seemed to explode and my body shuddered, his last thrusts filling me and pulling me over the edge, until there was nothing but the heat that surrounded us.

I lay gasping, a fine film of sweat covering my body, as his tongue lapped at the wound, a soft purr coming from his throat as his weight settled on top of me.

As he felt my body relax, my breath slowing to its normal pace, he moved carefully to the side, wrapping me in his arms and holding me close, as we enjoyed what seemed to be a perfect moment.

Eric must have realized that I would get cold, because at some point, he reached down and pulled the covers up over us, making sure that I was snuggled in tightly.

"So, Lover," he said, his voice low and intimate. "Will you tell me about your day? We have a new nanny?"

I struggled for a moment to bring my mind back from its sex-induced haze.

"Yes, and I think I am going to like her, although I have no idea why I think that. She wasn't here very long at all. Grace likes her," I said and told Eric about the brief but successful interview.

"And what is this about the emerald?" he asked.

I told him about Claudine's fascination with the jewel and how she had been babbling to it as if she was talking to someone.

"It seemed like she was watching something in the stone, but I couldn't see a thing. Don't you think that's curious? Maybe she just likes it because it's so shiny, but I have a feeling something else is going on."

At that, he moved away a bit, and propped his head up on his elbow.

"What I think is even more curious, is what prompted you to take it out of the safe," he said.

"It's been in there for a while now, and I never really thought much about it until last night," I said. "And then this morning, I just couldn't stop thinking about it, so I got it out."

"It is only recently that you have been manifesting your fairy traits," Eric said. "If this is some fairy artifact, perhaps it has some power of attraction. Did Cataliades remark on it at all?"

"No. Cat, that's the new nanny, just put her hand out for it, since Claudine was putting it into her mouth, and then I took it, washed it and put it in my pocket. And Claudine's been trying to get it back out all day, but I don't know if I should let her have it."

"Do you not find it also curious that the Prince should have assigned the hellhound as his agent in our household?"

"I guess I never thought about it. Dante looks out for us. He let us know right away when Niall was on the property. He wouldn't let anyone hurt us, I'm sure of that."

"Yes, I agree with that. But besides his role as guardian, what purpose does he serve?"

"You mean, how would he spy on us or report back to the Prince?"

"Exactly. He cannot communicate telepathically with you, can he?"

"No. Although that doesn't necessarily mean he can't talk to the Prince in some way. I see your point though. He seems to understand quite a lot, but I think even normal dogs actually understand a lot more than they can communicate. But I don't think he thinks in the same way as we do. I think he is more like a dog than a person. I don't think he sets up any shields either. I think I would feel those."

I scooted over a bit, and propped my head up on my elbow too, facing Eric, anxious to hear where this was leading.

"So perhaps, the Prince's agent is not really Dante, but is here somehow in the stone."

"Whoa! That's a pretty iffy proposition for the Prince though, isn't it? I mean, I could have just left it in the safe until Claudine was grown up and old enough to wear something like that. And what good would that have done him?"

"But you didn't. There was no reason to take it out of the safe, but you felt compelled to do so. And now, Claudine talks to it."

"Well, as much as Claudine can talk, that is. I suppose you could be right. But we didn't agree to anyone else but the dog," I pointed out.

"We agreed that the agent must meet with your approval. And we told the Prince that you had given your approval. The so-called agent was actually never specified. We assumed it was the pup."

"This just seems a little underhanded, don't you think? It was obvious that we considered Dante to be his agent."

"The Prince has survived longer than I can even imagine, Lover. He will have had millennium to master the art of negotiation and subterfuge. Even I am a babe in the woods next to him."

"So you're saying we can't trust him, Eric?"

"I truly think that he will do nothing that would harm you or the child, Kjære. But beyond that, I am not able to say. My instinct is to trust him though, and I have stayed alive for a long time, using my instincts."

"Yeah, my instincts say that too, although my instincts usually just get me into trouble."

At that, he bent down and gave me a quick kiss, but I noticed he didn't bother to argue with my observation.

"And where is this emerald now? Not still in your pocket I hope?"

My jeans were tucked into the laundry basket in the bathroom, pockets emptied. Grace always got irritated about stuff going through the washer and dryer, and expected me to check all the pockets before bringing the laundry to the laundry room. The emerald hadn't even made it up to the bedroom though.

"I threw it into the cookie jar," I said sheepishly.

"The cookie jar? I hadn't realized we had such a thing," Eric said, not sounding too sure he even knew what it was.

"Yeah. You know. Where we keep the cookies after Grace bakes them. Claudine's never allowed near the cookie jar, so she won't stuff herself. Not that she could reach it anyway unless she flew up. Grace keeps it up on top of the fridge."

"So, this priceless gem, that may also be a window into the demon world, resides in our cookie jar."

Eric was laughing again, and I couldn't say that I could blame him, since it was sort of ridiculous when I thought about it. I had to defend myself though.

"Well, I was tired, and I didn't want to walk upstairs to put it in the safe, and it kept poking me, since my pants are getting a little tight, and Claudine was playing with Daniel in the living room, so I just popped it into the cookie jar. And then I sort of just forgot about it."

"I think you are the priceless gem, Lover," Eric said, kissing the top of my head.

"There are just so many things to think about these days. Don't you ever just want a vacation, sweetie? A week on the beach in Hawaii or something that normal people do?"

"I'm afraid that a week on the beach would not be conducive to my health, and as much as I would love to see you enjoy a week in the sun, I'm afraid I could not do without you for so long."

"Just the hours that you are asleep seem too long away from you, sweetie. I cannot imagine a whole week."

And after hundreds of years without his Oda, Jan still mourned his love, I thought. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose Eric. I was sure I wouldn't survive it.

"How is Jan, Eric? Is he okay?"

Eric blinked at the sudden change of topic, taking a moment to think about it.

"I think he is in a state of shock. I must confess that I am also to an extent, but I had not expected his reaction, and am not quite sure I understand it."

I tried to describe to Eric what I had seen in Jan's mind when he had read the results of his fertility test.

"I suppose that just the thought that he might be able to have a child again, brought back those painful memories," I said.

"Ahh. That would explain it," Eric said, with the weariness so often heard in the voices of the very old.

"He doesn't even look old enough to have had a wife and child," I said.

"There were not always so many people, Sookie. And humans lived for such a short time. It was important that they breed as soon as they were able if humanity were to survive. People didn't have the luxury of extending their childhoods until their twenties as they do now. Many did not even manage to live that long. He would have been considered a grown man, and would have been expected to take a wife, and bring children into his clan."

"Do you know how Jan became a vampire, Eric?"

"I don't know the specific circumstances. He has never spoken of it, nor would he give the name of his maker to Bill for the database."

"Do you think he didn't know the name, like Thalia?"

"He knew the name, although I don't."

I could tell that there was more to the story that Eric wasn't saying, but I didn't press. I could feel him thinking about how much he was at liberty to say.

"What I will tell you, must never leave this room, Sookie."

"Okay," I said and waited while Eric continued to gather his thoughts.

"I do not know how old Jan is. I am not even sure that he knows. I met him almost half a millennium ago. He claimed to be Prussian, and said his people no longer existed, nor his language. We hunted together in the slums of Paris for a time."

I remembered Jan telling me some of this, and wondered why Eric would consider that something to be kept secret.

"My maker had released me to go my own way, and I assumed his had also, but that was not quite the case. You have seen that Jan has a way with humans. He seems quite at ease with them, and they with him. He can pass quite easily as a human when he chooses, as long as he avoids the daylight of course."

I had noticed that at Fangtasia, where the fangbangers seemed more attracted to Jan's charm than to the aura of danger that usually drew them in. Not that Eric couldn't be charming too when he wanted, but he didn't waste that skill on the vermin, as he called them.

"He looks very young, and he is pretty, and pretty young boys have value to certain types."

Eric face held a disgusted look, as if he had just taken a big swig of tainted blood or something, and couldn't quite get the taste out of his mouth.

"Jan's master would use that, hiring him out to do portraits. It was a good way to insinuate himself at court where his youth and beauty gained him private access to those that were heavily guarded. And then Jan would kill them, quietly and stealthily. And for this service, his master would collect the fees. Death is a very lucrative business, when the victims are men of wealth and power."

"But you didn't meet him at court? You met him in the slums?"

"Yes, he was on what you would call a vacation. He had been seen too often in society and therefore his value was lessened for a time. He knew it would not be long before his master called him to a new court, where he would not be recognized. He did not care to go back to his maker, but of course he would have no choice. Not only did he find the work…distasteful, but I gather that his master was not…overly congenial."

"So did he find a way to run away or something?"

I didn't think that was possible. From what I had heard from Eric and Bill, a vampire could not escape his master. It was virtually impossible for them to resist their master's call for any length of time.

"No. He couldn't do that, neither could he harm his master. The bond between maker and child does not allow the child to damage his master. But I had no bond to the man."

"So you killed his maker for him?"

"It is not easy to kill a vampire that is older than you. With a greater force of arms perhaps, and sometimes by trickery or chance. And the old ones become very wary and careful. Many make children solely to guard themselves. But of course we are all vulnerable during the hours of sunlight. Jan's maker had no reason to fear his child, and was not quite wary enough. Jan knew where he spent his daylight hours. And it so happens that my brother can walk under the sun."

"So Jordun killed him."

"Yes, as a favor to me, although Jan does not even to this day know how the deed was accomplished."

"And why would you do this for Jan? Wouldn't killing another vampire put you and Jordun in a very bad position if it was ever found out?"

"Yes, even now, we could be brought up on charges for arranging it. If anyone knew. And of course, only you and I know that Jordun is a daywalker. So you must never speak of it. As to why? I don't know. Perhaps because of my appreciation for his art, perhaps just because I liked him and felt that he was a man of honor. Or perhaps because of the way he was being used."

"But he knew I had managed it somehow, and so he also owed me a favor. And when your safety and happiness was threatened by Felipe, it was time to call in those favors that were owed to me."

"I still don't understand what happened that night that Jan drank my blood."

"Nor do I. That is still a mystery. Perhaps he is meant to play some special role in your life, or you in his, as you have already done. But I think he is content that you have become his mistress. He has left a gift for you downstairs."

"A gift? Oh. Do you know what it is?" I said, surprised that Jan had managed a gift, when he and Eric had been out dealing with the Fellowship of the Sun all night.

"I'll go get it," he said, and jumped out of bed, his face taking on a mischievous grin.

"Put a robe on at least, Eric," I said, but he was already out the door.

"Sheesh!" I said, but sat up, anxious to see what the surprise would be.

I was more than surprised when Eric came back in with Jan in tow, and quickly pulled the blankets up over me.

"Jan would like to give it you himself, Lover," he said, standing there stark naked with a very pleased expression on his face.

Jan approached the bed, looking slightly abashed at being dragged up to our bedroom.

He bowed deeply, and then setting something on the bed he said, "Mistress, I have retrieved your camera."

Author's note: May I suggest for your listening pleasure, "You Can Leave Your Hat On" performed by Joe Cocker.


	93. Chapter 93

CHAPTER 93

"Hand me one of them tacks, Sook," Jason said.

Jason had come over early (early being mid afternoon) to help the guys set up the jungle gym, and I'd roped him into helping with the party decorations.

Amelia had shown up with crepe paper for streamers, and a small helium tank to fill balloons. The banner that said "Happy Birthday" stretched all the way across the room, and I was worried that Eric might not be able to walk under it. He was so tall.

"You have to twist that before you tack it up, Jason, or it won't look right."

I was thinking Amelia and I should have done this, since Jason didn't know squat about decorating. But he had said pregnant women shouldn't be up on ladders, so I had let him have his macho moment.

"Hey, I got it, Sis. Chill," he said, as he untacked the crepe and started over.

"You hear about that Christian book store here in Shreveport?" he said. "I guess it burned clear to the ground. Some kind of bomb they said."

"When? What store?"

"Well, I don't remember where they said it was, but here in Shreveport. Eight people got killed. And I guess there's a whole string of them stores getting burned down all over the south, all the way to Texas. I guess people are saying it's them damned A-rabs, out to get the Christians."

"Watch your language, Jason. The baby's in the house."

The baby was busy teasing Bob with a balloon on a string, and I was just waiting for one of the balloons to pop and scare the bejeezus out of both of them.

"I didn't see that in the paper, and why would you blame the Arabs?" I said, continuing the conversation.

"Some of it happened last night. I heard about it in the car on the way over here, on the news. And you know those crazy A-rabs, Sook. They already bombed us once. They're just waiting for their chance."

"You listening to the news is a first, Jason, and I wouldn't be blaming everything on the Arabs just because of 9-11."

"Well, who else would be bombing a Christian book store, Sook? Think about it!"

Gads. If Jason got any thicker, you'd be able to drive nails with his head. Although I suppose he hadn't been close enough to hear the interrogations on the night of the hunt, and not all of the information that we got from the culprits had been verbal. I had read quite a bit of it out of their heads. So he wouldn't necessarily know that the Fellowship had been setting up headquarters in religious bookstores in several states in the south.

"Yeah, I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking you shouldn't be so quick to go after a whole race of people just because of one incident. We're minorities here too, you know. And you wouldn't want to see mobs coming after me and Claudine, would you? That's what happens when people start reacting before they know all the facts."

"What's to know, Sook? Who else is going to go after the Christians but them Muslims, or maybe the vamps or something?"

A light went on in his head, just as surely as if somebody had thrown a switch. Looking at the wheels trying to turn in Jason's head was almost painful. Maybe God had made him cute and charming, so nobody would kill him out of sheer aggravation.

"Huh! So that's your bunch getting the Fellowship, Sook?" he said.

"I have no idea, Jason. And I wouldn't go talking about it as if you knew anything either. Loose lips sink ships."

"Yeah, well, I don't know nothin' about it anyways. Huh! Good for them. Those bastards deserve whatever they got," he said.

"Language, Jason!" I said.

"Sorry. Hey, when that niece of mine gets a little older, we won't even need a ladder, Sis. We'll just have her fly on up. Guess she's too little to be using tacks now though."

It was borderline whether Jason should even be allowed to handle sharp objects. God knows how he managed to be the supervisor on the road crew. Maybe they figured he was safer that way, since the road boss never actually did much work. Gran would have told me I was being too harsh on my brother, and in reality, he usually did a good job at most things, once he got around to doing them.

"This is looking pretty good in here. Why don't you take Claudine outside with everybody else and you can help the guys with the jungle gym. I'll get the rest of this stuff put away and be out in a minute," I told Jason as I began to gather up tape, scissors and tacks.

"Okey dokey. Let's go out and you can watch Uncle Jase put up your new slide," Jason said to Claudine, slinging her over his shoulder, making her squeal.

"Tie her balloon onto her wrist, Jason, or it will float away and she'll be crying," I warned. "And don't be bugging Grace for anything. She's been cooking and baking all day for the barbecue."

We had decided to do a barbecue outside, and invite the were guards. Grace and Amelia had baked a million cupcakes for everybody, and had already been hours in the kitchen before I had gotten out of bed. I felt a little guilty about that. The family and our invited guests (aka, the royalty) would be gathering together later in the evening for cake, chocolate of course.

With what Jason had said, I could figure where the boys had been the last few nights. Not that I couldn't have guessed what they'd been up to, when Jan showed up with my lost camera. Eric, as usual, said very little about things like that. He knew how conflicted I was about how casually the vamps used lethal force against anyone they saw as a threat. Not that I really knew any other way they could handle an organization like the Fellowship.

I knew enough about myself now to know that I would do the same thing in a pinch. The only difference was how immediate the threat was. I might feel bad about it afterwards, unlike the vamps, but the victim was just as dead no matter how we felt. Maybe that made me not such a good person, but the lines of good and evil had become pretty hazy in my mind quite a while back.

"May I speak with you a moment?"

I jumped, startled by the interruption to my train of thought. When I turned I saw Clovache standing in the doorway, although I had already recognized her accent, sounding almost Russian to my ears.

"I didn't know you were back. How was your trip? Is everything okay at home?" I said, setting down the bag of trash that I had been gathering up.

"Yes, everything is fine there. I just got back. Mr. Cataliades dropped me off. He'll be back for the party later he said, with Diantha."

"Oh good. You look real nice, Clovache."

The Britlingens always looked good, in a "don't fuck with me unless you want to die" kind of way. They were both in tip-top shape, their bodies very muscular but still very definitely female, even in their usual uniform apparel. But I had never actually seen either of them look really feminine.

Clovache had returned home in what I guessed were her street clothes, a gray sheath dress of a fine silken fabric, and low-heeled sandals. Her hair, instead of being braided to fit under her helmet, was down in smooth brown waves over her shoulders, and she wore long, dangling earrings and a beaded necklace. She was even carrying a purse, of sorts. She looked beautiful.

"Thank you," she said, then just stood there looking expectant.

"Well, sit down then. What's up?"

I could see that whatever Clovache had on her mind, it was important, so I sat down on the couch and waited for her to begin. She remained standing, looking uncertain for the first time ever I thought.

"I went home to ask for leave from the Guild," she said.

"Oh," I said, not knowing what else to say. I had always thought of Clovache as career military. But I guess I wasn't totally surprised that she was considering leaving her position.

"If I might explain. Not everyone is accepted into the Guild, and it is usually a life appointment. If age or illness limits one's ability to serve, they usually choose to stay on as advisor or instructor. Women often will take leave to have a child, and that is encouraged, as their children will provide Guards for the next generation."

I could see where this was heading, and I had lots of questions, but seeing that Clovache wasn't finished speaking, I just nodded and waited for her to continue.

"My situation is of course a little more complicated. If I choose to stay here, instead of taking my leave in my home world, I must have a sponsor. If an acceptable sponsor does not come forward, I will be expected to return, or I will be retrieved."

I didn't like the sound of that. I didn't doubt that if the Britlingens decided to retrieve one of their own, they would manage it. They were definitely formidable. And I suppose they might not want too many of their people staying in another dimension, although I couldn't see how one person leaving would create a big problem. Maybe they didn't want any precedents set? Or maybe it upset some kind of cosmic balance or something?

I wanted to ask Clovache if she was already pregnant. Maybe there were rules about breeding with someone from another world. Would she be in trouble for that? But the Britlingens had told Eric that they carried some embedded birth control device. She probably would have had to go home to have that removed. And Jan's test results hadn't even come back yet when she had left for home. She couldn't have even known whether it was a sure thing. Of course I was assuming that this was about her and Jan and not someone else. If it wasn't, it would break Jan's heart…again.

"So, let me get this straight," I said. "You would like to stay here, to have a child."

She nodded.

"And not to get into your personal business or anything, but since you're talking to me about this…can I assume you're talking about Jan as the father?"

"Yes," she said, nodding again.

"Then, I guess you should really be talking to Jan," I said, puzzled about why she was bringing the whole thing up to me. Maybe she just wasn't sure if it was a wise decision?

"He would be the natural person to sponsor you I would think," I continued. "Although I'm not sure I understand exactly what you mean by a sponsor."

She sighed, and then sat down. I wished we were sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea or coffee. That always seemed like the right place to have these kinds of discussions. Not that anybody ever really had a discussion like this. It was almost certainly a first.

"Normally, we only leave our home world for employment, so our employers are considered our sponsor I suppose. We have been allowed personal leave here, because of the importance of the child, but the expectation was that we would stay a fixed amount of time, then another would be sent to replace us. If we decided to start a family, it would be assumed that we would mate with someone on our own world, preferably from another Guild family, although that is not enforced."

"So I guess it is pretty unusual to have a child with someone from another world?"

"There have been a few others, but not in my lifetime. They were retrieved, since they had not been granted official sanction."

"And the children?"

"No one knows the fate of the children," she said.

"Okay, so this is pretty serious shit then. And what happens if you get a sponsor?"

"Considering the circumstances, I would be granted permission to stay and raise the child until the age of majority. At that time, I would have to reapply for permission to stay, with no guarantees. The child would be free to choose between worlds, on the condition that they maintain the secrecy of our existence."

The circumstances she was referring to probably meant Claudine. It was obvious that the Britlingens were interested in her, either to protect her as they claimed, or to keep tabs on her for their own unknown reasons. This whole thing was really like a bad spy thriller on so many levels.

And I didn't like those two little words, "no guarantees". Not that you ever got a guarantee when you decided to start a family. There were so many things that could go wrong before a baby was even born, and then not all children managed to survive to adulthood. Even if they did, there was no way to know if the parent would survive to see it. We all lived with "no guarantees".

"Okay, but that doesn't really explain what the sponsor is committing to."

"The sponsor would take the place of the Guild director in overseeing my conduct, dealing with any indiscretions that might lead to discovery. They would also be responsible for an agreed upon tithe to the Guild if I was unable to provide my usual contribution. They would commit to return my remains to my home world in the case of death, or to see to the destruction of my remains if return was not possible. They would also be responsible for the care and welfare of the child, if I was unable to perform my duties to him or her."

"Your tithe is usually a percent of your income when you are working? Like a finder's fee or an agency fee?"

"Yes. The money supports the Guild and pays them back for our training."

I knew that the Britlingens were pretty expensive to hire. Even Sophie Anne had remarked on it once, wondering how the King of Kentucky could afford to hire Clovache and Batanya to protect him during the conference in Rhodes. But then, most of the ancient vampires seemed to be as rich as Midas, and Jan and Eric were both pretty ancient. We could probably work out the money.

"And what does Jan say about all of this? Has he agreed to this? I mean, he didn't even know whether he would be able to father a child when you left. This is really between you and him."

"I never doubted that he would receive the gift of fertility, since he is blood bonded to you. However, Jan has been deemed unacceptable as a sponsor. His daytime sleep makes him incapable of assuming the care of a child."

Okay, that wasn't totally unreasonable, although there were such things as nannies, probably even in the Britlingen world.

"So then I guess Eric can't be considered either then?"

"No, and since Jan is your child, your permission would have to be obtained in any case."

"Wait a minute! Jan isn't my child! I'm not even vampire. And I don't know that a maker even needs to give permission for something like this. But I guess since this kind of thing has never come up, there's probably no rule for it."

Vampires seemed to have rules for everything, and often a ceremony to accompany it. They were better than the Masons for structure, pomp and circumstance. But this was all new territory.

"You may not have been responsible for his rebirth, but since you can call him, it is much the same thing. He will of course petition you formally himself, but if you do not consent to my sponsorship, then I must return home immediately."

"Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea," I said, because what else do you say at a time like that!

This was definitely going to open up another can of worms, not like we hadn't had enough of those to open up our own bait shop already.

There was quite a bit to take in. First of all, what did I really know about Clovache's world? Very little. Was she even human? Maybe I should have snuck a DNA sample from one of the Britlingens too, although that may not have really told me much anyway. And screwing around with samples from people that liked to remain hidden was maybe not a good formula for living to a ripe old age.

Then there was the whole negotiating with another realm thing. Look at the UN! We were all the same species on this planet, (well, most of us anyway, or at least as far as most people knew) and they couldn't come to a consensus on anything without ruffling feathers and causing upsets. You couldn't even have a meeting of the parish council without somebody going nuts over every small little issue. So, committing to a contract with another world might mean some very careful screening of what I was getting myself (and Eric, by default) into.

And speaking of Eric, wouldn't he have to approve anything that I committed to with another realm? Not that I wouldn't talk to him about it first of course, since he was my husband. But under vampire law, I was sort of his property. So, would he be breaking some kind of rule (written or otherwise) if he let me sign myself on to this? There was no way I wanted to get us into the middle of any more vampire political shit if I could avoid it. We hadn't even felt the impact yet of the whole issue of vampire fertility, since it wasn't generally known.

And without even worrying about the vampire council, what about the impact on our own family? Good Lord! What about Thalia?

It was one thing that Jan was fertile, and if he decided to father a child, that might be considered his own business. Maybe he would have to discuss it with Eric, since he was officially Eric's subject, but my part in it was already over. I hadn't done anything deliberate to single him out for parenthood.

But if I made a deliberate decision to sponsor Clovache while she bore Jan's child, that would demonstrate my official sanction of the whole thing. Would Thalia then feel like she was being unfairly treated if I denied her request for Claudine's blood and the chance for her and Thomas to have a child? Not that this sponsorship necessarily equated with giving out my child's blood. Christ! There was nothing simple when it came to vampires.

"I will have to talk to Eric before I can promise anything, Clovache. This affects all of us."

She nodded, probably already assuming that I wouldn't do anything without Eric's approval.

"Are you sure about this? You haven't known Jan for very long, and you would be giving up your whole world," I said.

Clovache was a grown up, and who was I to question her decisions, one way or another, but this was not a relationship that could easily be dissolved once there was a child. And no relationship with a vampire was going to be easy.

"I have the contract," she said, pulling out a leather bound sheath of papers from her bag.

From the weight of it when she handed it to me, I could imagine that it covered just about every possible contingency, including what she had for breakfast. There were pages and pages of parchment, and it looked to be handwritten in a beautiful script. Didn't they have computers in Britlingen? I remembered someone saying that a marriage contract between two vampire regents might be thirty pages long. I thought this might be even longer. We would have to have Mr. Cataliades review it before I signed anything.

"Okay. I think what we will have to do, is first sit down with Eric and Jan, and go over the whole thing. Then, if Eric thinks it's a good idea, we can tell Mr. Cataliades and have him go over the contract. This way we all know what we are getting in to. Does that sound okay? I guess it will have to wait until the party is over tonight though."

"Yes, thank you," she said, and I saw that uncertain look in her face. Worried that Eric might not agree maybe?

"You love him?" I said, because ultimately, that was the most important thing.

I could still remember Clovache telling me in Rhodes that vampires, without exception, were twisty and deceptive. Maybe a lot of them were, but I had a feeling that her mind had changed pretty dramatically on at least one vampire.

"With all my heart," she said.

"Hey Sook? You coming out or what?" my brother said, interrupting our discussion.

"Yeah, just a minute, bro," I answered, turning to see him standing in the doorway, Claudine perched on his hip eating a cookie.

Tear tracks streaked down Claudine's dirty cheeks, and her balloon was missing, so I knew that Jason had ignored my advice and not secured the string to her wrist. No doubt the cookie was a bribe to get her to stop crying.

"Hi Clovache, you're looking good," he said, putting on his charm the girls smile.

Clovache looked unimpressed, and rolled her eyes before muttering, "Hello, Jason."

"Listen, Jason, I'll be out in a minute. And don't give Claudine any more cookies. She'll already be getting enough sweets tonight," I said, only then noticing that Claudine was holding the emerald in her other hand.

"I figured if this was real, you wouldn't have it in the cookie jar," my brother said, looking at the emerald. "She wanted to play with it. That's okay, isn't it?"

Shit! I was supposed to put that back in the safe, and somehow, every time I headed into the kitchen to get it, something seemed to distract me. Perhaps the stone had something to do with that?

Well, we had agreed to accept Jerahmeel's agent, and it appeared that the agent was going to insist that we live up to our agreement.


	94. Chapter 94

CHAPTER 94

Of course, Claudine didn't want to give up the emerald, and since it was her birthday, and since I didn't want her to be crying at the barbecue, I didn't press the issue. Whoever, or whatever, she talked to in the emerald must not be "at home" right now anyway, since she just clutched the jewel in her hand, and didn't pay it any more attention than that.

"You should have just left that where you found it, Jason," I scolded my brother.

"Well damn, Sook. If it was something important, you shouldn't be stashing it in the cookie jar. It's not like somebody wouldn't be wanting a cookie," he answered, somewhat logically for a change.

"Language, Jason!" I said again. He was right of course, but I wasn't going to admit that to him.

"Give her to me, and I'll wash her face," I said, sidestepping the issue of the emerald. "It's just about time to eat."

I let Claudine finish her cookie (no one in their right mind would try to take a cookie away from a one year old unless they wanted to create a scene) and then washed the dirt and tear streaks from her face and headed outside.

The atmosphere outside was definitely festive. The guys had country music going, and although they were too professional to have stripped down to bare chests, they were mostly in jeans and tees or tanks, enjoying the fine sunny day. No men in black today.

Amelia had laid out some cute paper tablecloths with matching paper plates and napkins (keeping with the Tinkerbelle theme from the nursery), and had big bunches of balloons on each table. I had no idea where the tables and chairs had come from, but then Amelia was good at getting this kind of thing together. The smoke was pouring off several barbecues and you could smell the barbecue sauce from the back door.

I had invited Remy and Hunter, but they had been "otherwise engaged", which I took to mean that Remy was still pretty uncomfortable about having Hunter over to the house. I had decided to forgo any of the few humans that we knew anymore, since Claudine just couldn't keep up the pretense of being human for any length of time, and this was her day. It wasn't like a one year old really knew what a birthday party was all about anyway, and would notice that anyone was missing.

I did wish that we could have had something a little more traditional, with a ton of kids running amok and coming in for hand washing and Band-Aids and maybe a few bigger boys with squirt guns tearing around and making nuisances of themselves. Not that I didn't have my super soaker handy, and I probably could have had some fun tormenting Jason with that (a little payback for all the years he had taken me by surprise with squirt gun or water balloon). But it wasn't quite the same thing as having little kids around. Well, we didn't know any other supernatural kids, so we had to make do with our weres.

Some of the men weren't above assuming the part of kids as it turned out. Before ten minutes had passed, Jason was inhaling the helium from a balloon and entertaining Claudine with the high squeaky voice it produced. I yelled at him, of course, but he just ignored me. The other guys seemed to think all kids ought to know about that trick too, so my warnings about stunted growth and asphyxiation were wasted.

Dermott seemed to be mostly hanging on the sidelines, but I saw him smiling at Claudine, and he laughed lightly at Jason's antics. Maybe he was becoming more comfortable with his situation and might one day really be part of our family.

Amelia and I took turns on the slide of the new play structure that the weres and Jason had set up, holding Claudine in our laps. Travis, who was not on duty and may have had one too many beers, tried to go down too, but managed to get stuck a third of the way down. He was a big man after all. Claudine shrieked and giggled with all of the attention and managed to get distracted enough that she dropped her emerald into the dirt. I picked it up and tucked it into my pocket before she noticed.

We all sat down to Jim's much touted ribs and Grace's beans, slaw and cornbread just a little bit after Mr. Cataliades and Diantha showed up. Diantha was in her party clothes, which consisted of a bright green bustier and a long yellow tulle skirt over pink tights, speaking at her usual manic pace like a ballerina on crack. Mr. Cataliades was in his usual dress shirt and tie, but draped his jacket over a chair and spread a napkin over his lap to avoid any sauce stains on the expensive fabric. He managed to make eating ribs look like delicate surgery.

Dante was having a field day chowing down on the rib bones that the guys threw down to him. When I mentioned that he might get sick from that many bones, I was greeted with a chorus of "Yeah, right!" I had to agree that it was improbable that a hellhound would be taken down by an overabundance of spare ribs.

"I thought we might roast some marshmallows while the fire is still going," Amelia said, holding up an oversized bag of the sugary treats. "Somebody want to gather up some sticks to roast them on?"

Mark took Claudine by the hand and was soon explaining to her how to choose the best sticks for roasting from the forest debris of the woods that lined our property. Claudine's choice of sticks were more like toothpicks, but she presented them to Mark as proudly as if they were gold plated skewers.

"Well, these are fine sticks, Miss Claudine," he said, as his big hands began to poke them into the marshmallows. "A little short for roasting, but I think we might manage something."

When he was finished, he held up what looked like a little man, albeit a little white and pudgy and with a long stick up its butt.

"Hey, it's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man," Jason said.

Apparently Ghostbusters was as much of a classic with the men as the Godfather, and the quotes started flying.

"Back off, man! I'm a scientist," Jason said, wielding one of the toasting sticks. Coming out of Jason's mouth, a statement like that couldn't help but bring on laughter.

"Don't cross the streams. It would be bad," someone else said.

"Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown," Travis shouted, pretending to aim his stick.

Of course, I felt compelled to jump in on the fun. Ghostbusters had always been one of my favorites too.

"This chick is toast!" I tossed out, pointing my own skewer at the little marshmallow man.

And of course, it burst into flames!

Mark instinctively hurled the marshmallows away as fast as he could, and Jim, who had been walking over with another platter of ribs, barely avoided getting hit by the flaming missile. He stomped the flames out when it hit the ground. Setting the ribs down on the table, he cocked his leg up and looked at his shoes, which were now a sticky mess.

"Whoa, Sook!" Jason said, laughing. "We should have had you out here when we were trying to get the coals to light."

Jason may have had a few too many beers too!

Travis was looking at me as if he'd seen a real ghost, and Amelia was sitting with her mouth open, gaping like a goldfish out of water. I thought maybe those men that had been standing near the table had all taken a step or two backwards. The demons and my great uncle seemed to be the only ones that weren't nervous about my little performance. Dermott had a look of smug satisfaction as if he had never doubted that I could wield fire with the best of them.

Looking at the faces that were staring at me from around the table, I just buried my face in my hands for a second. I really needed to get this magic stuff under control before I burned down the house or something.

Claudine was clapping her hands and smiling fit to beat the band at all the excitement. With her bloodlines, no doubt she'd be a full-blown arsonist before she hit her third birthday. Looking on the bright side, I guess we'd never have to buy another can of charcoal starter.

"Sorry about your shoes, Jim," I said.

"I'm sure it will wipe right off, Ma'am," he said graciously, although he was looking pretty doubtful. I probably should just buy him a new pair.

"Maybe we should just do the cupcakes then," Amelia said, rethinking the whole marshmallow idea, and I agreed wholeheartedly.

"I can't believe you were going to start without us," Pam said from beside me.

"Yikes!" I yelped, and she laughed as she usually did when she managed to surprise me.

I would never get used to the way vamps seemed to just show up even if I lived a thousand years. With all the lights we had on in the yard and the distraction of the "roasting" marshmallow man, I hadn't even realized that the sun was down.

"Hey Pam. You're just in time to sing Happy Birthday," I said.

"I have been briefing Eric on the protocol for the occasion, although I expect that he will not add much to the chorus. He has no voice at all," Pam said.

"Perhaps it is just that you do not listen properly when your master speaks, Pamela," Eric said, walking up behind me and moving my hair aside to plant a kiss on my neck.

Considering that Eric could talk bees out of their honey when he put his mind to it, I figured he could probably manage the birthday song quite well. He could pretty much talk me into anything with that voice.

I turned around to return the kiss and saw that the whole family was up and had gathered behind Eric. Jan already had his arm around Clovache, his pale fingers stroking her neck. I hadn't even noticed her getting up from her chair.

Batanya was walking up to stand with Daniel, but was closely watching Jan and Clovache with an unidentifiable expression on her face. Concern, maybe?

"Okay," Amelia said with a false cheerfulness. "You want to help Claudine blow out the candle, Sook?"

Amelia pulled a lighter out of her pocket, looking at it as if it was a coiled snake or something as she lit the candle. She had been very accepting of my telepathy, and had sort of guessed that I might have a little more magic up my sleeve. Magic often didn't manifest until someone was well into adulthood, or at least that was what Amelia had heard. She wasn't sure if she was comfortable with this new manifestation though.

She and her compatriots were what she liked to call "white witches" and destructive magic was frowned upon in her group. She had talked herself into thinking that turning Bob into a cat was something other than destructive, but burning things to a cinder was more in the line of the black arts in her opinion.

"Sure, let's do this," I said, getting up to take Claudine from Mark's lap, and sitting with her at the head of the table.

The candle, which was several inches tall and shaped like a big number one, was glowing with a tiny flame and nestled into the fluffy pink frosting on one of the cupcakes.

"Can you blow out your candle, big girl? Just like we blow bubbles in the bathtub," I explained, puckering my lips up and blowing a small puff of air in her direction to demonstrate. "Are you ready?"

I leaned near the candle, and Claudine mimicked my movements, her lips puckering up adorably. As if on cue, Amelia began to sing Happy Birthday to you, and everybody (well, everybody that knew the song) joined in.

"Okay, one, two, three!" I said and Claudine blew, spraying the cupcake with a fine layer of spit, but managing to get the candle out with only a little help from me.

Everyone clapped of course, and commented on what a big girl she was now at one year old, and Claudine just dove for the cupcake, managing to smear her nose with a big glob of pink frosting.

The tone of the gathering had changed a bit after the vampires showed themselves. They sipped their True Bloods while we managed to make a sizeable dent in the tower of cupcakes, everyone enjoying their respective foods, but the lightness of the event was somehow darkened.

Travis was self-conscious that he had indulged himself with that last beer, and straightened his clothes several times, as if worrying about being out of "uniform" when the King was present. The other guards had all straightened their stance, and resumed their alert look, as if the potential threat mode had gone from blue to red.

Travis, Mark and Jim were all off-duty today, but all of the guards seemed to be a little bit more wary around Eric since the camera incident. Not that most people weren't just a little afraid of Eric, even me sometimes, I guess. I didn't really want to know what had happened between my Viking and the weres that night though.

Even Amelia, who would usually be flirting with Jordun, seemed a little subdued after the flame-throwing incident. Mr. Cataliades and Diantha seemed to be the only ones that were totally at ease with the vampires, and helped themselves to several of the cupcakes. Chocolate seemed to be pretty irresistible to those of the Demon persuasion. I was sympathetic of course, since chocolate was one of my weaknesses too.

When Eric announced that it was time to go in and change for our royal guests, the party broke up, a second round of birthday greetings called out as weres went back to their quarters, and Amelia headed to her car.

"Do you want to stay and see Niall?" I asked Jason. "He'll be here about ten."

Jason glanced quickly at Dermott, who was standing quietly near the fire.

"Maybe not, Sis. I think me and Dermott will just head on back to Bon Temps. He hasn't said anything about that money he left us, has he, now that he's back?"

"No, and I think he won't. Don't worry about it, Jason. You need me to help out with Dermott? Does he need anything?"

Jason would have plenty to support him and his great uncle, since he was still working and had the trust fund from Niall. But after the way he had reacted to Gran's will that left her whole house to me, I didn't want him to think that I wasn't going to pay my share if it was costing him to keep Dermott.

"No. He doesn't seem to want much, and he's always helpin' out at the house. You ought' a come on over sometime and see what we done to the place. It's looking real good these days."

"Okay, I'll try to get over there soon. I go over to Gran's once in a while. I'll swing by your place."

I was due to go sit with the fairies in the woods behind Gran's in the next week. I would be curious to see if that had resulted in anything, or if the same couple would show up to try again. It seemed like a long shot to me now, seeing as how only one of the vamps had turned up fertile, even though several of them had had my blood.

Jason kissed Claudine's cheek, tickled her for a bit, and then with Dermott trailing behind him, went over to his truck.

"I think you're going to need a bath, young lady," I told Claudine. "And then we can put you in your pretty new party dress. Papa Niall and Uncle Jerry are coming to wish you a happy birthday."

Her eyes lit up when she heard that, and she reached down and pushed her hand into my jeans pocket, pulling out the emerald.

One of Eric's eyebrow rose at the site of the stone in his daughter's hand.

"She can open the safe now?" he asked, although I could tell he already knew the answer to that.

"Well. I meant to put it away. But somehow…I just never got around to it, and Jason found it in the cookie jar."

"Your brother," he said, rolling his eyes a bit.

"Yes, and it's her birthday, and she had lost her balloon, and I didn't want her to be crying all day," I said in explanation.

Eric looked at the big bouquets of balloons, no doubt wondering why I didn't just give her another one, but he didn't say anything more about it.

"You were saying something about party dresses," he said, changing the subject as he looked at my jeans and no longer quite pristine blouse.

"Yeah, we better get ready for the royals, and there are a few things we need to talk about," I said, taking his hand and leading him into the house.

I stopped in the nursery and asked Eric to start the bath while I got out Claudine's party clothes. Our tailor had made her a fancy pink dress with puffed sleeves and a big satin bow, not very practical for such a small child, but I had a feeling that the Princes would dress as if this was a formal occasion. The supes always liked an excuse to dress up, it seemed. I had a fancy new dress too, of course, although mine was in Eric's favorite color choice for me, blue.

I could hear the sound of Claudine splashing in the tub and babbling away as I slipped out of my jeans and put on a robe. I wanted to freshen my make up and fuss with my hair a bit before I slipped into the new dress.

"I need to tell you what Clovache and I talked about today, Eric," I said as I walked into the bathroom.

Eric was looking intently at the baby in the tub when I walked into the bathroom. He put one finger to his lips as he glanced my way, as if to hush me.

"We will discuss that later," he said, taking my hand in his and pulling me farther into the room.

He moved a bit to the side, and I looked around the sliding doors of the tub to see what Claudine was up to.

She had her emerald in one hand, and seemed to be talking to it, although it was only her usual baby babbling. But it was her other hand that held my interest. She held that up in front of the jewel as if she were showing it something. And that something was the flame that danced on the palm of her hand.

"Stop that right now, Claudine!" I barked, and surprised by my shouting, not only did the flame go out, but Claudine dropped the emerald into the water and started to whimper.

"Sookie! There is no need to shout at her," Eric reprimanded, looking at me as if I had lost my mind as he grabbed a towel and scooped Claudine out of the tub.

"Yeah, well, that's easy to say now, but we won't be safe in our own beds if she thinks she can just play with fire, Eric. Good Lord! She could burn herself and everyone else up. She probably doesn't even know it's dangerous!"

I had never seen Claudine do anything like that before. The fireflies were one thing, but open flame was quite another. Had she picked up the idea (or the ability) by seeing me fry the marshmallow man?

"I understand your concern, Lover, but is it not best to instruct her, rather than terrorize her into compliance?"

"Oh! That's rich coming from the big bad vampire," I said, and instantly regretted it when I saw the hurt look on Eric's face.

"I believe I have never used terror as a method to gain your cooperation, Kjære, and I am surprised that you think I would consider that method with our daughter."

I didn't know if that was completely true, since there was at least one conversation with Eric during the early days that might qualify, when he had suggested that torture might encourage me to tell him where Bill's database was. And I wasn't exactly convinced that shouting at a child was quite in the category of terrorizing either, but I also knew that Eric always treated me with respect, tolerance and kindness.

"I'm sorry, Eric. That was totally unfair and mean, and I know you would never do anything to hurt either me or Claudine. I guess the thought of what could happen just frightens me. And I have no idea how to instruct her when I don't have any idea how to control it myself."

I wrapped my arms around both of them, holding them close, and Eric bent down to kiss me.

"You are right to be concerned, Sookie. It is somewhat disconcerting. However, this fire is a trait I have observed in other demons, and they have obviously managed to survive their childhood. I think we might want to consult with a demon and find out what we are dealing with. When does the new nanny arrive?"

"Tomorrow."

"Well, then. Until such time as we have more information on this phenomenon, I suggest that we not leave the child unobserved. No doubt the nanny will have something useful to say on the matter. And perhaps you may want to send someone out for fire extinguishers."

I just nodded and dabbed at Claudine's teary eyes with a washcloth. Eric seemed so calm about the whole thing, and as usual with any problem that arose, he proposed a practical approach.

"Okay, well, she needs to actually get washed, so maybe you can do that while I get ready," I said, feeling the need to move to another topic as Eric sat Claudine back in the tub.

I was feeling kind of guilty about not only shouting at Claudine, over something she didn't even understand, but for snapping at Eric. "And I need to tell you about Clovache and Jan."

"We may want a little more privacy for that conversation, Lover," Eric said, and for a moment I wondered why he thought we couldn't discuss the other family members in front of Claudine, who wouldn't know what we were even talking about.

Then I noticed him holding his hand out to Claudine, who had retrieved her jewel from the water.

"Your friend is not allowed in the bedroom, daughter," Eric said to Claudine in a kind but firm voice.

Unlike Pam, who was not impressed by her master's voice, Claudine listened to her father and placed the emerald into his waiting palm without a fuss.

Without saying a word, Eric walked out of the bathroom, taking the emerald with him, and Claudine picked up her rubber ducky and began to splash it around the tub as if nothing was going on.

Eric returned in a minute and grabbed the washcloth to wash the baby.

"What did you do with it?" I asked him, watching him in the mirror as I brushed my hair.

"We should discuss the matter of the stone with the Prince this evening. In the interim, since your brother has left for the evening, I have returned it to its place in your cookie jar."


	95. Chapter 95

CHAPTER 95

"Have you ever played dominoes, Eric?" I asked my vampire.

He looked blank for a moment, and not the usual blank that you sometimes got from a vampire, but the "clueless" blank that you got when someone had no idea where you were going with an idea.

"Well, I feel like my life has been a bunch of dominoes set up into a really long and curvy snake, and somebody kicked one tile over and started a chain reaction. I guess it started when Bill walked into Merlotte's, and I don't know that I've really felt in control of things since."

"I think the game was set into play long before Compton arrived on the scene, Sookie. But you might consider that life is more like a chessboard. You don't design the board, or set the rules, but you can endeavor to master the game and outmaneuver your opponent."

"Unless I'm just one of the pawns."

"You know very well that you are a queen, Kjære. Tell me about your day, and what has you thinking of games."

I usually looked forward to our time alone together, a chance to discuss our day and share our thoughts. But tonight we were on a schedule, and what we had to discuss was of great consequence. I gestured for Eric to sit down so I could braid his hair, and Claudine allowed herself to be scooped up onto his lap for a little snuggle time.

I ran the brush through his silky, golden hair, noting that it was the same color as Claudine's…and my own.

He ran his long fingers through Claudine's hair, looking at it almost as if he had been sharing my thoughts.

"You know that Clovache is home. Well, she came back with an interesting situation," I said and began to explain what Clovache had related to me that afternoon.

"So, I don't know what to do," I concluded. "Not that I would do anything that important without consulting you anyway, but I don't really know how I feel about the whole thing. Something like this should be a personal decision, but with this contract, it makes it my business, and yours too. What is it with the supernatural world? They're grown ups, for God's sake. Why should they have to get someone's permission to have a child?"

He didn't respond immediately, and I divided his hair into three sections and began to braid it while he thought about what I had said.

"Do you think it's only the supernatural world that imposes itself on personal choice?" he said. "What about your own government, in what you like to remind everyone is a free country? Does it never impose upon personal choice? Are there not laws on the books that tell you what you may ingest and where, what kind of sexual practices are acceptable and with whom, even who will live and who will die? No society functions without customs and laws. The alternative is anarchy. And I can tell you that you have no idea how restrictive, and dangerous, that can be."

"I'm not saying that we don't need laws, Eric, but just because it's the law doesn't mean that it's right. I guess what I don't understand is why the Britlingens would be so concerned about what one woman does when it isn't even in their world. It's not like she's asking for free rein to rape and pillage or something. She wants to have a child, with a man that she loves, and that seems like it should be a basic human right."

"You are forgetting that she is not human, Sookie, nor is her mate."

"No, I'm not forgetting that, but I'm not either apparently, and if someone told me that I couldn't bear your children, how would you feel?"

"Laws do not necessarily consider the feelings of individuals, and the Britlingens may very well have good reason for the limitations they place on their citizens that visit other worlds. But tell me, Lover, what is really bothering you?"

I tied off the end of his braid with the piece of leather cord that he seemed to prefer, and sat down on the edge of the bed. He turned in the chair to face me.

"Besides the fact that our daughter is a fire bug and we don't have a sprinkler system in this house? You want me to make a list? I don't know where to start."

"Why don't you begin with the questions that concern the Britlingen?"

I had so many questions, many of them only half formed. Maybe I should have made a list. Maybe I needed a spreadsheet so I could check things off, as if I had a clue how to make one.

"Okay, what is the vampire council going to say if we sign a contract with the Britlingens? I know I will be the one signing it, if I sign it, but I'm considered your property."

Eric rolled his eyes a bit when I said that. I could tell he didn't want to get anywhere near that argument tonight. I was willing to concede the issue for once while we had this discussion though. Whatever I thought of the whole humans being property thing, the vampires had their own ideas on that, and my opinion was irrelevant.

"What is it that your grandmother would say? What they don't know won't harm them. Confidentiality is part of the code of the Britlingen Guild, so if we do not inform the council of the contract, they will have no reason to say anything."

Gran also used to say that three people could keep a secret if two of them were dead! Granted, a good percentage of the people that would be concerned with this were dead even if they were still up walking and talking, at least during the hours after dark. But then, the contract might not be the important part, at least to the other vampires. What would be important was explaining why the vampires in our family were showing up with children.

"And then there's the whole issue of Clovache maybe having to go back when their child grows up. What if they want to have more than one? And how is she ever going to leave if her son or daughter wants to stay? If they have a blood bond, will she even be able to leave? And what will that do to Jan, assuming that Jan can't go there to live? I don't even know if they have vampires there. Probably not. That's assuming Jan is still interested in her. I guess by then, she will be getting old, and he will still be young, or at least physically."

It was like you could hear the proverbial pin drop, it got so still and quiet in the room. Vampires were pretty much always quiet, seeing as how they don't breathe or even move much when they don't have a reason to. But if it was possible, Eric got even more still than he usually was.

After a brief moment, his shoulders shifted, almost as if he would take a breath, and he focused his eyes on me.

"Ahh," he said, as if I had hit the nail on the head or something. "Wasn't it you that just said that they were grownups and could make their own choices? Do you think that they haven't considered what is at stake? But more importantly, do you think that Jan is so shallow that he cannot love a woman when the bloom of her youth is past?"

I had a feeling he wasn't asking me what I thought about Jan.

"No," I answered, and that "no" may have been a little too hesitant, because Eric furrowed his brows.

"No," I said again, this time with emphasis. "No. I don't think he would just abandon her or something because she was past her prime, but how would that work out? I mean…he's going to have needs, you know? And…"

He cut me off, which was something he rarely did.

"First of all, Sookie, a woman 'past her prime' as you put it, does not necessarily abandon the pleasures of the flesh, although I will concede that it is inevitable at some point in the normal course of aging. But a relationship built solely on physical pleasure will not survive in any case."

"Yeah, I know that, and before you say it, I know that people do stay married, even if one of the spouses is disabled or something, but he will still be just a young man, physically at least."

"And what a young male wants is to feed, fuck and fight, not necessarily in that order, is that what you are saying?"

"You might want to remember that Claudine is in the room," I said, surprised that he would forget that and swear in front of her.

He humored me and put his hands over Claudine's ears. Thinking this was a new game, she grabbed for his hands, and tried to put them over his own ears. He cooperated with her efforts, even giving her a brief smile, but he kept his eyes on me, waiting for my answer.

"Not every young man is like that, although after working at Merlotte's for all those years, sometimes it seemed that way," I said.

"Consider that Jan may look young, Sookie, but even among our kind, he is considered old."

And he was younger than Eric, by centuries, as far as I could tell.

"It's just so much to take in, Eric. I have no concept of what it must be like to live so long, and it's not like I have had a lot of experience with the world, growing up in a small town in Louisiana. A town that would be considered backwards by almost any standard, I might add. I don't know that I'm qualified to make these kinds of decisions about someone else's life."

"Are we talking about someone else's life, Kjære?" he said.

His stare was so intent that I almost had to look away, but I met his gaze and took one of his hands in my own.

"I don't know."

"We are one, Kjære. Nothing will pull me away from your side, and no one will take you from me. I have fucked countless women and I have enjoyed their blood, but nothing has brought me the joy that you bring me by your very existence. It is not about sex, although I love having sex with you. And it not about beauty, although you are so very beautiful. I don't know what it is. It is not something that I have ever felt before, but now that I have known this feeling, I would never willingly give it up."

A small lump formed in my throat, and I blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. I wasn't sure why I felt like crying. Maybe it was what Eric called my raging hormones. But I could feel what he was feeling, and it so matched my own feelings, that I couldn't tell where his left off and mine began.

"If Jan loves her even half as much as I love you, he deserves this shot at happiness," I said to him.

He nodded, and I knew we had reached a decision.

"Our company will be showing up before long," I said, sniffling a little as I got up and headed to the bathroom for a tissue, "and I haven't even set out the cake."

"I am sure they are not coming for the cake, Lover," he said.

"Obviously you have no idea how delicious Grace's chocolate cake is," I called back to him.

I put the brush back in its drawer in the bathroom, straightening up a little before I turned to head back into the bedroom, running smack into Eric's chest. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close into his embrace, and in his usual manner, inhaled deeply to take in my fragrance.

"Do not worry too much about what will be," he said. "There is more than one way to skin a cat, as your grandmother used to tell you. Cataliades will review the contract. There is always room for negotiation in anything like this. And if a time comes that the Guild asks for Clovache's return, we may very well have something to offer that they desire more."

"Let's hope so," I said, confident that Eric would work something out. He always did.

We hadn't gotten around to even a fraction of the issues that were kicking around in my mind, but somehow I felt a little better about everything.

"Come, little Princess, your mother promises more cake for you," Eric told Claudine, scooping her up. "And your Prince will be arriving with birthday wishes."

He looked at me with his usual cocky grin, as if to say, "Come Watson, the game is afoot", before striding out the bedroom door. Like Holmes' less intrepid companion, I followed closely behind, not missing the fact that he had referred to Jerahmeel as Claudine's prince.

We were the last ones down, and I saw that I had gotten the clothes right, since all the men had donned suits, and even Thalia had dug around in her closet for another of her Grecian style gowns.

Our sullen vampire was in a mood, standing off to the side of the group, and swinging her sword, back and forth, in the irritating manner that she had when something was on her mind. I wasn't sure why she thought she needed her big sword for the Princes' visit, since they were sort of our allies these days, but I had a feeling she carried it more as a piece of jewelry than anything else. It was hard to tell what was up with Thalia sometimes.

Grace had left the cake (frosted in chocolate with Claudine's name in pink script) on the counter in the kitchen, ready to serve. She and Dante had had a little talk previously in the day about what constituted people food and what the dog could feel free to scrounge, and that chocolate was not on the dog list. Dante was eyeing the cake anyway. Maybe he was hoping somebody might trip while carrying the cake to the living room, and he would be doing a public service by licking it up from the floor?

"Do you think chocolate would be bad for hellhounds, like it is for dogs?" I asked Pam, who was sitting at the kitchen table by herself with a bottle of blood.

"I think that animal could eat iron nails without even belching, as he is so fond of doing," Pam said.

Pam often commented that Dante had too many "objectionable bodily functions" to live in a civilized household. She didn't go so far as to comment on mine very often. Well, not since I had threatened to feed her shoe collection to that very same hound someday when she was dead to the world.

"Give him some and see if it kills him," she suggested.

"Pam! That's a mean thing to say."

"Well, if you ask a stupid question, Sookie," she said.

"There are no stupid questions," I retorted. "I think Dear Abby said that."

That shut her up for a moment, as she pondered whether she could dispute her icon of all things human.

"What's up with Clovache?" she asked, changing the subject abruptly. Pam never did beat around the bush when she was curious about something.

"Better not to ask," I said, as I got out forks and napkins.

"There are no stupid questions," she threw back at me. "But I can guess the answer. This is going to put Thalia in a mood. She's going to make everyone's life a misery."

"She's already in a mood. Don't even try to pick on Thalia, Pam. She's got her big sword out."

"Hmpffff!" Pam snorted.

"She might cheer up when the Prince of Darkness gets here," I said. "I think she likes him, although don't tell Thomas I said that."

"What women wouldn't?" Pam asked. "Do you think he tastes like a real fairy?"

"Gross, Pam! How would I know? Anyway, I think he is a real fairy, well sort of anyway." I stopped to think about that for a moment. The lines between fairy, demon and angel were all kind of fuzzy to me. "Who knows? I don't think the fairies even know."

"I've sworn off men for the time being in any case," Pam said, taking another drink from her bottle. "And the fertility thing is just such a turn off."

I eyed Pam for a moment, wondering if that was her true feeling. I had always thought that most women wanted children, if only on an instinctual level. But hundreds of years of being a vampire and knowing that conceiving was impossible might have altered those desires.

"Didn't you ever want children of your own, Pam? When you were human?"

She cocked her head and her face took on a searching look, as if it was hard to remember back that far. I knew she still remembered some things about her human days. She had told me about them once, and about the clothes she used to wear.

"Oh, I suppose I might have on some level. It was certainly expected of me. You had to produce an heir to the family jewels and all of that after all. I must have assumed I would have children someday. But wanting them? No. I can't remember ever wanting them. And seriously, Sookie, after observing the process so closely and seeing how horribly messy they are, I can't imagine having one of my own."

I knew that Pam was inordinately fond of Claudine, and would kill anything that even vaguely threatened the child, but like the rest of the vampires, she usually shied away from any of Claudine's personal care…her horror of "bodily functions" again.

"Your great grandfather has arrived, Lover," Eric said from the doorway, putting an end to our girl talk.

"Oh, okay. We'll be right in with the cake then," I answered, thrusting the cake plate at Pam so that she couldn't avoid taking hold of it.

"Just put that on the coffee table, will you, Pam? I'll grab the wine."

"Do I look like a servant?" Pam said, but she followed Eric into the living room with the cake in hand, careful to avoid tripping over the hound that was dogging her steps.


	96. Chapter 96

CHAPTER 96

"I understand that it is a human tradition to bring gifts to celebrate the anniversary of a child's birth," Niall said, after he'd finished his slice of birthday cake.

He pulled something from his pocket and extended his hand to Claudine, displaying the small round object resting in his palm. At first glance, it appeared to be a glass ball, filled with little flakes, like a snow globe.

Claudine of course grabbed for it, as any child would when shown something new and different. And she knew what to do with a ball. She hurled it in my direction, expecting me to catch it.

I was taken by surprise and I think the thing would have hit me right in the head if Eric's hand hadn't snaked out from around my waist and snatched it out of the air before I even noticed that he had moved. He held it out for my inspection.

"Thank you, Niall," I said, a little uncertainly, taking the fragile looking object from Eric's hand and trying to puzzle out what the point of it was.

It wasn't a Christmas ornament (not surprising since fairies didn't have Christmas and it was only September) but it did have the look of one, minus some way to hang it. It appeared to be made of blown glass, and what had looked like flakes of snow from across the room, now looked more like a blizzard, as the contents were swirling around furiously in menacing clouds. And the storm wasn't settling down, even though I held it quite still.

I could see faint smudges on the ball's surface. I guess I hadn't quite gotten all the stickiness off Claudine's hands after she'd had her cake. I knew I'd probably never get all the chocolate stains off her new dress either. I'd have to leave that to Grace, who was the queen of everything clean.

Claudine scampered down from Niall's lap and was making her way around the table to the couch, determined to have another go at the ball, and I was scrambling for a polite way to put the thing up out of her reach without having to explain to Niall that it was really a very inappropriate gift for a one year old.

Gran had always been gracious when receiving a gift, no matter how inappropriate, tacky or nasty it was. The worst had been from old Mrs. Waters, who showed up every year a few days before Christmas, with her homemade fruitcake. You could have laid the foundation of a house with those bricks, and the fumes when you opened it were enough to knock over a cow, but Gran would make a pot of coffee, cut off a few slices (you almost needed a hack saw) and eat her whole slice without one grimace. After Gran had escorted the doddering old woman back to her car, the rest of the cake was carefully rewrapped in its foil and hurled into the garbage can, where its landing made a resounding thunk.

This gift might not be as bad as the fruitcake, but no matter what we did with the thing when Niall left, there was no way that I could let Claudine play with it even for the short time that the Prince was visiting. I couldn't risk her getting cut on it. Bleeding in a room full of vampires was just not the thing, unless you were inviting them to dinner.

Okay, my vamps had good control, and none of them were going to take Claudine's blood without permission in any case, but why even chance that uncomfortable situation. And Dante was eyeing the ball too, although I couldn't tell if his look was suspicion or if he just wanted to play with it too.

Dante wasn't your average dog, but he wasn't beyond a good game of fetch when someone had something to throw. The weres, who seemed a little more accepting of the hound than the vampires, would occasionally throw sticks up in the air to see how high he could jump to catch them, and I had even tried throwing a ball around with him a few times until he had swallowed it whole.

That had caused a little bit of an upset, since I didn't know if we should haul him to the closest vet, or call Dr. Ludwig. But he managed to choke it up onto the lawn before Travis had gotten the car out, and besides the mess, no one seemed the worse for wear. Swallowing a glass ball, of course, would be a whole other level of disaster.

I was asking myself how Gran would handle this kind of situation, when Niall spoke.

"It will not shatter in her hands. My people have been trying to open it for over a thousand years."

Claudine had reached the couch by that time, and was pulling at my hand to get at the ball, which I had carefully, but securely wrapped in my fingers. I lifted it up out of her reach and looked over to Niall.

"But what is it? It looks like glass."

"It is a child's plaything, an angel child's," he said, glancing over at Jerahmeel, who had been watching with an uneasy quietness since Niall had pulled the toy out of his pocket.

The demon prince had arrived shortly after Niall, popping in through the portal in his usual manner, and had settled himself comfortably in the special chair that we kept for his visits. He was wearing what I thought of as his cloak again, although really it was just glamour that kept his wings unnoticeable.

I always wondered if glamouring the wings made them less intrusive…if it would make it easier to fit onto normal furniture for example, or if they were just as cumbersome, but only not quite so visible. It seemed like that would be a very personal question to ask, so I hadn't gotten the courage to bring up the issue with him, but for Claudine's sake, I thought I would soon have to ask some very personal questions. It wasn't like there were any other angels that could give us information.

"Our angels had their own magics," Niall continued. "And when they were gone, their…artifacts…were collected together into a great hall. Our historians have recorded what each was used for, and if it could be discovered, the spell that activated the artifact was kept and passed on in our archives. We know that this," he said, pointing to the ball, "was one of many such balls that were given to the angel children for amusement, but none of our people can open them."

He seemed to be directing this information to me, but I noticed that he kept his eye slightly turned to Jerahmeel, as if gauging his reaction. The demon prince betrayed nothing though, having gone as still as a vampire.

I wondered what Jerahmeel thought about Niall's use of the term "our angels" and the fact that the treasures of Jerahmeel's ancestors were on display in a museum for the fairies.

"And you thought that it would open for Claudine?" I asked.

Well, of course he did. That was probably the point of the whole gift. It was as much for himself as it was for Claudine, maybe more so.

They say you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Probably that was because you never did know when a horse would bite you. And after seeing that horse the night of the Hunt, that might be especially true with a fairy gift.

"It will not harm her," Jerahmeel said, divining my thoughts perhaps.

Claudine certainly was attracted to the thing, now trying to climb up my leg to get at it. I passed it off to Eric to hold out of her reach with his longer arms, and she moved her efforts to his leg. She had quickly gotten pretty confident on her feet once she had taken her first steps, but she couldn't quite manage climbing up onto the couch yet.

Realizing she wasn't going to be able to haul herself up to Eric's lap, she snapped out her wings and began to beat them furiously, stirring the air around us as she managed to rise a few feet.

With one hand, Eric caught her around the waist, and plopped her down on the couch next to him. He glanced first at Niall, and then turned to Jerahmeel. A look passed between them, and it must have reassured Eric, because he lowered the ball and put it within Claudine's grasp, careful to not totally relinquish it.

"You must not hurl things at your mother," he cautioned her, sounding very stern.

Her big blue eyes paid close attention to the look on her father's face, then refocused on the bright shiny object in his hands. Without letting it out of his grasp, he let her touch it.

Niall watched Claudine with a hopeful look on his face, while the rest of the family seemed to hover a little closer, their curiosity piqued, or maybe they were just ready to defend if the object was not quite as harmless as Jerahmeel promised.

Nothing happened for a moment, except that Claudine turned to look at the demon Prince, almost as if he had spoken to her. And perhaps he had, although with my shields up, I hadn't picked up anything. I knew that Jerahmeel was a telepath too, so there was no reason to think that the two angels couldn't communicate with each other that way.

Claudine appeared to be concentrating, her little brows furrowing and her lips pursing up, trying to say something, I thought. Of course, only babbling came out, but I let my shields down, and I could hear the word in her mind, and in the Prince's mind, as he instructed her. It was an unfamiliar word, but I knew what it would do as it repeated in my own mind. It wasn't quite "Open Sesame," but it meant basically the same thing.

For a moment, it seemed that Niall had been lying when he said the ball would not shatter, because it certainly appeared to. And then things happened so fast, that I couldn't really say what happened first.

Eric leaped up and away from Claudine and it seemed like the shattering ball was still in his hand, the snowflakes shooting out and swirling towards the baby faster than Eric could move the thing away.

There was a whir, and I'm not sure if it was the sound of what shot out of the ball, or of Thalia's big sword as it arced down protectively between the swirling object and Claudine. Then the crash and clatter of something falling and blood dripping down onto Claudine's dress.

I found myself up on my feet, although I didn't remember jumping up, and Eric was pulling Claudine away from the fracas, looking almost as confused as I was.

"You must not kill it," Jerahmeel said to Thalia. His voice was eerily calm for someone holding the sharp edge of a sword in his bleeding palm, but there was no mistaking the command in it.

Jerahmeel had caught Thalia's sword blade in mid strike, with his bare hand, and Thalia seemed frozen in place, her fangs out and her eyes fixed on the blood now dripping onto the couch where Claudine had been just a moment before.

A crunch of broken china broke the silence, and I saw that the vamps had made a circle around the Prince, each with some weapon in hand and menacing their fangs. Thomas's sword was positioned over Jerahmeel's heart, and Jan's looked ready to sever the Prince's neck.

I scanned the room for Eric and saw him on the far side, his body shielding the baby, who was nestling her head into his chest, no doubt as puzzled and frightened as I was by all the commotion.

"It will not harm her," Jerahmeel said.

The "it" that he seemed to be referring to had come into focus as a tiny fairy, or angel, or something that had darted to his shoulder and was pulling in its small sets of wings to burrow under his long, dark hair.

Everyone remained perfectly still, like a Nativity tableau, until Eric appeared to decide that we were all safe. He called for the vampires to stand down and everyone moved back from Jerahmeel, except Thalia.

"Stand down," he said again, although Thalia seemed not to hear him.

Her eyes were fixed on the blood that had pooled in the Prince's hand and that was steadily dripping down as he held her weapon in place. But the look on Thalia's face was not one of hunger, but one of longing and hope.

Jerahmeel watched her, and then slowly, using his other hand, he pulled the blade from his flesh, keeping his palm cupped, holding the blood out to Thalia.

He spoke slowly and softly, a little reluctantly, like the messenger that shows up at your door to announce that someone you loved has died unexpectantly.

"I am sorry that I cannot help you. You may drink, but it will not bring your heart's desire. Only death can come to a child that you conceive. Your undead body will not nourish it, and false hope will only lead to despair."

My first thought was that the Demon Prince must be able to read vampire minds too, as he seemed to know what Thalia had wanted, and I didn't see how he could have figured that out just by looking at her. Eric must have guessed that too, because he was glaring at the Prince and thinking that maybe he should have let Jan take his head off when he had the chance.

But my attention came back quickly to Thalia, who had let out a strangled sound of grief at hearing the Prince's blunt words. She seemed to blanche, although I wouldn't have believed it possible for her to grow any paler.

Jerahmeel stood immobile, the blood dripping away through his fingers, and I watched a little bit of hope fall away from Thalia's face with each fallen drop.

When there was nothing left in his hand but a dark, crimson stain, Thalia lowered her sword, turned around and left the room. Thomas, glancing at Eric and waiting for his nod, swept his sword into its sheath on his back and followed her out.

I made a move to follow them, to try to offer some comfort to Thalia, who had obviously been stricken by the truth of Jerahmeel's statement, but Eric was already at my side, taking my arm and moving me to sit.

"Leave them," he counseled. "Thomas will see to her." His voice sounded heavy and tired.

He was probably right. There wasn't much that I could do to make Thalia feel better. Thomas would be more of a comfort than I could ever be, although he might be needing comfort himself.

I settled wearily into the chair, wishing that this night could be over already. It had been a long day, and I was so tired. But there was still the mystery of Niall's gift to sort out, and the very obvious wreck of the living room to deal with.

I looked around at the mess, the overturned table, the broken china, the spilled wine, and calculated how long it would take to clean it all up.

"It will keep," Eric said, knowing how the mess would bother me, especially with company in the house.

Someone had given Jerahmeel a handkerchief and he wiped off his hand, which already appeared healed. I wondered at how my vampires could manage to be pulling a weapon out of nowhere in one instant, and a clean, white handkerchief in the next. Sometimes that seemed like the real magic around here.

The emergence of the handkerchief seemed to signal that the crisis was over, and that the threat had been a false alarm. Claudine was undamaged, the tiny fairy was apparently more frightened than frightening, and we could all settle down to hear an explanation from either Niall or Jerahmeel.

Niall had watched the uproar from his chair, and was now watching Jerahmeel intently, probably waiting for the little fairy to emerge. He didn't offer an explanation, and it was possible he hadn't known what to expect, and was waiting to find out along with the rest of us.

"So. You want to explain what just happened?" I asked Jerahmeel.

"The fairy is partially correct. These were given to children, but not only for amusement. They are more like…"

He paused then, seeming to struggle to find our equivalent word for what he wanted to express.

"They are much like your recordings. For amusement, yes, but also to teach. Each holds some song or story of our history. They are the voices of all the angels."

"I don't understand," I said. "You said they're a recording, but it looked like some kind of creature was trapped inside and flew out. Was that just like a hologram or something, not real?"

"No. It is quite real," he said, carefully brushing aside the strands of his hair to expose the tiny creature that hunkered down against his neck.

"Come out, little one," he said, his voice soft and non-threatening. And then, in a different language, one that sounded a lot like Claudine's babblings, he spoke again, this time moving his fingers close, trying to entice the small thing out of its shelter.

We all sat very still, and waited patiently, as the tiny creature got to its feet, and cautiously stepped onto Jerahmeel's hand. It stopped to look around the room, and I could see that it resembled the storybook angels of my childhood – long flowing platinum hair, two sets of white, feathered wings, a loosely gathered robe belted with a golden cord. It could have been either sex, both handsome and beautiful at the same time, much like Jerahmeel. It's gaze settled on Claudine and it smiled.

"So, the poor thing was trapped in that ball?" I asked, directing my question more to Niall than Jerahmeel. I didn't mean to sound accusatory, since Niall had admitted that his people had tried to open the balls and had been unable to. But the thought that someone could be locked away like that for thousands of years seemed too horrible to consider.

"The ball is more a spell than an object," Jerahmeel answered. "They slumber there, unaware of time passing, protected. In this way, they preserve our voices, so that none can be forgotten."

Funny that we were referring to the creature as "it" and "they" as if "it" wasn't a person at all. And perhaps it wasn't, at least not in the sense that I was, or he was. Maybe it was like a pet, that you kept like a fish, or a hermit crab or something, in a bowl or terrarium, and you fed it and whatever, but you didn't think about its identity, or feelings.

"Does he have a name?" I said, still addressing the Prince, although I was beginning to feel a little bad about talking over the creature's head, as if he couldn't answer for himself.

And I had decided that he looked a little more like a "him" than a "her" although I wouldn't want to lay money down on that guess.

The Prince spoke again to the little person, and this time I heard a reply. His voice was very small and quiet with a musical quality. I couldn't understand the language that he spoke, but again, I was struck by the similarity to the babblings that Claudine used when she spoke to her emerald.

"His name is Fee, and he would like to sing for the child, but he is very hungry," the Prince said.

"Oh! Of course he would be," I said, jumping up from my chair, wondering how the poor thing had even managed to survive, with nothing to eat in thousands of years. I guess it must be a little like Sleeping Beauty, lying asleep while the wall of thorns surrounding her grew and grew, waiting for Prince Charming to come and wake her.

"Ummm, what would he like?" I asked, hoping that it was something we had on hand.

"They like a drop of honey, or something sweet. Perhaps a bite of cake?" the Prince answered.

"I'm not sure about the honey," I said, "but cake we can certainly do," I said, although looking at the mess of the overturned table, where the leftover cake had been a few moments before, I wasn't quite so sure anymore.

"If you're looking for the cake," Pam said, "you might want to ask the hound."

"Dante? Good Lord! Did that stupid dog get the rest of the cake?"

"Well, it did land on the floor, Sookie, and you know how he is about anything on the floor. He's like your vacuum cleaner."

"Why didn't you say something, Pam?" I said, as I stomped off into the kitchen, looking for the dog that was now conspicuously absent from the room.

I found him on his bed in the kitchen, the remains of the cake smeared across his muzzle, a look of satisfaction on his face. He let out a big belch, and wagged his tail.

"I guess you have an answer to your question," Pam said, sounding almost disappointed. "Apparently you can't kill a hellhound with chocolate cake."

Author's Note: Thank you to Ms. Charlaine Harris for the creation of such lovable characters. Many of the characters in this story belong to her. I am only borrowing them for this diminutive work.

And thank you to all of the kind readers, who have been so supportive in their comments. It has encouraged me to keep the story going.

At this time of year, no matter what holidays you may celebrate, please consider that there are many things that we across the world may find that we have in common, although it may only be the love of vampires. It is an encouraging place to begin in an effort for peace on earth. Happy Holidays!


	97. Chapter 97

CHAPTER 97

"Can we ever just have a normal day around here?" I said to no one in particular, resisting the temptation to stomp my foot.

"Normal being, for you, living in that hovel by the cemetery and dodging the vermin that try to grab your ass while you sling their drinks for your living?" Pam shot back.

"Geez Louise," was my answer to that, more than ever wanting to stomp something.

"I'll deal with you later," I said to Dante, who was busy licking the last of the frosting off his front paws. "On second thought, maybe I will let Grace deal with you."

Dante, knowing what Grace would have to say when she saw the state of his fur, and the house, put his paws over his eyes, and let out what I suppose was the doggie equivalent of a resigned sigh.

"Pam, if you don't have anything better to do, why don't you look around for some honey or something?" I said, giving her my best 'don't want to listen to your bullshit' look.

"Like I would know what honey looks like," she said back in her best snarky Pam voice.

"I assume you can read labels. Or is that a stretch for you?"

Pam opened the pantry cupboard, and began examining the contents, pulling down bottles and jars, opening a few and sniffing at their contents.

"What is all this stuff? Disgusting," she said, ignoring my remark. Her face grimaced as if someone had just shoved a stake at her. "I don't know how you can continue to smell so tantalizing when you consume things that smell so bad."

She shoved the small container of Cajun seasoning back on the shelf, its lid now joining the other lids that she had carelessly dropped to the floor. Grace was going to have a hissy fit when she saw the disorder in her cupboards.

"Maybe you better not help after all," I told her, taking the Tabasco sauce bottle from her hand and putting its cap back on. "I wonder if I can just make up some sugar water, like you give hummingbirds."

"Because it has wings, doesn't mean it's a bird, Sookie," Pam said, as if I couldn't figure that out for myself.

"And because you pay a lot for your shoes, doesn't mean the dog won't eat them," I threw back at Pam.

"You really do want to find out if that thing is immortal, don't you!" Pam said, glaring at Dante.

I looked at the hellhound, then looked back at Pam.

"I'm putting my money down on the hellhound, Pam."

"Huh!" Pam said, but she didn't argue the point. None of the vampires were really sure what the chances of surviving a hellhound attack were. And I doubted any of them wanted to take him on.

Pam, having lost that round, sat down at the table and glared alternately at me and the dog. I pulled out the sugar bowl and started some water to warm in the microwave. You were supposed to dissolve the sugar in hot water before you put it in the hummingbird feeder. Not that I could feed the little guy out of the bird feeder. But I couldn't very well expect the little angel to drink out of our teacups either, and you could drown somebody his size in one of our mugs.

"Ah, just the thing," I said, rummaging through the junk drawer for something tiny to serve the sugar water in.

We kept a sewing kit in the drawer, handy for loose buttons and such. There was a small, red plastic thimble in the kit.

"Why don't you just give it one of those little cakes that are sitting on the refrigerator?" Pam said.

"What little cakes?" I asked, looking up and seeing that someone had put two leftover cupcakes on top of the fridge, probably Amelia.

"Oh! I didn't think there were any left over," I said, grabbing one down.

The cupcakes were sitting right next to the cookie jar, so I pulled that down too, and took out the emerald. Maybe we'd get around to discussing that tonight too, although I wasn't sure I wanted to bring up the issue while my great grandfather was still here.

"Okay, thanks for noticing that, Pam."

Since the water was already hot, and I had everything out, I went ahead and mixed a little sugar in some of the water and filled up the thimble. The little guy might be thirsty after a thousand years of fasting. Putting a small piece of cupcake and the thimble on one of our saucers, I headed back to the living room.

Someone had made an attempt at order while I had been in the kitchen. The coffee table had been righted, and the mess of broken dishes had been sort of shoved underneath and out of the way. The stains on the carpet and the sofa cushions were a whole other matter, and would have to be dealt with after our company was gone, but at least there was someplace to put the saucer down.

"I hope this is okay," I said. "I'm afraid we don't have any honey, or if we do, I couldn't find it."

I'd have to put that on the shopping list, along with fire extinguishers, stain remover, and a book on training dogs! Maybe I'd better add a child sized tea set and a Barbie doll bed too, if Mr. Fee was going to be a permanent guest. I wondered if they came in any color other than pink. And God knows what we'd do for his wardrobe!

Fee must have been pretty hungry, because he launched himself from Jerahmeel's knee where he had been sitting, and flew right over to the table, plunking himself down next to the saucer. He didn't waste any time, grabbing handfuls of the piece of cake and stuffing them into his mouth. After he had had his fill, licking the pink frosting from his fingers, he picked up the little thimble of sugar water, and drained it down.

Letting out a small sigh of satisfaction, he rubbed his tummy and smiled.

He had the kind of smile that would knock the socks off the ladies and a devil-may-care posture. Combined with his small stature, when he bent at the waist bowing in my direction, I couldn't help but be charmed.

Pointedly addressing me, he said something in his unrecognizable language, then flew back to the Prince. I looked at Jerahmeel for explanation.

"He would like to sing now," Jerahmeel said.

Claudine was enthralled by the small man and made her way over to Jerahmeel, pulling at his pants leg until the Prince bent down and hauled her up onto his lap.

I think she would have made a grab for Fee, but the little guy moved quickly out of her way, perching himself on Jerahmeel's shoulder. Jerahmeel tossed his long hair to the side, making room for Fee, who stood up straight, took a deep breath and then began to sing.

I think my first response was astonishment that so much volume could emanate from such a small body. His voice seemed to fill the room, and the music was…well…the music was indescribable.

We never got much live music in Bon Temps. Once in a while Sam would have one of the country western bands come in on a Saturday night, or some of the Cajuns would pull out their instruments at a barbecue. A few of the ministers had tried to get choirs going at various times in one of the churches, but when they did get any interest, it was usually the old people, and although they gave it their best, not all of them had the vocal skills they thought they had.

I was reminded of some of the boy's choirs that I had seen on TV a few times, with the clear, innocent tones that only youth could produce. But it was more than that. There was experience in Fee's voice, and emotion…the full range of emotion, to match the range of the notes. You couldn't describe something like that sound, except to say, that it was the voice of an angel.

Claudine had stopped making a grab for Fee the moment his voice had rang out. I noticed that everyone had stopped, going still and focused, as if caught in a spell.

I don't know how long he sang or what he was singing about, but when the music stopped, the room was deathly quiet. Clovache and Batanya must have wandered back in from the porch, where they had been standing guard, and I saw Clovache leaning into Jan, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulder. Thalia had returned to, and she was standing by the doorway, her sword sheathed and Thomas at her back, looking a bit stunned.

I was nestled against Eric on the couch, although I didn't remember him moving next to me, and I could feel that all the tension had left his mind. All the worries and cares that he usually harbored from protecting this family and administering to his kingdom were just gone, as if he was newly born into a world of peace and comfort.

Jerahmeel's beautiful wings were unfurled, and had wrapped around Claudine, who was fast asleep in his arms. Her face was flushed with a rosy glow, the way babies got when they slept, a fine sheen of sweat on her skin that glistened in the lamp lit room. Her breath came out in small puffs from her half parted lips.

The tiny angel had slumped down on Jerahmeel's shoulder, and looked like he was sound asleep, curled into a little ball. I had to assume the Prince would catch him if he rolled off in his sleep.

Unfortunately the calm didn't last long.

Jerahmeel brushed away a few strands of hair that had stuck to Claudine's face, watching her sleep for a brief moment, and then turned to Niall. His face no longer looked placid.

"The others?" he asked.

"Most have dimmed, perhaps a dozen retain their glow," he said.

I had to assume that he was talking about the little balls, and I guess it was a no-brainer that the ones that had dimmed must no longer be alive.

"They are our people," Jerahmeel said, his wings tightening slightly around Claudine, as if to include her in that possessive pronoun.

"You left them behind and can not claim them now. The child may come and free them, when it is time to assume her place among us," Niall said, as if Claudine ending up in the fae world was a given.

Eric's new calm melted away in an instant, and Thalia pulled out her sword and started swinging it again, just a little, but noticeably.

"Whoa there!" I cut in, before everyone could erupt again. "Before you two start getting at each other's throats, you might want to keep in mind that neither one of you own Claudine. So don't go assuming anything about where she is going to end up."

"She is my blood," Niall said.

"She is under my protection," Jerahmeel shot back, his voice now almost as chilly as a vampire's.

"And she is my daughter," Eric said, "and I will hunt down anyone that tries to take her."

The three men, if you could call them that, were all just about ready to go at it by the looks on their faces.

"You know this can only end badly if you guys start fighting," I said, cutting in again. "And in case you haven't noticed? There's a baby in the room, and a pregnant woman, and a whole bunch of vampires. And if they get too riled up, somebody's going to get hurt. So let's just knock this shit off!"

I had been speaking kind of quietly, since I didn't want to wake Claudine, but that last bit came off a little bit forcefully, and Claudine startled in her sleep, bringing all eyes to her.

"You are right, Great Granddaughter. This is not the time. The child is with her mother, which is her place for now. Her future does not yet need to be decided."

I didn't know if I liked the sound of that. Maybe the feminist movement had quite made it to Niall's world. I wasn't sure what the place of women was there, or if they got to determine their futures. But then, the men's place might not be that independent either in Fairy, since it seemed like the monarchy called the shots there. And that monarchy was sitting in my living room.

"Considering that this isn't the dark ages, and this is a free country, I guess Claudine will be deciding her own fate," I said, glancing at Eric.

He raised one eyebrow and I saw the corner of his mouth twitch slightly in amusement, remembering our earlier conversation.

"I don't know what the story is with these little people, and I'm guessing maybe neither of you two know either, since whatever happened to trap them in those little balls happened a long time ago. But I guess we better work out something, since we can't just leave them there forever or until they all die off."

"That which belongs to the angels must be given to the child," Jerahmeel said.

"The angels of Fairy are dead. They own nothing in my land," Niall threw back.

"You see? This is what I mean. You two are just going to argue this into the ground, and then when you get tired of not coming to any conclusion, you'll probably start trying to kill each other. We do the same thing here. It's always who stole what, in which war, and on and on, even though just about every nation on earth has been conquered and had their stuff trashed or stolen, and everybody that owned that stuff is long dead and everybody that did the conquering is dead too."

Everyone was looking at me now, and I couldn't tell if they thought I was just another joker on a soapbox or that I was making some kind of sense.

"Now, ordinarily, I would say you two could just step outside and have at it and then there wouldn't be any more bloodstains on the furniture for Grace to clean up, since she is going to be pissed as it is. But seeing as how we're not talking about stuff, but actual living things, I think it might be better if we hold off on the macho shit and handle this like grown ups."

"And what do you propose, M'Lady?" Jerahmeel said.

His eyebrows had arched and he was looking at me with an indulgent look, much like my grandmother might have given me when I was a teenager. Her look usually meant she was willing to listen to my side of the story, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to ground me anyway after I'd said my piece.

"I propose that we call it a night for now. Claudine needs to be put to bed, and I'm worn out. Niall, I think you and I should talk about this when we meet up in Bon Temps. By that time, maybe the Prince here can find out from the little guy what exactly happened to leave him in this situation."

Niall looked like he was about to say something more, but I put my hand up to hold him off.

"I'm not saying we need to establish blame or anything, but he might have family left trapped there, and so we better talk to him, and find out where he wants to be."

"He is a gift, for the child. His place will be at her side," Niall said.

"Well, now, there you go again, Niall. We don't just give people away in this day and age. Well, not in this part of the world anyway. And he doesn't look like a pet to me, he looks like a person, so he needs to have a say about where he ends up."

"You talk of self-determination, while you bind vampires to your side," Niall said, glancing at Jan. "And equality, while you sit next to a king."

I wasn't going to sit and have a political argument with Niall. Not only was I not even sure what self-determination meant (I'd have to look that one up in the dictionary), but he had made a pretty good point about the whole king thing. I wasn't going to score any brownie points trying to debate him.

And I didn't like that he had been looking at Jan. How did he know that Jan seemed to be bound to me? Was that common knowledge? If not, how did he find out these things? Not that I wasn't constantly surprised by how the supernatural world always did seem to find out everything about everybody. They were like a bunch of old gossips, for all their skill at keeping their business out of the human spotlight.

His comment hadn't escaped Eric either, and he had pressed his fingers lightly to my leg, as if warning me not to say anything that would confirm Niall's statement.

"My Gran used to say that you should never talk about politics or religion at a party," I said, "and I guess she had a point. This was supposed to be a celebration tonight, so I think we'll just table this discussion until a more appropriate time."

With that, I got up, as if I was planning to show Niall to the door. If these had been ordinary guests, I might have served coffee before they headed out onto the road to drive home. Coffee was usually a good signal that the party was over. But since no one had really been drinking much, and no one was driving, and these were not even close to ordinary guests, I decided to be a little more abrupt. They could think me rude if they chose to.

"I'll see you in a few days, Niall, in Bon Temps," I said.

"As you wish, Great Granddaughter," he said, a little less than graciously, giving a slight nod to me and then Eric.

He pointedly ignored Jerahmeel and the rest of the family, and not even bothering to walk to the door as he usually did, he just poofed himself out.

"Okay then," I said. "I guess we have a few things left to settle before we call it a night."

For one thing, if Mr. Fee was staying on at our place, which I assumed he would be for now, we'd have to come up with somewhere for him to sleep. It wasn't like we could just leave him lying around on the table, or stuck up on the mantle, if for no other reason that Bob the cat might get him. Bob had been making himself scarce ever since the original scuffle that had left the room in such a mess, and I had no idea where he was, but as soon as the place quieted down, he would be out of his hiding place and prowling about.

I supposed I could put Fee in a drawer or something, but that didn't seem very hospitable. We couldn't offer him a spare set of pajamas or anything, but I thought we might come up with some kind of bed. And he'd have to sleep in our room, at least for tonight, even if Eric didn't like the idea. It wasn't like he was big enough to take out a vampire in any case, or at least I wouldn't think so.

"Excuse me a moment," I said to Jerahmeel. "I'm just going to get a few things so we can tuck the little guy in. Then, if you don't mind staying on for a bit, I think we better talk about that emerald."

The Prince nodded at me, seeming quite content to stay put, and I looked around the room to find Pam. A couple of clean washcloths would work for blankets, and I had an unused powder puff in the bathroom that would make a comfy pillow. All we needed was something for the actual bed.

"Pam, I know you must have a million shoeboxes in your room. Do you think you could donate one to the cause?"


	98. Chapter 98

CHAPTER 98

"Do you think maybe Fee should go home with you? We don't even speak his language," I said to Jerahmeel as I tucked the washcloth around Fee's tiny feet.

He had curled back into a little ball as I laid him down inside one of Pam's shoeboxes, never completely waking up. The box had recently housed a pair of Jimmy Choos, but I doubted the fairy would care about that. His footwear was a pair of small leather sandals, which I carefully pulled off and tucked into the corner of the box. I wouldn't want them to end up on the floor to get sucked up in the vacuum or something. I knew that Grace would have the vacuum going long before I'd even gotten up for breakfast.

Jerahmeel was still sitting on his special chair, Claudine sleeping peacefully on his lap. She looked comfortable tucked under his voluminous wings, almost as if she belonged there.

"You could have sent him back with the Fairy," Jerahmeel answered.

"No. I don't think I could do that. Niall obviously has issues," I said.

Several of the vampires snickered at that. They all seemed to be hovering around the table where I was attempting to get Fee settled in. Once Niall had left, it was as if the vamps had unleashed their curiosity about the small fairy and alternately stared and sniffed. From the looks on their faces, I was guessing that although he smelled as tempting as most fairies, there wasn't enough of him to send them into blood lust. He'd only be an hors d'oeuvre anyway, not a full meal, as small as he was. But I was glad that they weren't considering him a snack.

Jerahmeel seemed to find my remark humorous too, and let out a low, musical laugh.

"And you think I do not?" he asked.

"We all have issues," I said, "and agendas."

"And what is your agenda?" he asked, still looking amused.

"What is this? I'll show you mine, if you show me yours?"

I didn't think he was familiar with that turn of phrase, but after thinking about it a moment, he responded with a reasonable answer.

"I think at this point, our agendas are the same, at least where the child is concerned."

"Maybe, but there is more than just Claudine to consider. I have a responsibility to more than just her, you know."

"And I do not?" he shot back.

"Okay, I'll grant you that. We both have people counting on us, and so does Niall I guess. Not that that excuses his behavior."

Since Fee seemed about as settled in as I could make him, I moved back to my place on the couch, stopping at the mantel to pick up the emerald from where I had left it. I was tired, and it was getting hard to stifle the yawns that threatened, but it was time to ask some questions.

"That wasn't a fairy spell that held Fee, was it? Niall couldn't undo it, so it was something different from the spell he cast to trap Dermott. It's angel magic."

"Yes," Jerahmeel answered.

"But the same thing happens, I guess. Whoever is trapped just sort of fades away after a while?"

They wouldn't fade away quickly, since obviously Fee had survived, and apparently some of the others. And from what Niall had said, they had been in those balls for over a thousand years.

"Yes," Jerahmeel said again.

"So, what's the story then? Why would the angels do that, imprison them, and not tell anyone how to let them out? This little guy doesn't seem particularly threatening or anything. I mean, our cat could eat him in a couple of bites. And you said they recorded your history. Is that what he was singing about? Was that common practice to just store them on a shelf, like we would put away an old photo in an album?"

"Fee sang of Orifiel, the last angel of his household," he said.

His wings seemed to droop a bit, in the same way as a human's shoulders might slump –with sadness and resignation. He didn't offer any more explanation of Fee's song.

"The spell is one of protection, not entrapment. Perhaps the small ones were spelled in an attempt to spare them, if their numbers were also being ravaged."

"Like cryogenics? Only without the freezer part, of course. There must have been no one left to defrost them down the line."

He raised one eyebrow in puzzlement, but didn't respond, so I figured he probably hadn't heard about that process. Which made sense if you considered yourself immortal. You wouldn't necessarily pay much attention to technologies that were designed for the terminally ill.

But I caught a thought from Eric. He was remembering an apothecary shop in Paris, the windows dimly lit from the reflection of the gas streetlamps. Deformed and unusual animals were preserved in glass-lidded jars, floating in murky liquids. There had been a human fetus and a snake with two heads, and what might have been a giant insect, although the legs had looked vaguely human.

"So this would have been before your time? Or did you know about it? Obviously you knew the code word, to break the spell I mean."

"We were not aware that any of the small ones had survived in Fairy. We thought them all dead, like our own."

He paused for a brief moment, his hold on Claudine shifting a bit and the feathers of his wings rustling softly as he snugged them a little closer around her. Her soft breaths changed their rhythm briefly and then resettled into their pattern of deep sleep.

"I was quite young then," he said, his gaze resting first on the vampires, and then on me…perhaps considering how young I was compared to the rest of the group.

"By human standards, I would have been considered long grown, but I was still treated as a child. There was much to learn. We had colonized a new world, and were building and growing, still discovering the land's natural properties and resources. Our skills had to be adapted, and our magics, and the social order of our people had changed somewhat, although it was all that I had ever known. I was anxious to explore, to build portals and find new worlds, or at the least to visit those that we had already found."

Jerahmeel still looked like a young man, his face and body well developed, but lacking any of the tell tale signs of aging that my great grandfather displayed. But as he looked back through time, remembering, his eyes betrayed his age for a moment, taking on the weight of the thousands of years of his experience.

"My father insisted that I stay in Demon, to avoid possible contamination. The angels of Fairy were dying, and those that remained still debated the cause. He thought that we had escaped whatever was killing them, and that by restoring balance with all of the races of the fae in our new world, that our race would be renewed and he and my mother might yet have more children. But he was allowing me to take no chances in case our interaction with the humans had brought on this curse."

"The small ones were the first to fall ill, those that had been attached to our household and had come with us to the new world, to sing and to teach the old songs and record the new. When their songs began to die, my mother sang to them, to ease their passing. But only I survived to remember her last songs, or those of my father."

I opened my mouth to express my sympathies at his loss, but he waved that away with a quick movement of his hand before he continued.

"I left Demon then, for a while, allowing myself to explore your world and to find those that might still carry the blood of our race," he said, glancing quickly at Thalia. "But I found little trace of our people left in those descendents."

"I avoided my family's homeland. It had been years since we had communicated with any of our own that had remained in Fairy, and I assumed they were all dead. The races of Demon looked to me as their ruler, someone to settle the inevitable disputes that arose as we settled into our new home. Our world was less…hospitable…than the fae world, but it was biddable to my magic, and responded to my ministrations. I rarely returned here, although my people have kept watch. I long ago gave up any hope that any others of my kind had survived or would arise."

He looked again down at Claudine, and I wondered if I hadn't been simplifying his motivations in my own mind. I had been thinking in terms of Claudine being valuable to him as a means of bringing back his race, and of course that was a no-brainer. I had seen that as a threat to her

independence and choices in life. But I think I was only beginning to see a bigger picture here.

Claudine was valuable to Jerahmeel on a whole other level, outside of her breeding potential. How isolated he must have been, and for so long. Not only would his position as the leader of a whole world separate him but he was the only one of his kind. He had no others that looked like him and shared his history or his abilities.

I might be different from most humans, but walking through a crowd, I looked just like them. Even here among my vampires, we didn't really look all that different, and I guess on some levels we weren't. We had a shared humanity, although none of us was completely human. Jerahmeel was a creature that had been completely unique, at least until Claudine had come along. And now there was little Fee.

Although I had thought for most of my life that I was uniquely different with my telepathy, I had found out that that really wasn't the case, when I had met Barry, and later, my nephew Hunter. And knowing that I was not the only one had made me feel more comfortable in my own skin - had made me feel less of a freak. It had helped me accept my telepathy as a gift instead of a disability.

I couldn't imagine how lonely Jerahmeel must have been for all of those years, thinking he would always be the only angel.

Trying to keep the sympathy out of my voice, since no one wants to feel pitied, I again offered that he take Fee home with him, but he declined.

"It is best if he remain with Claudine. He can teach her the history of her people. They are much like children, the small ones. He will be a good companion for her."

"But we'll want to know what happened in Fairy, and considering I can't understand him, that will be up to you to ask him," I said to Jerahmeel.

"He will learn quickly to speak in your modern tongue. And when you become willing to open your mind fully, you will be able to understand him in his older one," he said.

I sort of doubted that, but then I had grown so accustomed to living with my shields up. Maybe if I really listened, I would understand it, as I had understood earlier that night how to unlock the little ball that held Fee.

"Claudine is speaking that language, or trying to, when she talks to the emerald, isn't she?" I said, not really asking.

I held the emerald up towards him, and he nodded.

"So, is it you she's talking to with this thing? Is the emerald what you meant in our contract…the agent sent to spy on us?"

"I prefer to think of it as keeping watch, for her safety, and yours. I have no wish to spy on your personal life. It is a communication device. If she should be in danger, and did not understand how to call for me, I would be able to find her."

"So you have one too? Is that how it works, like a two way radio or a cell phone or something, with GPS thrown in?"

The vampires all embraced modern technology, or at least most of them did. Thalia used it somewhat reluctantly, but Eric insisted that she at least carry a cell so she could be reached.

I hadn't noticed that Jerahmeel used a phone. He hadn't given me a number to reach him either, like my great grandfather had. Instead he had offered the beautiful emerald as a gift, not bothering to explain its magical properties.

"Yes," he answered, "You might say it is our version of your telephones. And I have heard of your GPS technology. It is an apt comparison."

"So where most kids get a free decoder ring in a cereal box, mine gets the magic video surveillance in the cookie jar?" I said, rambling a bit at this point, maybe from overload or just sheer exhaustion.

Jerahmeel looked from me to Eric before he said, "I'm afraid that I do not understand your reference."

"Sorry," I said. "I'm not even making sense to myself at this point. I think I'm just really tired."

"It is I who should be apologizing," he said graciously. "I am keeping you from your much needed rest."

With that, he stood up carefully, folded his wings back, and extended his arms to transfer the baby to Eric. His eyes rested on her cherubic face for just a moment before he reached his hand into the pocket of his closely fitting slacks.

"I too have brought something for the child's special day," he said, holding out another wooden box, much like the one that had held the emerald.

I took the box, but before I could open it he added, "We still have much to discuss, but I hold you to nothing. Use the emerald as you see fit," and then popped out.

"Wait," I said, remembering that I had planned to give him the box of gloves that Mr. Cataliades had sent over from the lab, but he was already gone.

There were no runes on the intricately carved box. The dark wood was adorned with the likeness of two angels, dancing in the moonlight.

"It's beautiful," I said, thinking that the box in itself would make a wonderful gift.

"Open it, Lover," Eric said, carefully shifting Claudine over his shoulder and peering down at the beautiful object in my hands.

I popped open the small latch and opened the box to reveal a golden necklace, resting on a bed of deep green satin. The chain was made of intricate links, and without removing it from the box I could tell that the pendant was designed to hold the emerald.

"Wow. This is pretty fancy for a one year old," I said, placing the emerald onto the pendant.

It appeared to be a perfect fit, and it sort of snapped into place all on its own. I pulled the whole thing from the box, and draped it over my hand, watching the light flicker off the stone.

"What do you think?" I asked Eric, wondering if I shouldn't just put the necklace onto Claudine's neck. Jerahmeel had made a good point. If something should happen to her, at least she could be found if she was wearing it.

"I think the box is a better place for the stone than the cookie jar, at least for tonight" he said. "And I think we should put the baby to bed."

The look in his eyes told me he was much more concerned about getting me into bed, and there was no way that emerald was going into the bedroom with us.

"Yeah, I think you're right, although I hate to leave all of this mess for Grace," I said, looking once again at the broken dishes, and the blood and wine stains spread around the room.

He brushed that off with a quick wave of his hand. He never quite understood why I was still reluctant to leave things for others to take care of. But it had been a matter of pride for me and Gran that we took care of things ourselves, not having anyone but Jason to help us, and not being able to count on him all that often to come through.

Eric didn't have to remind me that we paid Grace well for helping out. I knew that. But I still always felt a little bad when I left extra work for her. Maybe I always would. But he was right, and it was late, so I turned away from the disaster in the living room and began to head upstairs.

It was then that I noticed Jan and Clovache, standing quietly to the side, but looking apprehensive. With all the fuss over the birthday, the arrival of Fee, and the discussion with Jerahmeel, I had sort of forgotten about their situation. Our decision about the contract would decide both of their fates, and they were no doubt pretty anxious to hear what we had to say.

"Let's take this into the kitchen," I said, since around the table always seemed the best place to discuss family matters.

I put the emerald necklace back into the box, and deposited it on the mantle before heading into the kitchen.

Everybody filed in behind me, and as a matter of course, I got out some bottles of blood and started them to heat in the microwave. I poured myself a glass of milk, even though I would have preferred a nice stiff gin and tonic, grabbed the pad and pencil and sat down in my usual seat at the table.

By the time everybody had their beverage in hand, I had written a quick note to Grace and made a shopping list for the next day. I stuck them under the saltshaker on the table, where I knew Grace would find them first thing in the morning.

"Okay, is everybody in on this, or do you want this to be private?" I asked Jan.

He looked around the room, at the vampires that had become a family to him, and at Batanya, who in a way was Clovache's family. They would all have guessed what this was about, no doubt, since they always did seem to intuit whatever was going on. But the details of the contract that Clovache had brought from home hadn't been shared with everyone yet.

"It will affect all of us," he said.

"I guess you're probably right about that," I said, thinking that there was no telling what all of this would mean down the line.

I wasn't sure what to say after that. How do you go about starting the conversation where you have to tell a grown man and woman that you're giving them permission to have a child? The whole idea of it was just so alien to me in the first place. So I just looked at Eric, and we all waited for him to begin the discussion.

"Your mistress has agreed in spirit to grant your request. Of course, she will require some conditions," he added, not looking at me as he said that, since he knew darn well that I hadn't said anything about conditions.

I was about to open my mouth and ask him what he had in mind, but he put his hand on my leg as he often did when he wanted me to hold off on whatever I was about to say. I decided to let him keep going, since I could always throw in my two cents worth when he was finished.

"The Britlingens have asked for a sum of compensation which we consider unreasonable. I will have Cataliades begin negotiations and I am sure we can reach an agreeable compromise."

"I will of course assume all financial responsibility," Jan offered, but Eric waved that off, as if that was a given, or maybe of no real consequence. Both of them were pretty much rich as God as far as I could tell anyway.

"Since your mistress will be accepting responsibility for her behavior, Clovache must swear an oath of fealty to Sookie. This is not negotiable."

I raised my eyebrows at that, since it would never have occurred to me to ask such a thing. Did that mean she would be expected to give me some of her blood, the way the vampires did when they were sworn in? I think I might have screwed up my face a bit in distaste at the thought, because Clovache gave me an uncertain look and Eric lightly pinched my leg. I got my face under control.

"The contract does not specifically forbid a blood bond. Although it is not within our power to require it, I would advise that you form one to establish Clovache as your mate within the vampire community."

I saw Clovache looking surprised at that, but Jan just nodded his head as if that was good advice.

A blood bond would make it harder for Jan and Clovache to part down the line, if the Britlingens called her back to their world. Maybe that was part of Eric's point though. If we could demonstrate that it would be harmful in some way for her to leave Jan's side, it might be easier to negotiate her indefinite stay.

Of course, a blood bond was a pretty personal thing, so that would be up to the two of them to decide whether it was worth it. Blood bonds were rare enough that the vampire community would take them pretty seriously as a mated couple if they formed one. Not that many vampires would consider going after Clovache in any case. Not only was she pretty formidable in her own right, but she was under our protection, or at least she would be if she swore an oath of fealty. And no one would want the wrath of the Britlingen Guild to descend upon them for abusing one of their own.

"As it is in the kingdom's best interest that we demonstrate that we will protect all of our assets," he said (looking at Clovache as if he now considered her one of them) "I would suggest that we begin negotiations with the Guild to retain Batanya's services for an indefinite period to help guard the child when it is born, if she should choose to remain."

Daniel shifted his position slightly at this, moving a little closer to Batanya. He looked pleased at this development, but he didn't comment. Batanya however, looked like she might have smiled, if she hadn't been forcing herself to maintain her usual professional appearance. She did however give Eric a quick nod.

"Is there anything you would like to add, Lover?" Eric said, looking at me.

He hadn't removed his hand from my leg, but instead of using it to shush me, he was now slowly pushing up the hem of my skirt. Obviously he was done with this conversation, and ready to move on to something else.

"No," I said, sliding my hand under the table, and using it to remove his distracting fingers from my leg. "No, I guess that's it. Although I suppose congratulations are in order, or soon will be."

Jan and Clovache both looked pretty pleased at that, and Jan quietly said, "Thank you, Mistress."

I hoped Clovache wasn't going to start with the mistress thing after she swore her oath. I liked the relationship I had with her and Batanya, and I didn't want it to become something else. It wasn't uncommon to be addressed as "Ma'am" down here in the south, but the whole M'Lady and Mistress thing was a little bit much in this day and age. Not that I had anything to say about it in any case.

"Then I will have Cataliades begin negotiations tomorrow. I think it is time for my wife to be in bed," Eric said, getting up from the table.

I followed Eric up to the bedroom, grabbing the shoebox from the table on the way through the living room. I wasn't going to leave Fee down there for Bob to find.

While Eric tucked the sleeping baby into her crib, I headed to the bathroom to take care of business and brush my teeth. I set the shoebox on the counter, glad that the little fairy still hadn't woken up. I didn't want to deal with anything else tonight. Actually it would be a good idea to just leave him in the bathroom overnight. He'd be safe there, and hopefully not too freaked out if he woke up not knowing where he was.

"He's really very beautiful," I said to Eric when he came to check if I was finally ready for bed.

Eric just shrugged at that. Like most men, he wasn't going to admit that another male might be beautiful.

"And his voice is out of this world," I continued. "It's funny, don't you think?"

"Funny?"

"Well, when you think about how I've got angels in my genetic heritage, and I can't sing a note."

He couldn't argue with me on that one, since he'd heard me sing in the shower on more than one occasion, no doubt cringing at the god-awful noise I made.

"But I can dance," I threw in, maybe fishing a little for a compliment.

"I can sing," he said, looking amused, "and dance, too."

"Oh? You'd be hard pressed to compete with this one's voice," I said, baiting him.

"Hard being the operative word there, Lover," he threw back as he turned to walk towards the bed.

I was about to throw out another smart-ass remark, when I realized he was going to demonstrate his singing and dancing talents for me.

He pulled his shirt off and then, hips swaying rhythmically from side to side, he began a slow dance towards the bed, his deep voice humming what I soon recognized as "I'm Too Sexy".

"Oh my God!" I said, bursting into laughter.

As he began to peel off his slacks, exposing his drop-dead gorgeous butt, I quit laughing.

"Oh my God," I said again, my voice a little lower this time, definitely not laughing, my exhaustion quickly giving way to desire.

"Exactly, Lover," he replied, as he turned and beckoned me to bed.


	99. Chapter 99

CHAPTER 99

"Mama!"

I heard Claudine calling and pushed myself up on one elbow. That was definitely a "mama" coming out of her mouth, and it tugged at my heartstrings. If I opened my eyes, I would probably see her standing, holding onto the side of her crib, waiting for me to get up and start our day. But I couldn't believe it was morning already!

Eric's head was planted firmly across my tummy, and his arms were wrapped around my hips. It was amazing how hard it was to move his dead weight when I finally woke up enough to struggle out of bed. I flopped him over to his side of the bed, climbed out, and threw the covers over his gorgeous bare ass before I threw on my own robe. Eric was obviously determined to ignore my suggestions that he put on some underwear before he died for the day. It was definitely time for Claudine to start sleeping in her own bedroom.

"Mama's just going to clean up real quick, and then we'll get you some breakfast. Okay?" I said through a big yawn before giving her a quick kiss and throwing a few toys into the crib for her to amuse herself with while I got sorted out.

I figured Grace was already going to be put out by the mess I'd left for her the night before, so I wasn't going to push things too far and leave her to feed Claudine too. I would grab a quick shower, throw on some jeans, and go down and see if she needed any help. I could always take a nap later on when Claudine went down for hers.

I left the door to the bathroom open to hear Claudine, and turned the hot water on in the shower before grabbing my toothbrush. One thing I had learned to do pretty quick after Claudine had been born was to multitask. Hungry babies weren't very patient, and they didn't see why they should wait for their breakfast just because their moms didn't want to face the world with morning breath.

I brushed my teeth under the very welcome stream of hot water in the shower, used some soap in the most needed places and was out of the shower in just a few minutes, grabbing for a towel. I threw on my clothes, and was reaching for the brush on the counter when I noticed Pam's shoebox, now minus its occupant.

"Good Gravy! Where did you get to?" I remarked to the empty box as I hustled back into the bedroom to see where the little fairy had gone.

Mr. Fee and Claudine were already getting well acquainted in the bedroom. The fairy was balanced on the rail of the crib, and Claudine was making slow and steady progress around the edge as Fee kept just out of reach, his little feet dancing forward a few inches each time her hand got within grabbing distance. I noticed Fee had his little sandals back on his feet.

"Well, good morning, Mr. Fee," I said. "I don't think we were properly introduced last night, but you can call me Sookie."

He looked at me like I was speaking Greek, which I might as well have been, so I did that thing that you saw in old movies, when the explorer met up with the natives. I put my finger to my chest and said, "Me, Sookie," then pointed at him and said, "You, Fee." Then for good measure I pointed at the baby. "That's Claudine."

He looked at me as if I was crazy, then bowed from the waist, coming up laughing. Snapping his wings open, he bent at the knee a bit, then sprung up into the air, surprising me into a small shriek as he landed on my shoulder.

"Well, okay then," I said.

Claudine was laughing too, and imitating the smaller angel, she popped her wings out and tried the same thing. Fortunately I caught her before she landed on her butt on the floor.

"Hmmm. We may have to get a net for the top of your crib," I said, adding that to my mental list - along with a fireman on call 24/7.

"Let's get you changed and we'll go down for breakfast," I said, heading to the nursery, Claudine in my arms, and little Fee riding on my shoulder.

Claudine was still in her blood and chocolate stained birthday dress, and I had a moment of "terrible mom" guilt for not taking the time to put her in her pajamas before bedtime the night before. But she had been sleeping so well, and Eric's butt had just been so damned inviting. Okay, I should have gotten her changed before we even got to the bare butt episode, but it was water under the bridge now.

I was tempted to throw the dress in the garbage rather than ask Grace to see if she could get the stains out, but it was a very cute dress, and Grace would find it anyway when she emptied the garbage can, so I just took it along with me as I headed downstairs. As I walked through the living room, I noticed that everything was back to normal, although there were some definite wet spots on the rug and furniture.

I found Grace busy making my breakfast in the kitchen, and was surprised to see Amelia and Cat sitting at the table with cups of coffee in front of them. I had forgotten all about this being the nanny's first day.

"Morning everyone," I said. "Sorry about the mess we left for you, Grace. It got a little crazy here last night."

"Morning, Sook," Amelia said and then shrieked as Fee shot off my shoulder and landed on the table.

Cat pushed her chair back and stood up, giving Fee a look that you might give a bug that just landed in your soup, and I swear that Grace was about to reach for the flyswatter.

"This is Fee," I said quickly. "He's going to be visiting with us for a while, or maybe living with us or something. I don't know yet. Anyway, this is Fee."

I introduced everyone, pointing and saying their names, and Fee buzzed around each one of them like a little bee, leaving everyone smiling, even Grace, before he settled back on the table.

"Well, that explains the Ken clothes on your list," Amelia said. "I thought maybe Pam had channeled her clothes obsession onto Claudine's doll collection.

"Been there, done that," I said, rolling my eyes.

We already had just about every item of Barbie clothes that was available, most of them still in the package, since Claudine was too small to dress the dolls yet, and would probably choke to death on the accessories. Fortunately Pam had yet to start buying up Ken dolls. The whole "not anatomically correct" thing on the Ken dolls was vaguely creepy. Okay, if they were anatomically correct, that might be even creepier.

"Were you able to find everything?"

"Yeah, I've already been to the Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us and the hardware store. Grace called me early this morning with the list and asked me to pick up a rug shampooer on my way over too. What happened here last night, Sook?"

"That's a long story," I said, changing the subject. "So, Cat. You get all settled in at the cottage? Everything satisfactory over there?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I still have some unpacking to do, but I think it will be quite comfortable. Let me take the baby, and you can sit down and have your breakfast."

Claudine went willingly into Cat's arms, and was soon settled into her high chair with Cat feeding her cereal and fruit.

I looked into the bags that were piled up on the floor next to half a dozen fire extinguishers (Amelia's shopping) and pulled out the jar of honey and the doll sized tea set.

"This will be perfect. Thanks, Amelia."

Pouring some of the honey into one of the tiny cups, I set it down in front of Fee, who immediately stuck his finger in and started licking.

"You didn't happen to see the red thimble I probably left on the coffee table, did you Grace?" I asked, and Grace fished it back out of the junk drawer and handed it to me.

I filled it up with water and set it down next to Fee's honey, then found my own seat and took my first sip of coffee, feeling almost orgasmic with the first rush of caffeine.

"What time is it anyway? I feel like I just went to bed."

"It's one o'clock, Sook. What time did you get to sleep?"

"I really have no idea, but I can't believe it's one o'clock already."

As tired as I had been the day before, it had been a while after I'd gotten into bed before I had finally gotten any sleep. Eric had lived up to his claim of being a song and dance man. He really was too sexy for just about everything in the world, and the man (vampire) had more moves than Dancing With the Stars.

I indulged myself for a moment, sipping my coffee and daydreaming about my fortunate choice of bedmates while Grace put a plate of sausage, eggs and toast in front of me.

"Thanks Grace, you're a godsend," I said, digging in.

Fee, when he had had his fill of honey, flew over to the kitchen sink and watched as Grace started the water running to wash up the skillet. Taking off his sandals, and pulling up his robe carefully, he extended his foot, testing the water with his toes, as if she had just drawn him a bath.

"I think he wants a swim," Grace said, looking dumbfounded as the little guy pulled off his robe and dove into the dishpan.

"Whoa! I think those Ken pants might end up being a little tight," Amelia said, laughing as she watched the small angel splashing about in the sink.

"I think I'm having a hot flash," Grace said, fanning herself with her hand as she stepped away from the sink and pulled up a chair.

"If he represents the general characteristics of the angels," Amelia said, "I think I want to meet this prince you keep talking about."

"Aren't you a little more inclined towards princesses?" Grace asked her.

"I can be flexible," Amelia pointed out.

"I think maybe Claudine may be a little young for this conversation," I suggested, considering where this conversation was going.

"I'll take her into the living room to play," Cat offered, wiping up the cereal-smeared baby and heading out of the kitchen.

"So where is everybody?" I asked Grace.

Grace poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down for a little "catching up" as my grandmother would have called it.

"Clovache and Batanya are off to the lawyer's office," Grace said, "so just the weres are on duty today."

So, the Britlingens were talking to Cataliades. I was surprised they hadn't waited for Jan and Eric. They'd almost certainly have their own assets and issues to deal with though, if they were going to be staying on indefinitely. And there was no reason to think they couldn't come up with something that the vampires and the Guild would accept and that would work for everybody.

"And Travis is washing the dog," Grace continued, her lip curling a bit at the mention of Dante.

"Oh geez! I should be doing that. That's not his job."

I started to get up, thinking I should be out there taking care of my own dog, but Grace put out a hand.

"I think he feels bad about yesterday. He certainly looks a little the worse for wear. If he wants to make up for it, leave him be."

"He was on his day off yesterday. No reason he shouldn't have a few beers. Anyway, he was kind of cute, going down the slide and everything."

"You say cute and security in the same sentence, and you won't make any friends in that crowd," Amelia said. "They take their job so seriously. Especially after the camera incident."

"That was my fault," I said, not wanting to talk about it. "Dante definitely needed a bath though."

"Hmmpf!" Grace snorted. "He was wearing half the cake!"

"Yeah, well, sorry about that. Things got a little tense around here, and I guess the dog couldn't resist taking advantage of the situation. The cake was marvelous though, Grace."

"Hmmmpf!" she said again.

Fee climbing out of the sink was enough distraction to get off that topic. His little naked (but by no means insignificant) body dripped all over the counter as he fanned out his wings and shook himself off like a wet dog.

Grace got up and fished a dishtowel out of the drawer and offered it to him. It looked huge next to his small stature, but he managed to get it wrapped around himself, using one end to dry off his long white hair.

"I guess we better get out the Ken clothes," Amelia suggested. "You won't believe what I found. There's a tux and a pin striped suit, and oh…the most god-awful bowling shirt and pants. You think he knows how to use Velcro? Where'd he come from, anyway, Sook?"

"From Niall. He was kind of a birthday present, I guess."

"They just give people away in Fairy?" Amelia said, looking aghast.

"Apparently. I guess he's like a child's companion or something, or that's what the Prince said."

"Which Prince? Niall?"

"No. Jerry, the Prince of Darkness."

"You have altogether too many Princes in your life, Sook. I wish my Prince would show up, preferably not on a white horse though. Maybe a white Lexus? I'm not getting any younger, after all."

Amelia's prince had already come, and now he was dead. I had to keep telling myself that it wasn't my fault that Trey had died. There was no point beating myself up about it. But watching Amelia sift through the stuff in the Wal-Mart bags, her voice sounding so defeated, I couldn't help but feel bad.

"You're not too old yet, Amelia. There's plenty of time."

"That spoken by the woman that already has her man and kid," Amelia said, coming up with several packages of doll clothes in her hand. "I looked at myself in the mirror this morning, and I swear I'm getting crow's feet already! The clock is ticking for me."

"Sheesh, Amelia! You do not have crow's feet!"

"Says you. As if you'd know what wrinkles look like. I don't know how you do it, Sook. I swear you look younger than when I first met you, even after having a baby. Maybe it's the pregnancy glow? I swear if I didn't know you, I'd almost have to card you at Merlotte's."

This was dangerous territory. Not only was Amelia going to go all maudlin on me, but she was right about how I looked. I'd noticed it too, and so had Eric. All the vampire blood, I guessed. But it was odd, nonetheless. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Amelia went back to the original topic.

"So, Niall just showed up with this little fairy for Claudine? What did he do? Just tie a ribbon on him or something?"

"Not exactly," I began, and told Amelia and Grace about the strange little globes and the angel museum in Fairy.

"I can't believe that Niall would just leave them to die there," Amelia said, looking shocked.

Grace remained silent. I remembered that Grace's family was closely tied to the Brigant family, and that the Brownie tradition called for a fierce loyalty to the family that they worked for.

"He said they tried to set them free, but the angels had all died without letting anyone know how to break the spell."

"And now he is going to wait for Claudine to grow up? She's only a baby! And its not like he can count on Claudine ending up in Fairy. It seems more likely that she'll end up with Jerry, considering he's the only other angel. What does he hope to gain by holding them hostage?"

"I think he wants me to have a reason to come to Fairy," I said.

I wasn't sure why I thought that. But what other purpose could he have? Surely he didn't think I would give Claudine over to him down the line, just to free the little fairies. He must know me better than that by now.

"Maybe you should, Sook. Don't you have a key to the portal, from your gran's trunk? You could just sneak in, grab the little guys and pop back home. I'd just die to get a chance to see that place. Can you imagine? And it's not like Niall could keep you there, since Jerry would be honor bound to come to your rescue. Now that one sounds like the kind of guy that would show up on a white horse!"

I wasn't about to tell Amelia about the horse that Jerahmeel really did ride. Let her keep her Disney style fairy tale images. They were much nicer than the reality.

"The key is in my safety deposit box in Las Vegas, and besides, Eric would have a fit. There's no way he'd let me go there. It would probably just start a war or something, and I think we've had enough of that," I said, putting an end to the whole idea.

"Come on. Let's see what we've got here," I said, and started ripping open the packages, trying not to think about the key.

Fee seemed perfectly comfortable standing around on my kitchen table in his birthday suit while Amelia fussed over him like he really was a Ken doll. He preened and twirled as he tried on his new clothes, as proud as Punch.

In the end, we let Fee decide what to wear, even though the bowling shirt was just hideous, purple and red, with white piping. He seemed to like the bright colors though. I had to take the scissors to the back of the shirt, to accommodate his wings, and roll up the pants a little bit. He rejected the matching sneakers right off the bat, wrinkling his nose up at the sight of them, and donned his sandals instead. The shoes looked too small anyway, and you know what they say about big feet. They weren't kidding on that one in his case.

"I haven't had this much fun since Daddy bought me a Barbie Dream House," Amelia said. "Speaking of which, I got the bed too. They only had them in pink."

The tacky plastic bed came out, and Fee seemed to know what it was right away, lying down on it to try it out. It couldn't possibly be very comfortable, but he seemed pleased none-the-less.

"I think I'm going to call the tailor and see what he can come up with," I said. "Maybe he can make some kind of decent mattress and bedding too, and maybe some underwear. This will have to do for now though."

"Let's go see how Claudine is doing with her new nanny," I told him, although I knew he wouldn't be able to understand me. He did seem to recognize Claudine's name though, and hitched a ride on my shoulder into the living room.

"Hey sweetie, you having fun with Cat?" I said, although I didn't need to ask.

Cat and the baby were sitting on the floor next to the toy basket, and had already found the new blocks my brother had given her for her birthday. Cat was showing her how to stack them up, and Claudine was showing Cat how well she could knock them back down. They both had big smiles on their faces.

I went to join them, and Fee flew off to more fully explore the room. Before long he had found the playhouse that Amelia's father had given Claudine when she was born.

The little guy let out a shriek of merriment as he landed on the roof of the structure, then hopped down to pull the door open. Within minutes he was flying around inside, figuring out how to open the small cupboards and push the buttons on the pretend phone, emitting the "realistic sounding" ring tones that had been promised on the box when Eric had unpacked and assembled it.

Soon he was whistling a happy tune, and came flying back out to land on my shoulder. He let out a string of excited words, and when I didn't seem to respond properly, he tugged at my hair, darting off towards the kitchen and hovering there in the doorway to see if I was following.

I got up off the floor and hurried to see what he was in such a frenzy about, and found him on the table, gathering up his new Ken clothes, and gesturing to the Barbie bed. I picked it up and carried it back into the living room.

I set the bed down inside the house, and watched as he carefully folded his new clothes, and laid them carefully onto the shelves of one of the cupboards. Putting his hands onto his hips, he slowly made a 360-degree turn and surveyed his new domain, letting out a laugh of satisfaction.

"Well, I guess you've found yourself a home," I said and found myself laughing too.

Fee managed to keep himself busy, scavenging the house for items to decorate his new house with. He flew back and forth between the kitchen and living room, arranging the dishes from the tea set, and organizing his new clothes (minus the shoes) on the shelves. He came out of the bathroom with my small metal nail file tucked into his belt like a sword, and a light blue washcloth that he laid on the floor of his house, traipsing over it as proudly as if it had been a hand-woven Persian carpet.

He had just finished heaving one of Claudine's new blocks through the door of the playhouse (for a chair, perhaps?) when all hell broke loose.

I had forgotten all about Bob. Like most cats, Bob spent most of the day sleeping on the couch. Since the cushions had been shampooed that morning, and were still drying out, Bob had had to find a new place for his naps. No one even noticed him as he came creeping out of the dining room where he'd probably been curled up on one of the padded dining room chairs.

The cat probably thought Fee was easy prey, like a big bug walking around on the floor of the little house. I don't think Bob knew what he was really up against when he pounced into the small house, making a mess of Fee's decorating efforts.

Fee dodged artfully out of the cat's way, giving Bob a good poke in the butt with the sharp end of the nail file before he flew out and headed towards the kitchen.

Bob gave chase, careening around the corner and colliding with Amelia who was walking out with a coffee laden tray. The tray went flying, Amelia went ass over teacup, and Fee went on the offensive, darting after Bob, poking him mercilessly with the file until the cat was yowling and scrambling for purchase on the floor to get away.

I went running in to see what the hell was going on, and that's when Travis opened the back door to let the freshly washed hellhound back into the house.

Dante, not one to miss an opportunity for mischief, decided this was his big chance to get Bob, and dove into the fray.

The next thing I knew, Travis was on the floor too, slipping on the spreading pool of spilled coffee. Dante was leapfrogging over the bodies on the floor, and Fee was whooping out a battle cry, waving his weapon as he flew out the door, hot on the trail of the escaping cat.

"Bob's out!" I yelled, grabbing onto Dante's collar and trying to make my way through the chaos without joining my fallen comrades on the floor.

"Mark! Bob's out," I yelled again as I stumbled through the door into the yard, although how anyone could hear me over the now baying hellhound, I couldn't say.

Dante's racket was enough to call out the guard though, and in what seemed like only seconds, I was surrounded by armed weres, determined to maneuver me back into the relative safety of the house.

"Jesus H. Christ! The cat got out," I said, finally making myself heard. "He's probably headed for the woods. We'll probably never find him now."

I heard Grace's comment from the doorway.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish."


	100. Chapter 100

CHAPTER 100

"A few of us can change. We might be able to track him down. The hellhound could probably track him too."

"You think you can catch him without hurting him?" I asked Mark.

I couldn't imagine how a wolf would grab hold of Bob without actually damaging him, or a hound for that matter, which is why I hadn't let Dante loose to go after Bob.

Mark cocked his head a bit to the side, as if he was trying to think with his wolf brain. Dante made the same kind of movement when he was considering how he could sneak by Grace's watchful eye to get to some tasty treat cooling on the counter.

"Maybe not, if he put up a fight."

"He'd be scared if a bunch of wolves came after him, or the dog. I think there's more chance he'll just come back on his own, when he gets hungry. Or maybe if I go walk around in the trees for a while, quiet like, and call him."

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that, Ma'am. Not by yourself."

"No. I didn't think you'd agree to that."

I had known that Mark wouldn't like the idea, and I wasn't going to put the guards into that position. Since the camera incident, the weres had been increasingly watchful and cautious. If something went wrong while I was in the woods…sheesh…if I tripped and got a splinter…Eric would hold them responsible, and there was no telling what he would do.

"Let's just hope he comes back on his own then," Mark said, although I could tell he didn't really mean that. No one liked Bob.

"I guess I almost hope he doesn't," I said, admitting to myself that I didn't really like Bob either.

I liked the idea of a cat in the house, and when he was curled up next to me on the sofa, purring, I could almost forget what he had done to me in the past. When the issue of keeping Bob had first risen, the idea of killing a cat had seemed abhorrent to me, no matter what his past life had been. I would have almost been more agreeable to the idea of his death in his human form, although I don't think I really could have agreed to that either. I didn't know what that said about my morality. I certainly didn't seem to approach life like a good Christian any more, but then I wasn't sure about my feelings on Christianity these days either.

And there had been that dream of Claudine and her cat. Eric thought that the dreams he and I shared were visions, and maybe they were, but if that were the case, Bob would come back on his own. I wasn't completely convinced one way or another, although many of the dreams had proved to be prophetic.

The coffee I had so enjoyed at breakfast was sloshing around in my stomach with the rest of my breakfast, and I felt vaguely nauseous, so I sat down on the porch step, not wanting to have a philosophical argument with myself so early in the day. Not that it was particularly early.

Fee came streaking back from wherever he had chased the cat and caused another moment of panic, as the weres chose alternately to bat at the "giant bug" with their big hands, or jump back looking startled.

It took a moment to explain the small angel, who chose to deal with the threatening situation by climbing under my hair, as he had done with Jerahmeel the night before. He had been pretty ferocious with the cat, but he seemed a little less willing to wield his sword at a pack of armed werewolves.

Once he was sure he wasn't going to have to fight anyone else, he jumped down to my knee, sliding his weapon back into his belt, and smiled up at me, looking very pleased with himself.

"You're quite a brave little thing, aren't you?" I said to Fee, smiling back at him.

It wasn't his fault that the cat had escaped. He wouldn't have known we didn't let the cat out, and anyway, Fee wasn't even big enough to open the back door.

"Maybe if we all step back a bit, and it was quiet out here, you could call the cat," Mark said. "He might come back if you called him."

"Oh, I doubt it," I said, but then a thought hit me.

I might not be able to call him back, but Claudine could. What was it that fairy had given to Claudine, the magic to call small animals to her side? Hah!

"Grace?" I called over my shoulder.

I knew she had been at the doorway a minute before, no doubt steaming since the house would be a mess again.

"You think you can have Cat bring Claudine out here for a moment? Oh, and are Amelia and Travis okay?" I continued, turning to look back towards the kitchen.

"We're fine, Ma'am. A change of clothes and no harm done," Travis answered me.

His lower half was now stained with coffee, and he was a little disheveled, but no doubt his pride had suffered more than anything else…felled by rampaging pets and some spilled coffee.

"Sorry about that," I said.

"No problem, Ma'am," he answered.

Cat came out carrying Claudine and handed her down to my lap.

"Listen sweetie," I told the baby. "Bob ran away and we need to call him back. You might be able to call him if you use your magic. You know, the way Cassan showed you. Kind of the way mommy does, when she says 'Here kitty, kitty.'"

I had no idea how to explain to her that she should use a magic that she might not really understand that she had. I took her hand in mine and tried to "think" at her, to think about calling Bob.

I could taste it, the minute she called the magic, although she didn't quite call what I expected. Out of her hand came the little fireflies, two of them this time, zipping around her hand and making her squeal and giggle.

"That's good, sweetheart, but that's not the magic we want right now," I explained, then took her hand again, thinking "Here kitty, kitty".

The taste came back to my mouth, and Claudine gave me a proud look, as if to say, "Look, Mom!" But what she produced this time was a flame that burned in the palm of her hand.

"Oh!" I said, moving my hand away and not quite knowing what to do. Everyone else moved back too. They had all seen my demonstration with fire at the party, and were taking no chances, rightly assuming that Claudine would have no more control of the magic than I did.

I didn't want to shout at her, like I had done last time. Eric was right; it wouldn't do to train her with anger and fear. So, pretending calmness, I blew on the flame in her hand, and for a miracle, it went right out.

"Good girl," I said, kissing the top of her head. "Now, let's try this again. We want Bob, you know, Bob? Here kitty, kitty, come to mommy and Claudine," I chanted like an idiot, giving her an encouraging look.

Third time's the charm. She put her hand out again, and this time she must have thrown out a call, because within seconds, we heard a small rustling coming up from the flower bed that bordered the house, and out came something. It took me a minute to identify it as a mole, although by that time I was up on my feet and Amelia had let out a shriek.

Claudine looked crestfallen at our negative reaction, but I praised her, telling her what a nice little mole it was, even though, no, she couldn't get down on the ground and play with it right now.

"Let's see what else you can call up," I said, walking out a bit towards the woods in the direction Bob had taken. "Let's see if you can get Bob to come home. Here kitty, kitty."

Who knew there were so many critters living in our woods? Several raccoons, a possum, more than a few small rodents and an assortment of birds all made their way to the edge of the trees, looking confused, as if they were sleep walking. When what I thought must surely be Bob turned out to be a skunk, I decided we best just forget about it.

There was no doubt that Claudine's magic worked, but Bob must have been too far away by now to be affected by its pull. He was well and truly gone. We'd just have to hope he came home on his own when he got hungry, although it appeared that there was plenty of dinner on the hoof available for him in our woods.

The rest of the day was anticlimactic after the midday chaos. I offered to help Grace out with the mopping up, but she insisted that she had plenty of help and I should go play with the baby or something…in other words, stay out of the kitchen while she cooled off.

I think she was conflicted over the turn of events. On the one hand, Bob was gone, maybe for good, and she had never liked Bob, so she was ready to be jubilant. On the other hand, her first impression of Fee had to be reevaluated from animated Ken doll, to possible shit disturber, and she thought it was her position in the family to show open disapproval of anything that disturbed our serenity or made a big mess.

"She'll get over it," I thought as I went to sit in the living room with Claudine.

Fee flew back to his little house and made exasperated noises, planting his hands on his hips and muttering to himself before he began to tidy up his few possessions.

Amelia distributed the fire extinguishers around the house and then fired up the computer, having a field day ordering Barbie furniture and assorted accessories for Fee's new living quarters. My witch, as Eric called her, was always in her element when there was shopping to be done. I encouraged her to order herself a new outfit, since she was hanging around in one of my bathrobes while Grace worked to get the coffee stains out of the outfit she had shown up in. Clothes had a way of getting ruined around our household, and as Amelia always told me, a girl can never have too many clothes.

"Nice outfit," Batanya told Amelia when she walked through the back door some time later.

"Yeah, well, there was an incident," Amelia said.

"So, business as usual in the Northman household then," Clovache said merrily.

The younger Britlingen's face was glowing, so I knew that things must have been gone well at Mr. Cataliades' office. Actually both of the women looked pretty content, even after being scolded by Grace for walking across her clean, wet kitchen floor. I wanted to ask them what they had worked out with the lawyer, but I figured that was better left for when Eric and Jan were up.

"Bob's escaped," I explained. "Fee chased him out to the woods, after Bob tried to attack him."

"I think I'm going to like that little guy," Batanya said.

The little guy joined Claudine and me when we sat down for a little quiet time with one of her favorite books.

"One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish," I read, and Fee carefully repeated the words, watching my finger as I pointed out the words on the page, his beautiful voice turning them into a little song. Maybe Fee would learn to speak English right alongside the baby.

Claudine seemed to be trying to say the words too, but beyond something that might have been the word "fish", she didn't sound any more intelligible than when she babbled at the emerald. She seemed to enjoy the rhymes though, at least until her head began to lean a little more heavily against my chest and her breathing slowed, letting me know that she had fallen asleep.

I took a moment then, as I remembered what Jerahmeel had said, and opened my mind up to the little angel. He sensed what I was attempting, and shared his thoughts with me, memories of a different fish than Dr. Seuss could ever envision.

The water in the pond was impossibly blue, like the blue of Eric's eyes, and the multicolored scales of the fish sparkled in a sun that was not my sun, but a sun of a land far different than our own. Two small angels, no bigger than the fish, sat on the ground beside the water, their soft robes brilliantly white against the green of the moss. Their fingers intertwined and they spoke in quiet musical whispers, which I could almost understand. The words themselves held no meaning, but I knew that they were saying their goodbyes, in case they never returned, or even worse, in case only one of them survived.

"I'll listen for her, if you'd like to rest," Cat offered, distracting me and breaking the connection.

I looked down at little Fee. The slump of his shoulders betrayed his sorrow and his eyes were filled with entreaty and maybe hope. I didn't know how to answer that look, so I turned back to Cat.

"Thanks, Cat. We can put her in the bed in the nursery. Eric will be up soon, so maybe I should get in a little nap while I can. I'm just so tired."

"I'll talk to Niall," I told Fee, not sure if he even understood me, and then headed up to the bedroom, my eyes closing almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

There was no telling how long Eric had been awake when I opened my eyes and found him propped up on one elbow, smelling me. His hair was hanging forward in a messy tangle, and the covers had been pushed down to his waist, leaving the alabaster skin of his chest on display. He looked good enough to eat.

"Hey sweetie," I greeted him.

"I can never get enough of your delicious fragrance," he said, bending lower and nestling his face against my equally tousled hair. "Better than your Mrs. Bellefleur's famous chocolate cake."

I doubted that my "fragrance" was very appealing at this point, but since Eric was sidling over to get as close as possible, I figured he must be enjoying it.

"Oh, I don't think anything could smell better than that," I said, although the dry, sweet smell of him, so close to me, threatened to make a liar out of me. "Anyway, I don't want to think about chocolate cake. We've had enough trouble with that this week," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Hmm. Is your brownie angry with the hound again?"

His voice held a hint of amusement. He seemed to like Grace, admiring her "feistiness" as he called it, although only when it was directed at someone else besides him.

"Well, she was, but then there was the Bob incident, so maybe she's gotten over Dante getting into her cake."

"The Bob incident?"

Eric pulled his head up, and looked at me, waiting for me to continue. The amusement had left his voice, and he now sounded irritated. He had nothing good to say about Bob of course.

"Oh, well, yeah, you wouldn't know of course, since you were dead all day, but Bob escaped. Well, actually, Fee sort of ran him off, into the woods, and he hasn't come back. I put some food out for him on the porch, but of course the darn dog will probably just eat it, first chance he gets. But maybe he'll show up later tonight, when he gets cold."

"Perhaps you'd like to fill me in on the details."

I gave him the rundown on what had happened that afternoon, including Claudine's unsuccessful efforts to call Bob back from the woods. He looked pleased about Claudine's new ability, although he curled his lip a bit at the mention of the skunk.

"It is unfortunate that he eluded Claudine, but I am surprised that the hellhound or the wolves were unable to track him," Eric said, sounding displeased, as he reached down for his pants.

"Well, they offered, but I was afraid they'd hurt him if they caught him in wolf form, so I told them not to. And I don't want you punishing them or anything, Eric, since it was my decision, and… "

He sighed and put up his hand to forestall me, taking his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and pushing a few buttons. He put the phone to his ear, and dispensed with any greeting, getting right to the point.

"Jonathan, the witch cat has escaped into the woods behind the house. I want him found immediately," he said, swiveling his body away from me as I grabbed for the phone.

"Whatever means are necessary. Send out the weres and have Compton get Bubba here on the property and into the woods as soon as possible. He has an affinity for felines," he said into the phone.

"Eric! No! Please don't send Bubba after him," I said, grabbing for the phone, but he had already disconnected.

"Hush," he said, throwing the phone back down to the floor. "I will not argue about this with you, Sookie. I will not have that witch running loose. You convinced me once to let him live, and I indulged you, on the condition that he be held closely, but he is too dangerous to be left to his own devices."

"Eric, he's a cat, for god's sake! What could he…"

"He is a witch, Sookie, and as such, he cannot be trusted."

"Well, so is Amelia, and Octavia, and I trust them," I argued, although Octavia had lied to me before, about being able to return Bob to human form.

That lie had added to the grievance that Bob had held against all of us. And Amelia's misplaced trust in Bob had almost cost Eric his life, and me, my freedom, or worse.

"Anyway, even if he could somehow be turned back to human, it's not like he's going to be stupid enough to come back after us again."

"Sookie, Sookie, Sookie," Eric said, shaking his head back and forth, and then looking at me in that way he had when I exasperated him, like I was a child.

"Well, really, Eric. There are a ton of critters out in the woods, and he's probably in more jeopardy out there than we are with having him loose."

"After all of these years among the supernatural, Kjære, I can't believe how naïve you still are."

That got my hackles up, since it still rankled that Bill had said the same thing to me, even though he'd mostly been proven right. But I didn't think he could say that now, after all I'd seen. I sat up and gave Eric my best glare, but he did not look impressed.

"How long has he been in this household, Sookie, and what things has he seen or heard, while we foolishly ignored his presence, as if he were really a cat?"

His voice had that tone that people got, right before they banged their head against the wall for being stupid.

"Well, it's not like he really knows what's going on, Eric."

"And you know that how?"

"Well, when he got changed back last time, it didn't seem like he even knew what had happened."

"And neither did I, Lover, when I was cursed…not at first. But it all came back to me, every moment of it, of our time together."

He leaned over then, and pulled me into his arms. I wanted to pull away at first, still wanting to argue with him, still wanting to save Bob. But he was right, as he usually was. We didn't know what would happen, in the unlikely circumstance that Bob survived, and was somehow changed back to his human form.

"I guess you have a point," I conceded. "I mean, I know you're right and Bob isn't worth defending, but I don't want to be the one that metes out justice," I said, as he stroked my hair and soothed away my anger.

"Then let me be the one, Kjære. Let me do what needs to be done to keep our family safe. Speaking of which, where is our daughter?" Eric asked and I knew that there would be no further discussion about Bob.

I had almost forgotten that Claudine was not in our room, but as soon as I was reminded, I felt like I should get up and go check on her. I began to push against Eric's chest, but he just tightened his grip on me.

"In the nursery. Cat's here, the new nanny. It's not like Claudine can't get out of the crib anyway, she can just fly out now, so I thought it was time for her to sleep in her big girl bed."

Eric's eyes lit up at that, with a mischievous grin.

"Ah, then we are alone at last," he said, as he pushed me back onto the mattress. "So when I make you scream my name, you won't have to worry that we'll wake the baby."

"Eric! The whole family is up by now. It's not like I'm going to be screaming when everyone will hear me. Pam will be rolling her eyes at me all night."

He snorted a little at that and then gave me a very confident smirk.

"Would you care to wager on that, Lover?"

"On Pam teasing me, or on me screaming?" I threw back at him.

He just laughed. It wasn't like I stood a chance of winning if Eric put his mind to anything, we both knew that, but I was curious what he was willing to bet.

"Hmmm. How much were you thinking?"

His face turned serious for a moment, as if he was considering an amount, and then broke out in a smile.

"No, I don't want to rob you, Lover, it would be like taking candy from a baby."

"Obviously, you've never tried to get Claudine to hand over her candy," I said.

"True. And her mother may be even more stubborn than she is," he considered, but as he cupped my breast in his hand, his thumb idly stroking my nipple, a small moan escaped my lips.

"Too easy," he teased, and lowered his head to trace the path of his finger with his tongue.

I moaned again, a little louder this time, relishing the feel of his lips as they traveled down my body, closing in on the spot where it would be most appreciated. I spread my legs a bit, inviting his touch, my breath quickening in anticipation.

I heard his intake of breath, as he inhaled.

"You smell so good, like everything a man could ever want," he whispered, exhaling and sending a soft brush of air against my most sensitive skin.

But his mouth didn't stop there, where I wanted him. It trailed down my thigh, his fingers following, caressing the back of my knee, then my calf, and then…

"Eric!" I shrieked, trying to pull away, as he began his assault, mercilessly tickling the delicate soles of my feet. "Eric!"

"Aha! I win! I told you I would make you scream," he said, breaking into laughter.

"You did not win!" I gasped between shrieks. "We didn't even make the bet, and anyway, that doesn't count."

I shrieked again, even louder, kicking at him as he tickled me again, although it was as effective as pushing at a wall.

"So, you are going to be a sore loser?" he teased, gripping me by both ankles, and pulling me forward, ignoring my struggles.

"You are such a brat!" I scolded, holding back my own laughter, so as not to encourage him.

"A brat, am I?" he said, his lips curved in amusement.

"Yes, a brat," I answered.

"I'll show you what a brat I am," he threatened, his expression quickly changing from laughter to lust as he spread my legs back apart, and lowered his body onto mine.

My shrieks changed to soft moans as his mouth pressed into mine, kissing me long and hard.

I wrapped my legs around him and he let out a low growl as he buried himself inside me with one powerful stroke. He moved slowly at first, his mouth hungrily devouring my lips, my tongue, my neck.

My fingers gripped the hard muscle of his back as he moved against me, my nails digging in, heat spreading through me as my whole world became focused on the place where our bodies joined, my breath coming short, muscles tightening.

"Scream for me now, Lover," he whispered against my neck just before his fangs pierced my skin.

His mouth drew in my blood and he thrust hard, grinding into me. The tension building inside me released and beyond caring what anyone might hear, I screamed his name as I convulsed around him.

He body collapsed atop mine and he began to lick the small puncture wound in my neck as my breathing slowed and my body relaxed. I closed my eyes, and drank in the feel of his weight, the smell of sex heavy in the room, the comforting feel of his fingers as he stroked my hair. When he moved to lie beside me, I wrapped myself tightly around him, to hold him inside me for one more moment, a small sigh of contentment escaping my lips.

"I am so in love with you," he said and I could feel the truth of his words through our bond.

All the cares of the last few weeks, the worry over Bob, the exhaustion I had been feeling, seemed to melt away, and all I could feel was the joy that was the two of us, bound together forever.

"I love you too," I answered. "You have made me so happy."

I looked into his beautiful blue eyes, seeing my own happiness reflected back in them.

"When we are alone together like this, with you still inside me, I feel like I have died and gone to heaven."

"I know exactly how you feel," he said as his lips approached mine. "I did die, and yet here I am now, in the arms of my very own angel."

End of Part Five

Author's Note: May I suggest, for your listening pleasure – Sarah McLachlan's "Angel"

I would like to thank all of the readers who have taken the time to post a comment. Knowing that you are out there and have been enjoying the story, has kept me going. I hope you will continue to enjoy as the story continues in Part Six, coming soon.

Thank you also to Charlaine Harris for creating many of the characters in this story. All rights to those characters belong to her.


	101. Chapter 101

PART 6

CHAPTER 101

I ran my fingers over the deeply chiseled letters on the stone.

IN THE ARMS OF THE ANGELS

ADELE HALE STACKHOUSE

"Hi Gran."

Travis and Mark had moved back to what they considered the maximum safe distance. I wasn't altogether sure that it was out of hearing range, so I kept my voice soft and quiet.

The bouquet that I had picked up at the florist in Bon Temps was cheerful, bright yellow sunflowers and some of those red ones that never looked quite real. Gran would have loved them. I laid the flowers on top of my grandmother's grave, and then sat down on the sparse grass.

"I left Claudine with Amelia, over to the house. I figured we'd just have a few minutes to ourselves here. You wouldn't believe how big she's grown, Gran. I can see you in her sometimes, although Eric thinks she looks just like me."

There was no way to know if Gran was listening, wherever she was now, but I liked to think that she was. There was a time when I had been so certain that Gran was up in heaven, looking out for me, waiting for the time I would join her there. Now I wasn't so sure about that. A lot of the things I'd been so sure of were sort of muddled now. But if there were vampires and werewolves and fairies (Oh My!), then anything might be possible.

I spent a few minutes catching Gran up with all of Claudine's latest accomplishments, and telling her a little about my own new tricks. I wondered what she would say about all of it if she could talk to me now, but knowing Gran, I figured she would have been proud of me. Not for what I could do now, but for the fact that I was accepting what I was, and making the best life I could around it.

"I miss you, Gran, every day, and I sure wish you could be part of our lives now. You'd like Eric, and I know he'd like you too. He makes me happy, Gran. Happy like I never thought anyone could be. Sure, we have our problems I guess, but he loves me, and I love him, and I figure that's more than most people have in life."

"Anyway, I just wanted to come tell you that, so you wouldn't be worrying about me. I love you, Gran."

I brushed away the few tears that had gathered on my cheeks before I hauled myself back up to my feet and waved to the guys to let them know I was finished here.

It only took a few minutes to walk back to the house, stopping to grab my bag out of the car before I collected the baby from Amelia and headed off to meet with the fairies.

Dante ran ahead to join the Prince's hellhounds that were milling around the clearing in the woods, keeping an eye on the three fairies that had gathered there. Like the last time, there was a basket, with what I assumed was lunch inside, sitting on a blanket of finely woven cloth, this time in a lovely shade of violet. I was surprised that none of the fairies were my Great Grandfather, Niall.

"My Lady," Mor greeted me. "Our Prince sends his regrets. This is Eolande and Elvy."

The two new fairies bowed slightly and then focused on Claudine, who was perched on my hip and struggling to get down. I lowered her to the ground, and she ran over to Mor, eager to show off the new toy she was carrying.

After her initial alarm at the creature, Amelia had decided that the little mole that Claudine had called up out of our flowerbed was the cutest thing on earth, and had ordered a stuffed toy for Claudine off the Internet. Personally, I thought it was pretty creepy, with its beady little eyes and big pale feet, but Claudine adored it and dragged it everywhere. It was already looking a little bit the worse for wear after only a few days. Mor seemed to find the toy fascinating though, or at least acted like it to please the baby.

I turned my attention to Eolande and Elvy. I couldn't tell which was which, since the names held no clue for me. The male was as big as Eric, with deep black hair cascading almost to his knees and amazingly long and lush eyelashes over his almond shaped eyes. His skin had a strange quality to it – creamy and pale, but with a multicolored hue just under the surface, like an opal.

The woman was tall too, very fine boned, beautiful of course, like all the fairies that I had met, and almost a twin to the male. I wondered for a moment if they were brother and sister, then decided I didn't want to go there. Yuck!

"Nice to meet you both," I said, remembering my manners and giving a quick nod. "I'm Sookie, and that's my daughter, Claudine."

I felt a little rustling coming from the bag over my shoulder, and turned to set it down behind me, reaching in quickly and pushing on the little head that was threatening to pop out. "Stay put," I whispered, hoping Fee would understand my tone if not my words.

Fee had seemed quite distressed when I had tried to leave him home that morning. I'd almost shut him in the door and squashed him when he darted out to follow us to the car. Finally, I'd agreed to take him with us to Bon Temps, but I had tucked him into my shoulder bag along with a few things that I had brought for Jerahmeel. I didn't want anyone driving next to us on the highway to get a good look at something that by human standards shouldn't exist at all.

I wasn't sure why I wanted him hidden now, but I didn't know these fairies, and it was strange that Niall hadn't shown up. He was supposed to be trading lessons in self-defense for our time spent with his people.

The next hour passed much as the previous meeting with the fairies had gone. The basket held the expected meal, and Claudine stuffed herself again. Mor did all the talking, so I suspected that neither of the others spoke English. They seemed vaguely ill at ease, their eyes (almost in unison) following every movement the hellhounds made, and watching the trees as if expecting something to jump out at them.

They'd probably never been across one of the portals before, and maybe had never met a human. I wondered what criteria Niall was using to determine who would get a shot at this fertility thing. Knowing how the supes generally operated, I was guessing that it was whoever would bolster his position in some way. After the power struggle of the year before, I guess I couldn't blame him.

"How come Niall didn't show up today?" I asked Mor.

"Our Prince did not share that information with me," she answered, "but Elvy will instruct you today to fulfill our obligation."

"Oh, okay," I said, still not sure if Elvy was the male or female. "And did everything work out for you and Cassan?"

I was kind of beating around the bush with that question, since it felt kind of rude to ask her outright if she was pregnant. And I didn't have the nose to smell it out, like the weres and vamps. Shoot! If they could market that, they'd put the little test strip companies right out of business!

"Yes," she said, her mouth widening in a happy smile. "Now we must wait, as you do. His birth will be cause for great celebration in our world."

"Congratulations!" I said, genuinely happy for her. "We're having a boy too."

"He will be a strong warrior like his father," she said.

I wasn't sure if she was talking about her son or mine, but it would apply to both. It wasn't the kind of thing you usually heard these days about a baby. Someone might comment that the baby was bound to be smart or good looking or whatever, but the whole warrior thing just sounded so archaic. Considering I lived in a house with cabinets full of swords, maybe not so much though.

Claudine had made her way over to the "twins" and was showing off her creepy mole. The fairies made what were probably appropriate comments on the toy, although I couldn't understand what they were saying. The cadence and some of the words were beginning to sound familiar to me though, as I'd heard the same language spoken by Fee and the Prince. It was very obviously becoming understandable by Claudine.

Claudine made herself comfortable on the woman's lap when the male (so this must be Elvy) walked over to me, looking quickly to Mor before he extended his hand. Good thing that Eric wasn't here for these sessions. He would have whacked the fairy's head off for touching me. But Eric was home playing dead, so I let Elvy take my hand.

My palm tingled a little bit when he touched me, and he must have noticed something too, because his eyebrows rose slightly with a look of surprise.

The hellhounds crept up a little closer, and maybe looked a little more menacing, if that was possible, but they didn't interfere.

"Do I need to do anything particular?" I asked Mor. "Is he going to show me more about teleporting?"

She furrowed her brows in puzzlement for a second before answering.

"No. His gift is not traveling. Elvy is the Master of Storms."

So, they called it traveling, and not everyone could do it apparently.

"So he does what? He makes it rain?"

Mor smiled at that, translating my comments to the other fairies before she answered me. They looked amused.

"Yes, he can make it rain. Sometimes, your enemies may not be expecting rain," she said.

I didn't know what kind of enemies she might have run across, but the people that usually went after me weren't going to worry about getting a little wet. I decided to go with the flow though. You could never tell what might come in handy.

I brought my attention back to Elvy, who was still holding my hand, and appeared to be waiting for me to give him some kind of "go ahead".

"Okay," I said, nodding at the big fairy.

His expression became very focused on my hand, and I got the first taste of his magic. It started as only a little shiver trailing over my skin, as if an icy wind had just blown through. Within seconds there was a crackly feeling in the air, and all the hairs on my arms stood up, like I'd picked up a shock of static electricity. And then all hell broke loose and the sky was falling.

The rain poured down, in buckets, the wind sending it every which way, and a loud peal of thunder boomed in my ears right before I heard the crack of lightning taking out a tree nearby. I yelped in surprise, and then tried to move, to go and snatch up Claudine, but Elvy held me fast by the hand.

I was still pulling on his hand to free myself, panicked at the thought of Claudine being struck by lightning when my brain registered that in the midst of this horrendous downpour, I was completely dry, and Elvy's long hair was completely unruffled by the winds.

"Holy Shit!" I said, as I looked around to see our little party, including the hellhounds, completely untouched by this magical storm.

Elvy let go my hand, and as suddenly as it had started, the storm died, the forest going completely quiet except for the sound of raindrops falling from the leaves. Elvy's face held a very smug grin, and he watched my reaction for a moment before he spoke. Of course I couldn't understand him, so Mor translated.

"He asks if you would like to try," she said.

"You think I can do that?"

"Your blood is of the sky people," she said, as if that were enough answer.

I nodded once to Elvy and he took up my hand again. I paid close attention this time as the magic moved once again. I had done this transfer of skills before, and I knew now that it was a matter of getting the "feel" of it, so I concentrated on how the fairy manipulated what was already around us, gathering the moisture from the air and electricity from the ground under our feet. I don't think I could have explained it if you offered me a million dollars, but I could feel it. Maybe it was a matter of blood, but I began to know that the wind would come when I called it.

Elvy kept my hand in his as the rain again began to fall, and the wind started to blow. When he let go, I took the reins unsteadily, almost losing it when some of the rain hit me, giving one side of me a good soaking. I jumped at the cold sting of it, but Elvy grabbed my hand again, and as he pushed the storm away from us, I understood how to contain it.

I tried it by myself, and although I could only make the equivalent of a spring shower, I thought I had the basic hang of it.

"Wow! That's pretty cool," I said, looking around at the sodden ground only a few feet away from our little clearing. "You could sure clear out a crowd with a storm like that!"

You could probably strike somebody dead with lightning too, so this wasn't something to play around with. I had no idea what getting struck by lightning might do to a vampire, but I had a feeling it would be as deadly as fire to them, so I wasn't going to be practicing this around the house.

That thought made me think of Travis and Mark, who would no doubt be standing at the edge of the woods waiting for me, and of Amelia who might be out in the yard. I had no idea how much territory this storm had covered.

"Maybe I should go check on my guards," I said to Mor, going over to gather up Claudine from Eolande's lap. "With all of this lightning and all."

"Your people will be unharmed," she said confidently.

"Okay, but they are going to be worried about me out here in the rain, so I guess I'd better get going,"

The guards were probably fine, but I had other fish to fry this afternoon, and wanted to get back before Eric got up for the night. He was already not that happy about me being away from home without him.

I thanked Elvy politely for his instruction, congratulated Mor once again on her happy news and then we parted ways, the fairies popping out through their portal.

When I turned to gather up my own bag, I saw Jerahmeel, leaning up against a tree, looking as dry as toast, even after all that rain, unlike my own damp self.

"I thought I might find you here," I said, pulling open the bag and letting poor Fee out.

The little angel flitted over to Jerahmeel's shoulder, and began talking a blue streak as soon as the Prince turned his way. Claudine ran over to the Prince too, grabbing on to his pants leg and pelting him with her toy to get his attention.

He laughed at the two small people, reaching down to pick up Claudine, and smiled approvingly when he saw that she was wearing her emerald.

"Claudine, knock that off. She's excited about her new toy," I apologized.

"Yes, I see that. And a fine toy it is," he said, giving the mole an amused glance.

"I brought you something," I told him, unpacking the items from the bag. "Come and sit down, it's still dry over here, although I'm a bit of a mess."

"You look lovely as always, M'Lady," he said, effectively ignoring Fee's banter, and laughing as he turned his face to avoid Claudine's assault with her stuffed animal.

He sat down on the ground beside me, and Claudine scrambled over to get to one of the Hershey bars that I was unwrapping.

"I think you'll like these. They're not the real fancy chocolate or anything, but give me a plain old Hershey bar any day over all that expensive stuff."

I broke off a few squares and handed one to the Prince and one to Claudine. Fee, who had been introduced to candy bars already at the house, reached out for the small piece I'd broken off for him and stuffed it into his mouth.

"What do you think?" I asked the demon after we had each eaten our square.

He laughed and put his hand out for another piece in answer.

"There's some for you to take home, and I brought you the gloves I promised, too, from Niall's lab."

"You are very gracious, M'Lady," he said in his usual formal tone.

"You can call me Sookie, you know."

He gave a slight nod, but I had a feeling he wouldn't take me up on that offer. Protocol, no doubt.

"I'm glad you're here. I wanted to talk to you about this whole thing with Niall and the other little angels. Don't you think it's a little odd that Niall didn't show up? And Fee seems to be fitting in fine at the house, but we can't really talk to him, you know? So, if he needs anything that we aren't providing, maybe he can tell you and you can let me know."

"I have brought a few things that he might find useful," the Prince said. "If I might impose on your hospitality, my sons are waiting with them in the woods."

"Oh! Of course," I said, trying to keep the surprise I felt out of my voice.

I couldn't keep the shock off my face though, when after a quiet call over his shoulder, I saw his two children step from the trees in the woods.


	102. Chapter 102

CHAPTER 102

"Her Majesty, Queen of the Vampires of Louisiana, Arkansas and Nevada, Royal Princess of the House of Brigant of the Seelie Fae, and her daughter, Princess Claudine," Jerahmeel said by way of introduction. "My sons, Nathaniel and Raphael".

"Catching flies!" I reminded myself and shut my gaping mouth.

"Nice to meet you," I said, remembering my manners and getting up from my place on the ground.

Well. I had called this one right, I thought, as I looked at the "nightmare twins" (as I had silently dubbed them on the night of the hunt in Hot Shot).

The two demons (I couldn't quite think of them as angels) were a bit more formally dressed for our official introduction than they had been the night I had first seen them. They were wearing outfits straight out of the forests of Nottingham. Their tunics, one in brown and one in blue, were intricately embroidered about the collar and cuff, and each wore a short sword hung from his belt, the handles adorned with precious stones.

They sported matching sets of beautiful green eyes, much like their father's, although the effect was quite different when set against their leathery skin. Unlike some of the demons I had met, their teeth were white and straight and lacking sharp points. Clothed, and with their bat wings tucked up behind them, they didn't look half as alien as I remembered them. But if I had come upon them in any other circumstances, I would probably have still run screaming in the opposite direction.

Both of the demons bowed to me and Claudine, then in a disarming movement, looked at their father as if seeking his approval that they'd done it properly. I had seen that same scenario countless times with young children, and it was somehow endearing.

Jerahmeel patted each of them fondly on the shoulder, then said something to the one called Raphael. He handed over a plain leather satchel that was slung over his shoulder.

Fee, distracted from his chocolate, watched the introductions intently, then flew up and began to buzz around them. It looked like he was smelling them and I guess he liked their scent because he soon began to chatter away at them. The twins smiled and laughed at Fee's words and the sound of their laughter had the same musical quality of Claudine's.

Claudine didn't seem to be frightened of them at all. They were just another audience for her to show off her now slightly sticky mole. They gaped at it, wide-eyed, and didn't seem to mind when Claudine decided to pelt them with the toy, soon making a game of avoiding her assaults.

We managed to get all settled comfortably, and I passed out some of the chocolate to the two new arrivals. They seemed to enjoy it as much as the Prince, and sat a little ways behind him, nibbling away at their bars. I was dying to ask about them; how old they were, who their mother was, were they the only children he had?

"We too have our archives," Jerahmeel said, interrupting my thoughts, as he pulled a tiny sword about the size of a letter opener from the leather bag. "This weapon belonged to one of the small ones of my family. I have had our armorer make a new sheath and harness. I will be glad to see Fee use it until Niall returns what belongs to him by right."

He then pulled out a small bow with a quiver of miniature arrows, what looked like a miniature flute, a small comb and brush, and a vial of white powder.

"Pollen from the angelica flower. You must dole this out sparingly, as it is intoxicating to him, but he will enjoy it. And a few articles of clothing, from my tailor," he said, pulling out two beautiful embroidered robes. "So that he might not be shamed when he is presented to the vampire council."

"You know about the council?" I asked, not really surprised that he had learned about the ruling body of the vampire world. He would probably have been boning up on things with Mr. Cataliades.

"Yes. I have made it my business to learn about what concerns you and the child."

Fee came over to examine the articles that the Prince had laid out. He wasted no time ridding himself of the makeshift sword (aka my nail file) that he had slung through his belt, and donned the new sheath, swinging the sword a few times before he slid it away in its sheath.

He picked up each of the other items and examined them, looking very pleased, but the vial of pollen got the biggest reaction. This led to a quick debate between the Prince and Fee, leaving Fee looking disappointed when the pollen bottle was returned to the satchel.

While they were having their discussion, I examined the robes a little closer. The designs sewn onto the cloth were unusual, runes of some sort, similar to those on the wooden box that had held the emerald, but then all runes sort of looked the same to me. What was amazing were the threads. Each was as fine as spider's silk, and I wondered how anyone could make a needle small enough to accomplish such work.

Obviously a master seamstress had made the robes, judging by the quality of the stitching and the speed at which they had been produced. Not that I was much of a judge. I could barely sew a button on. Maybe the demons could just whip stuff like that out with a magic spell? In any case, they sure beat the hell out of the Ken clothes that Amelia had picked up at the Wal-Mart.

"Do you think it's a good idea to take Fee with us to Las Vegas? I don't know how the vampires will react to him. I was sort of thinking about leaving him at the house, and not bringing him to any of the functions."

"What does your mate say?"

"Oh Eric thinks he will make a good spy and that no one will pay him much attention once they get used to the idea of him."

"Eric is a wise man. Fee will be considered too small to be a threat, and he will see and hear what others wish to keep to themselves. Much like a child, or your cat, who even I discounted."

"Hmm. So you heard about Bob, I guess?"

He nodded.

"We weren't able to find him, or at least no one's telling me if they did. But then, if Bubba got him, I guess I wouldn't want to know anyway."

"It would be better if he did not survive," he said, sounding just like Eric. "You are fond of this vampire, Bubba, that survives on animals?"

I couldn't tell by his tone of voice whether he approved or disapproved, but I had a feeling that the idea of living off cats and dogs wouldn't bother him in the least, and he mentioned it only as someone else might mention a particular dietary habit, like I might say that someone was a vegetarian.

"Yeah, I am. He's a good guy really, although he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer."

Jerahmeel had met Bubba once, the night Bubba had found Uncle Dermott unconscious and had brought him to us in Shreveport.

"I guess you might not really know much about who he started out as, but Bubba's like a national treasure. That's why the other vamps look out for him. But he likes staying in our territory, and I think Eric cares for him. He's always kind and patient with Bubba."

"Your vampire is unusually tolerant of the young and the innocent," he said, his eyes drifting over to his sons.

The two seemed to be enjoying Claudine, and the toy, as if they were just a couple of kids themselves.

"I can't imagine any of my family ever hurting a child," I said, although I knew that really couldn't be said about my fairy relations.

Niall had already showed his willingness to kill a child, after the recent fairy war.

"I wonder what kept Niall from showing up today?" I asked the Prince.

"I doubt he had anything so pressing that he couldn't have put it off for a few hours," Jerahmeel answered.

"Yeah. That's what I'm thinking too. Maybe he just wants to see what I will do if he makes himself unavailable while he is holding the little angels hostage. Not that there's much I can do in any case. You think he'll just let them die, rather than just give them over to you or to Claudine? He obviously can't free them himself, and more of them might fade out while he is waiting for Claudine to grow up."

What had Niall said? When Claudine assumed her rightful place in their world. Hell might just freeze over before that happened, and then where would the little ones be.

"He has the upper hand in this. He will use them as a bargaining tool if there is something he wants."

"But they belonged to the angels, didn't they? Although it was the angels that imprisoned them in the first place, and not Niall. Isn't there anything you can do? I think one of the ones trapped is Fee's mate."

"What would you have me do? The small ones are not my subjects. If I tried to take them, it would be considered an act of aggression. Niall himself is no match for me, but his people are formidable. I could not conquer his world alone. There would be war and many would die, on both sides."

I winced at the thought that Jerahmeel might kill Niall. Niall was my great grandfather and even though I didn't trust him completely, I still loved him. And I still bore the scars, physical and emotional, of the last struggle for power in the fairy world. Starting a war between the fairies and the demons was not the way to deal with this issue.

"I don't want to see my great grandfather dead, or anyone else for that matter," I said, giving up on the idea that Jerahmeel could just go in and demand that Niall release the small angels.

I expected that Jerahmeel wasn't so easy to kill, but I'd hate to think of him dying in a fairy war either. We would just have to come up with some kind of plan. Maybe Eric could think of something.

"Can I ask you something?"

My curiosity was getting the better of me and if the Prince had designs on Claudine for down the road, then it might be a good idea to know more about Jerry's personal life. He was pretty much an immortal being. He could have had hundreds of kids in his long life. He might have had quite a few wives too, although maybe angels mated for life? I had no idea. You could fill books with what I didn't know about angels, even though my daughter was one.

The Prince could see that I was considering his sons, and a soft sigh escaped him, as if he anticipated what I would ask, and that it might be a painful topic. But he nodded, and sat waiting for my question.

"What about their mother? They seem very young, although they are pretty big, and well…"

He looked intently at me, considering my question, or maybe considering what the impact of his answer would be.

"Niall is not the first to consider the value of human and angel descendents, or to wish for the return of the angels. You understand what it is like to be unique; to have no other that is what you are. And you have lived what…little more than a quarter century? For hundreds of years, I mourned the loss of my kind. I took countless women to my bed, hoping for a child, trying to bring back my own people. But the gift of fertility, which I was able to confer, was not given to me."

He looked at the twins, and at Claudine, and his usually schooled expression held such a mixture of emotions that I couldn't pick one out over another.

"So I took to combing your world, looking for those that might be our descendents. It had been so long since an angel had walked this place, and humans live such a short life. I knew our blood would no longer be strong in them, but even a trace seemed better than none. I thought that trace might make the difference."

"And one of the ones you found was Thalia!"

"Yes, although I didn't approach her immediately, and by then, it was too late."

"Were there many of us? Niall was only able to find a few."

"No. There were not many. And of those, not all had children. Most of them lived isolated lives, cursed, as they saw it, with our gift of telepathy. Some I only heard of. They had been driven away to die on their own in the wilderness, accused of witchcraft, or of being demons," he said, his expression assuming a wry smile.

"You are fortunate that you were not born in another time. Humans have not always been so tolerant of differences."

Not everyone was tolerant nowadays either, but at least I had never had to worry about being burned at the stake. I had just been "crazy Sookie", and those that felt threatened by my "gift" just avoided me. Most people wouldn't even let themselves believe that I could read their minds, or at least they wouldn't admit it to themselves.

"I found her in the countryside, outside of Lisbon. It was chance. I was flying over, and I stopped for a drink of water."

He smiled at the memory, a smile filled with regret. I couldn't help but think of my Gran, and her lover Fintan coming to her back yard while she was hanging out the clothes.

"She was young, barely fifteen, and unable to shield her mind from others. Her parents kept her mostly hidden, and like so many of the peasants then, her clothes were not much more than rags and she was half starved. She still wore the blush of youth and innocence, but I could see that if she lived, she would mature into a beautiful woman. That could only be to her disadvantage in her circumstances."

I thought about what he meant by that. A "crazy" woman, with a beautiful face and body but no resources, amidst an ignorant, superstitious populace. She would not be marriageable material, but it wouldn't mean that men wouldn't pursue her.

"I watched her, on and off, for months before I approached her. She was so frightened. She had never conversed without words, and it was alien to her. And I was a stranger, and strangers were to be feared above all else in a small village like hers. I brought her food, and she was afraid to eat it at first, although she must have always been hungry. When I let her see my wings, she was convinced that her god had sent me to destroy her because she had been born cursed."

Again, he paused, his wings fluttering a bit as he adjusted his position.

"When I realized that she bore my child, I knew that it would go badly for her and that I had to take her from there. What tears she cried outside the hovel that she called home! I tried to comfort her, promising her that I would bring her back, to visit her mother, after the child was born. It is to my shame that I was unable to keep that promise."

"So you took her to your world?" I asked.

"Yes. I could have built her a palace here, given her servants, fine clothes, good food, but an unmarried woman with child had no place here then. And I could not show myself as her spouse. So I took her home."

"Humans can survive in your world? Had you ever brought them there before?"

"Yes, our world will not harm a human, and some few have been brought to live among us. But your world's tales of the fairies are not all wrong. Humans are little more than playthings to the fae, having no magic of their own, and we can be cruel. And time moves differently there."

I wasn't sure exactly what he meant by that, but he didn't give me a chance to ask before he continued with his story.

"But time is not what killed her. She was so young and her frail body was not meant to birth children such as these. Their wings…."

His eyes mirrored some horror that remained in his memory, and I tightened my shields even further, not wanting to know what could bring that look onto his face.

"Nathaniel was born first, and she screamed in abhorrence when she saw him. And Raphael…he was so determined to be born."

He paused again, his eyes closing for a moment before he continued.

"Our healers did all in their power and thankfully, she was beyond knowing by the time Raphael was delivered, but they were not able to…repair her. As I listened to the first cries of my newborn sons, I wept with guilt over the body of their dead mother."

He turned his face away, his wings seeming to droop around his slumping shoulders, as he looked at his two sons that had entered this world in such a heartbreaking manner.

"I'm so sorry," I said, wiping away a few tears from my own face with the back of my hand.

"It was a long time ago," he said in resignation, pulling himself up straight. "My sons were born in your year 1549, and by the time they were a year old, I knew that they would always be children."

We sat quietly for a moment, watching the kids play with Fee, who appeared to be telling them some kind of story. I thought about how hard it must have been for women long ago. No birth control, no modern medicine. So many of them lost their lives bringing the next generation into the world. I remembered Jan and his beloved.

"Did you love her?"

"I wanted to," he said regretfully. "I cared for her. But she was only human, and barely more than a child. I stole the meager life that she could have had."


	103. Chapter 103

CHAPTER 103

"Do you want to climb up, daughter?"

Eric had a big smile on his face, the unconditional smile that he reserved for Claudine.

"Don't put her in there, Eric! Good Lord!"

It was bad enough that we had to have coffins all over the house. It was quite another to have the baby hanging out in one.

Claudine had been trying to figure out how to get into the coffin ever since it had been delivered that afternoon. It would be loaded up soon and Eric would be settling into it on the plane to Las Vegas at first light. At least the luggage for all the family had been loaded into the vans, so I no longer had to worry about Claudine toppling off suitcases or pulling off luggage tags.

"She's just curious, Sookie," Eric said as he pulled up the lid. "Let her explore. It's part of our life, after all."

The inside of Eric's new coffin was lined in black satin, and came complete with a small matching pillow. The interior lid was fitted out with custom made slots that held an assortment of weapons, including one of his preferred broadswords. It was clean and no doubt comfortable, and would have been a showcase item in any funeral parlor. Sitting in my living room, it just looked creepy.

Claudine looked like the cat that ate the canary when her father scooped her up and plopped her inside the box. I looked away and shuddered, eliciting a sigh from Eric.

"Why do the coffins bother you, Lover? You know I'm dead. Would having me packed up in a crate and shipped FedEx be more in line with your sensibilities?"

"Sheesh! Don't get your panties in a bunch, Eric."

Not that I thought Eric was even wearing any. He usually dressed pretty casually for traveling, and today he was in a Fangtasia tee and faded jeans. If he were following his usual habits, then he was probably going commando. The thought of that almost distracted me from what I had been saying, and as if Eric was reading my mind, he moved in behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"I know you need secure transport," I continued, refusing to be distracted. "but when there's a coffin in the room, it's usually a pretty sad occasion. And the thought of Claudine in one just doesn't sit well with me."

"She looks like she's having fun," Pam said as she strolled into the room.

Pam was dressed in her favorite tracksuit, pants and a long sleeved top made out of some stretchy material in a soft peach color. She always said it was the best thing to "coffin travel" in, since you never knew what you would wake up to, a battle or a quick trip out the window of a burning hotel. She could sleep all day and wake up unwrinkled and looking fresh. The outfit would have made me just look frumpy, but Pam, as usual, looked like a million bucks in it.

"Although I don't understand why you can't find something more attractive for her to play with. That stuffed creature is just disturbing!"

Claudine was managing to make a game out of the whole thing. She had her little stuffed mole situated comfortably on Eric's pillow, and was humming a little tune to it, maybe her idea of a lullaby.

"This would be a good coffin for you too, Sookie," Pam continued. "When I ordered new ones after the Rhodes bombing, I had the mattresses custom made. It's very comfortable, and you and Eric could have a matched set. It won't fall apart if you hurl it through a window either. The wood is just for show. It's totally reinforced with a metal lining."

She ran her hands over the outer shell of dark-grained, highly polished wood. She looked liked one of those demo girls at a car show, total eye candy. She would really wow them at a mortuary convention, if they had such things.

"You'd look good in this model, although we'd want to do yours in blue I think."

Not that the color choice made one bit of difference to a vampire, since they slept all day no matter what they were lying on.

"It's not that I don't appreciate your fashion sense, Pam, but I'm gonna pass on that pleasure."

I had no intention of ever being turned, and both Pam and Eric knew that very well. But Pam seemed to think that the idea would grow on me eventually, after I was done "popping out angel babies", as she so delicately put it.

"When you change your mind, I'll show you the catalogues. They're always coming out with new models."

"Thanks, Pam," I said, rolling my eyes.

"By the way," Pam continued, "your bug has been acting a little odd, not that I'm really sure what's normal for him."

"Oh Lordy! Now what! Where is he, Pam? And he's not a bug, by the way!"

"He was on the kitchen table, the last that I saw him. And I think your brownie was looking for the fly swatter."

Wriggling out of Eric's arms, and reluctantly leaving Claudine to play in the coffin under his watchful eye, I headed to the kitchen to find Fee, sprawled out on one of the place mats on the table. He was clutching his thimble in one hand and his sword in the other, surrounded by his few possessions, all packed and ready to go in little Tupperware containers. The open bottle of pollen stood next to him on the table, and he appeared to be unconscious.

"I guess he's drunk," I said to Pam.

"Well, just throw him in your purse when we're ready to go, and he can sleep it off on the plane," she said. "You should get your witch to order one of those little carriers. You know the ones. Humans are always dragging their nasty little dogs around in them, yipping and carrying on. I bet Gucci makes one that's presentable."

"Fee's not a pet, you know, Pam. He's a person in his own right," I said, carefully poking Fee to see if I could wake him. "I wonder if he's alright. Do you think he can overdose on this stuff?"

"He's not going to kill himself on bee juice, Sookie. Why don't you give some of it to that hound of yours, and see what it does," she said, aiming a sneer at Dante, who was busy chewing on a knucklebone on his bed in the corner.

"I think I'd like that creature better if he was unconscious. And don't we have someone on staff to give him a bath? The whole house smells like dog. It's bad enough we have to have weres all around the place."

I gave Fee another little poke, this time in the tummy, and he rolled to his side, curling up in a little ball.

"You are such a specist, Pam. You should really try to be more tolerant of diversity."

"You must have bought yourself a new 'Word of the Day' calendar," she said. "And I think I'm very tolerant of the lower orders. I find some of the vermin quite appealing, especially when I'm hungry."

Or when she wanted something done for her or wanted to get laid, I thought, but kept that to myself.

"Now this little bug might be interesting, if I was ten inches tall. He does have a nice ass."

I had to agree with that. Fee would be quite a tempting morsel if he were full sized, especially in the very snug slacks that were part of his Ken clothes collection.

"Are you talking about my ass again, Pamela?" Eric said as he strolled into the kitchen, Claudine in his arms.

"Language," I reminded them, nodding at the baby as I rooted around in one of the drawers to find a dishtowel to cover up Fee.

"There is no question that your 'bottom' is worthy of discussion, Eric, but for once the conversation is not about you," Pam teased.

"Let's move this conversation away from anatomy," I suggested. "Maybe you're right, Pam, and I should get some kind of carrier for Fee. We can't just have him flying around loose once we leave our property, not that he is in any shape for flying right now anyways. Maybe I'll go out and find one in Las Vegas."

"It would be safer if you stayed indoors during the day, Lover. Send someone out for whatever you need."

"I'm not going to be locked up in the house, Eric. I'll be careful. I'll leave Claudine with Cat, and the guards will be with me. I can take Batanya too. There's not much that can get past her, and she might enjoy some shopping. We could have a girl's day out."

Clovache would be staying at home with Jan and Jordun, keeping the state running. It had been decided that there was no point in advertising her fertility in front of a bunch of vampires from other areas. Batanya, Daniel, Thalia and Thomas would be going with us.

"The conference has not been heavily promoted like the one at Rhodes, but it's impossible to keep a gathering like this secret, Sookie. And where there is a gathering of vampires, there will be fanatics. Everyone in our household is a potential target. I would prefer that you wait until Thalia or I can accompany you if you must go out."

I didn't argue with Eric, since he was very probably right. But at the same time, there was at least one thing I needed to do during the daytime.

"I'll be careful, Eric, and I won't be out long. I can always 'pop' away if something comes up."

Eric looked mollified at that, although not altogether happy, and we were both distracted from the discussion when Grace came in carrying a small covered picnic basket. She gave one look at Fee, tsked a few times, then began to pack up his few possessions along with a jar of honey. After making a small nest out of washcloths, she tucked the sleeping Fee into the basket and closed the lid. His little bottle of pollen went into the cupboard over the sink.

"The truck is here for the coffins," Daniel said from the doorway. "I think we are all ready to go."

We descended on the house in Sin City like a swarm of bees. Grace headed straight for the kitchen to take stock, and Dante dogged her steps. I wasn't sure if he did it just to annoy her, or if he just wanted to make sure she was going to put out his food dish. The dog was like a bottomless pit when it came to eating.

Amelia had made sure that there was a good stock of toys for Claudine at the house, so she went happily to her room to play, supervised by Cat.

I opened Fee's basket, but he was still sleeping it off, so I left him on the kitchen table. When he was finally able to take to the air again, I figured he would find and settle in to the Barbie Dream House that was set up in the living room for his use. I wasn't sure what he would think of the hot pink plastic residence, but it would have to do for now.

My cousin Hadley's ex, Remy, was a skilled carpenter, and had agreed to build something a little nicer for Fee, along with some decent furniture to fit his small stature. But that process would take a while, and in the interim, it would have to be a dollhouse for the little angel.

Leaving Jim in charge of getting the coffins all distributed to the proper rooms, it seemed like a good time to head out to the bank, and get my business taken care of. Grabbing my purse, I headed out to the car with Batanya, Travis and Mark as my guards. Our driver, John, was a human for a change, but he had worked for Eric for a long time, and when I listened in to his thoughts, he seemed like a pretty average family man, with no agenda except earning a good living and getting home to his family in time for dinner.

The streets of Las Vegas were teeming with people, tourists with their cameras, shoppers with their bags, and hawkers at every street corner pushing escort services or cheap off-strip eateries. The parking was pretty limited, so John dropped us off in front of the bank, saying he would circle around the block until we came back out.

Making sure that no weapons were showing that would panic the people inside the bank, my guards flanked me as we walked through the crowd on the sidewalk, inside the big double doors and straight to the manager's desk.

I was greeted as a person of importance this time, and ushered straight into the vault by the manager himself. The Northman name was becoming pretty well known in Las Vegas, with all of Eric's financial interests, and my new white linen traveling suit and the red Gucci purse and sandals that Pam had picked out for me didn't hurt either. I didn't look quite the country bumpkin this time.

Since I had done this before, I knew just what to expect, and it wasn't long before I had opened my safe deposit box.

The silver key was lying in the box, wrapped in tissues the way I had left it. I could feel its magic pulsing in my hand this time when I picked it up. I wasn't exactly sure if I would use it, but I had a feeling that it would be a good idea to keep it closer to hand from now on. I wasn't in Vegas very often, and there were perfectly good banks in Shreveport.

I tucked the key into a small zippered pocket of my purse, closed up the box, and walked back out to the lobby where my guards were nervously waiting. They hadn't liked letting me out of their sight, and Batanya had threatened to go invisible to accompany me, but I had convinced them that nothing much would happen inside the secure vault of the bank.

"Ready, Ma'am?" Travis asked, and then placed a quick call to John to tell him that we were ready for the car.

We would drive straight home. As much fun as it would be to do a little shopping while we were here, I was going to be smart and listen to Eric. With all the vampires in town, in wasn't a good idea to be out too much. It wasn't like I really needed anything, and since Vegas was part of our kingdom; it wasn't like I'd never get the chance to shop there again.

The limo was at the curb as we exited the bank, and Mark took up a position in front of me, using his bulk to make a path through the people on the sidewalk. The crowd just seemed to part like the Red Sea when the burly were made his way forward.

I didn't even notice the other car that pulled up right behind ours, until the window opened and the warm afternoon sun glinted off the barrel of a rifle as it aimed in my direction.

Mark saw it too, and before I could react, he was wrapping himself around me. My scream of warning was cut short as I hit the ground, Mark's weight knocking the wind out of me as he landed on top of me. I wasn't sure if the "pop" I heard was the gun going off, or my head hitting the pavement.

The people on the street erupted in chaos, flinging themselves away, but all I could see was their running feet. I heard the screech of the tires as the attacker's car peeled away from the curb, and the screams of frightened people. I figured Mark wasn't able to hear me over all the noise when I told him to get off me, that I was being crushed and could barely breathe.

When I felt the warm trickle of blood against the side of my neck, I wasn't sure whose it was at first, but when I observed Mark's coffee colored skin turn a sickly gray color, I knew why he wasn't moving.

"Can you get up?" Batanya said. "Are you hit?"

There was no chance to answer her, for as soon as Batanya had rolled Mark off me, and I had taken a deep breath, I was slung over Travis's shoulder and was being stuffed into the back of he limo. Batanya jumped in beside me, and Travis slammed the door shut, slamming his hand against the roof as he yelled, "Drive!"

John peeled away from the curb, almost hitting an old woman that was standing in the street, watching the scene with her mouth gaping open. He swerved just in time to avoid her and then made his way down the avenue, turning off at the first side street to get out of the traffic.

"What about Mark?" I said. "We can't just leave him there! He's hurt!"

Batanya didn't answer, since she was busy checking the bloody spots on my clothes and skin to make sure I hadn't been shot too. When she was assured that I was okay, she began talking hurriedly into her cell phone. John just kept driving, all his attention on the road.

"John, stop the car. We have to get Mark to a hospital."

"An ambulance is on its way," Batanya said. "Travis will stay with him. We need to get you away from here."

I turned to look through the back window, but of course I couldn't see anything. I didn't know whether Mark was even still alive, and the thought that he may have given his life for mine was almost too much to bear. Since there was nothing I could do for Mark, I put my hand to the back of my head, feeling the bump that was rapidly rising under my hair and was beginning to hurt.

I was surprised when my hand came away wet, and my first thought was that the blood would get on my clothes and there would be another outfit ruined. And it was the new pants suit that I had bought just for this trip! It seemed like I couldn't keep anything nice anymore. Everything ended up covered in blood.

I was about to say as much to Batanya, when my head really began to hurt. I wished I had my vampire with me. He would have a clean, white handkerchief in his pocket, as he always did, and I could use it to wipe off my bloody hand.

But the late afternoon sun was still out and Eric would be sleeping. And the sun was just so bright in the desert of Nevada, that it was too painful to keep my eyes open. I should have been wearing my sunglasses, I thought, and where was my purse? I didn't want to lose the silver key. I had been so careful with it, keeping it in the damned safety deposit box for god's sake, and now where was it? I would have to ask Batanya if she had seen it. Maybe I'd have some aspirin in my purse too, because the pain in my head was becoming unbearable.

"Sookie?"

I heard someone calling my name, but my brain didn't seem to be connected to my mouth anymore and I wasn't able to answer. Anyway, it seemed much more important to let myself follow the path into the darkness, where my head wouldn't hurt anymore.


	104. Chapter 104

CHAPTER 104

"Damn! I need to get me some new sunglasses," I said, trying to pull back from the bright light shining in my left eye.

"Mrs. Northman? I'm Doctor Wallace. How are you feeling?"

The bright light was back in the other eye, and it took me a moment to realize it wasn't the bright Nevada sun, but a small flashlight. And the voice was a doctor. I must be at the hospital. Shit!

My first thought was how much was this going to cost me! But then it occurred to me that that wasn't a factor for me anymore. Not only did I now have medical insurance, but I had enough money to buy my own hospital now, or pretty close anyway. Eric was going to be really pissed though, that I'd landed in an emergency room.

"I'm fine, I think. Nice to meet you."

Although I wasn't sure that either of those statements was true, Gran had raised me right. Being sick was no reason to let your manners go by the wayside when dealing with a stranger.

I opened my eyes then, and all I could see was a white lab coat. I realized that I was lying on my side and tried to roll over onto my back.

"Ouch! My head hurts," I said, reaching to the back of my head to see what was going on.

A small hand, covered in a surgical glove, restrained me, pulling me back to my original position.

"You've had a bad fall. You had a scalp laceration that required a few stitches. You'll be more comfortable on your side for now, I think. Do you know where you are? Can you remember what happened?"

The woman bent down a bit, allowing me to see her face clearly. She looked younger than me, which made me feel old for some reason. What was it Gran had said once? "When the doctors and policemen start looking like kids, then you know you're getting old."

"I assume I'm at the local hospital," I answered. "What about my guards?"

"Right here," Batanya said from the other side of the bed.

"Ma'am," I heard from beside her, recognizing Travis's voice.

Oh God! What was happening with Mark? The whole incident in front of the bank replayed itself in my slightly fuzzy head.

I scooted up a bit in the bed, only then noticing that I was still in my bloody clothes. So. They hadn't gotten around to putting me into a hospital gown. That meant I was probably still in the emergency room, and not checked in.

"You lost consciousness for a little while," the doctor continued. "I think it might be a good idea to do a CT scan, just to make sure that that laceration is the only injury, but I'm afraid that your…guard…was quite insistent that we wait for Mr. Northman before we did anything besides the stitching."

The doctor picked up her clipboard then, shuffling the papers, but not really writing anything down. I had a feeling that whatever form Batanya's "insistence" had taken had made the young woman a little nervous.

"Well, I think I'll just wait until my husband gets here before we do anything else. I'm actually feeling fine now. Just a bump on the head."

There was no way I was going to have any X-rays while I was pregnant, not knowing how bad that would be for the baby. Batanya probably had considered that, but wouldn't have told the doctor about my pregnancy. She would know how important it was to keep secrets in the supernatural world, and wouldn't have given out any information unless it was a matter of life or death.

"Your reflexes and responses are all back to normal, but I think it's a good idea that you stay with us for a bit, just to make sure everything is okay. Your own physician can remove the stitches in seven to ten days, but you should be seen again if you have any dizziness or further loss of consciousness."

My own physician, Dr. Ludwig, would probably bat me upside the head, stitches or no stitches, for not listening to Eric and for going out on the street.

"Are you experiencing any nausea?"

Strangely, I had to think about that. Some days I felt vaguely nauseous all day. I didn't feel any worse than usual in that department though, so I moved my head from side to side in response, immediately regretting the movement.

"Well, we'll let you rest for a little bit longer then. If you feel up to it, there is a police officer here, waiting to ask you a few questions. I'll check back in about ten minutes."

Of course there would be police. The bodyguard that was standing by my bedside had come in with a shooting victim. There would be police for sure. Well, they could just wait. I had my own questions about what was happening.

"I can give you something for the pain," the young doctor offered, but I wasn't going to do painkillers either. There was no way that was good while I was pregnant.

"No, thank you, Doctor. I'll just wait for my husband," I said and waited for her to push her way through the flimsy white curtains around the bed before I signaled for Batanya and Travis to come closer.

"Mark, is he…?"

"He's in surgery. We haven't heard anything yet, but weres can take a lot of damage," Batanya said.

Travis just stood there, looking pale and drawn. His shirt and slacks were dried stiff with blood, and he brushed at it occasionally, almost unconsciously. I had rarely seen him look so worried.

"I'm sorry," I said.

He shook his head, as if to say it wasn't my fault, but he didn't say anything.

"You think they'll let me out of here?" I asked Batanya. "I'm feeling fine now."

That was a lie. I felt like shit – dirty, tired, hungry, and my head was still splitting, but I wanted to be home.

"Grace will have supper ready and I should check on Claudine," I added. "We've been gone a long time."

"Your demon will stay with the child, and I called for extra guards at the house. We should wait for Eric," she answered.

It was strange how she was calling Cat "my demon" now too, sounding just like Eric.

"Can you manage the police now?"

She said the word police as if she were talking about something nasty stuck to her shoe.

"Yeah. I guess I should get that over with," I answered, no doubt sounding just the same.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer Newman sized up Batanya and Travis, and made a quick motion with his head to indicate that they should leave us alone. I thought the two guards would protest, but they stepped out through the curtain without a word. I knew they'd be waiting just a few feet away though. Close enough to be a deadly threat if the policeman got out of line.

The officer didn't look very threatening. He was in plain clothes with a big gold badge prominently displayed on his cheap suit jacket. He looked like an older version of Andy Bellfleur. His solid bulk was on the fast track to becoming sloppy fat, already inching out over his belt line.

I found the little button to raise the head of the hospital bed and got myself situated, a pillow stuffed down just below my head so that my stitches didn't rub on anything. I felt a little queasy sitting up, but I figured the guy wouldn't be there long, as I couldn't tell him much anyway.

"Can you tell me what happened, Ma'am?" he asked politely enough, while staring a hole right through me.

There was something about cops. They had a way of looking at you like they expected you to lie to them automatically, like they knew you were guilty of something. I suppose that was probably true for most people. We all had something we wanted to hide, something that we wished we hadn't done. But today, all I'd done is gone to the bank. There was no law against that, legal or moral. I wasn't going to let him get to me.

I gave a brief rundown of how I'd come out of the bank and ended up on my ass in the street.

"And you didn't get a good look at the assailant?"

"No, Sir. I didn't get any look at all," I said. "I saw something shiny sticking out of a car window, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground."

"Did you notice the make or model of the car?"

"Dark, I think. Maybe a Ford? Sorry. I had my guard in front of me, and I just didn't see much of anything."

"That would be Mark Fowler, the man that was shot?"

"Yes, Sir. He was in front of me. We were walking to our car at the curb. Is he out of surgery? Do you know how he is doing?"

"No, Ma'am. I haven't heard anything yet," he said, barely pausing for breath before he hit me with more questions.

"Do you usually take guards with you to do your banking? Were you planning on carrying a large amount of cash? Who else would know that you were headed to your bank?"

I hadn't even thought about how someone would know where I was. But then, there were probably plenty of people who knew where Felipe de Castro's mansion was, and that we would be staying there. It would not be hard to follow us in town and not be noticed in all the traffic.

"Well, my housekeeper knew I was going, I guess, and my nanny. I wasn't carrying much cash, maybe fifty dollars? I'm not sure what happened to my purse though. Maybe I dropped it on the ground when I fell. My phone was in it, and my driver's license. Oh, and my credit cards."

"Could that be it, Ma'am? The red bag?"

He pointed to a small cabinet on the other side of the bed, and sure enough, there was my bag, sitting next to a pitcher of water and a small basin.

"Oh! Oh! Thank goodness!" I said, my voice surely carrying the relief I felt at seeing the bag.

I had been replaying in my mind what had happened when I had lost my camera. I no longer carried my camera with me, but the key had potential for as big of a disaster, probably.

"I guess Travis must have picked it up. Thank God he found it!"

I reached over to pick it up, and must have winced when I moved my head. The officer walked over to the cabinet, retrieved the purse and handed it to me. I clutched it tightly in my arms, relief still washing over me. The key wasn't lost after all.

He looked at me sort of funny, and I realized that a woman that could afford to be followed around by three guards probably wouldn't react quite so excitedly over finding her purse with fifty bucks in it. I felt like I had to explain myself. That cop thing again.

"My friend Pam just got me this purse. It's a Gucci. It's the first time I used it. She would have just died if I'd lost it already!"

That sounded pretty lame even to me, so I set the purse next to me on the bed, refusing to give in to my urge to open it and check on the key in the little zippered compartment. The key was not this cop's business.

"Just one more question, Ma'am," Officer Newman said. "Do you know of anyone who would have reason to want to see you dead?"

"I'm married to a vampire, Officer. For some people, that's reason enough."

He nodded his head, and for a moment I wasn't sure if he was agreeing that people thought that, or if he agreed with what they thought. When I tried to read him, I realized my head just hurt too much to concentrate on his mind. It didn't really matter. He was either a good cop or he wasn't. It wasn't like the police were going to find the shooter in any case.

"I'll let you get some rest then, Mrs. Northman. If you think of anything else that we might want to know, you give us a call."

He took a card out of pocket and handed it to me, gave me another funny look, and left the room. I didn't need to be telepathic to interpret that look. He was thinking, "What is a nice girl like you doing with one of those bloodsuckers?"

Batanya stepped in through the curtain as soon as the officer was gone, and found me rummaging through my purse. Everything was there, the key in its little compartment. I sighed with relief. If I'd had a pair of handcuffs, I would have attached the thing to my wrist, like the couriers do in the movies, so I couldn't lose it again.

She offered to help me get settled back on my side, but I didn't bother. The sun had gone down and I could feel that Eric was already up. He was close, and he was pissed, and he would be there any minute.

He came in a few minutes later, glaring at Batanya as she hightailed it out through the curtains. He was radiating anger and concern, and the busy noises of the emergency room had gone quiet with his entry. I hoped he hadn't given any of those sick people out in the waiting room a stroke with the look he had on his face.

He stood at the side of the bed and focused on the blood that had dried all over my clothes. I tried to head him off by letting him know that I wasn't badly hurt.

"It's just a bump on the head, sweetie. I'll be fine," I said sheepishly. "It's not my blood."

"Scoot over," he said, reminding me of another time he'd come to me while I lay in a hospital bed.

This time I was able to comply, so I scooted.

He didn't bother to take off his shoes, he just got right up on the narrow bed next to me, carefully taking me into his arms without saying another word. His nostrils flared at the smell of Mark's blood, and he made a small sound that may have been disgust before he buried his head into the side of my neck.

We stayed like that for a moment, while he let it sink in that I was really okay. The anger was still there, but the concern abated, replaced by relief.

"I'm going to look at your injuries," he said, giving me another deja-vu moment.

"It's just a few stitches. I don't think they even cut off much of my hair."

I certainly hoped they hadn't, since I doubted I was going to be heading out to the hairdressers in the near future to have it repaired. Not that they could do anything if there was a big chunk cut out of the back in any case.

He delicately moved the strands of my hair until he could see the doctor's handiwork. I had no idea how many stitches there were, but it must not have looked too bad, because I felt a further drop in his anxiety level almost immediately.

"Does it look very nasty?" I asked him.

He placed a quick kiss on the top of my head before he answered.

"No, but I will give you a little blood. You'll be fine by the time you get home…where you will be staying."

With that, he stretched out a bit, working his hand into his very tight jeans pocket, and pulled out a small knife. Without batting an eye, he made a quick cut in his wrist, and laid the bleeding appendage over my mouth.

I closed my eyes as I sucked in his rich blood, the pain in my head subsiding almost immediately. I sighed a bit as I felt him push himself closer to me, feeling safe in his arms, and even a little bit aroused, although I didn't feel quite up to doing anything about that yet, especially in such a public place. The thin curtains of our little cubicle would certainly not block out sound, even if they did afford us a minimal amount of privacy.

I left my mouth on his wrist until the cut closed, then licked the last bit of blood off his skin. He let out a small moan, and I knew he was thinking of our lack of privacy too, not that that usually bothered him as much as it did me.

"Better?" he said, kissing the top of my head again.

"Yes. My head doesn't hurt anymore, and I can feel it healing already."

We sat, holding each other close for a few more minutes, and then he said, "I must go. The council will be waiting for me."

He didn't seem happy about that, but I knew that these meetings were important and that he needed to be there.

"Thalia will escort you home, and you are to stay there. Under no circumstances are you to even leave the building."

"Shouldn't I be going with you?" I asked, since the original plan had been for me to accompany him to the conference.

"No. You should be home with our daughter, and not out putting our son at risk," he said, reaching his hand down to lay it on my belly.

Maybe it was just my hormones reacting, but I didn't know if I liked the way that he said that. It sounded a little bit too much like saying a woman's place is in the home, barefoot and pregnant. Not that I minded being a stay at home mom. In fact, I loved it and the fact that I was financially able to make that choice was a blessing.

But the way he said it made it feel like it was my fault that someone had shot at me. Okay, maybe it was, and I shouldn't have gone out after he told me it wasn't safe. But there was the whole question of how reasonable it was that I be locked up inside for the rest of my life. Would it ever be any safer for me to go out of the house than it was now? Was I going to be a virtual prisoner in my own home?

"You can't expect that I won't ever leave the house again, Eric."

"Must you continue to be so stubborn? You will be the death of me, Lover!" he said, sounding annoyed.

That just made me mad.

"Must you always be so imperious? And you're already dead anyway!" I snapped back.

His brow furrowed and he gave me a look that was a mixture of impatience and sheer exasperation.

"If you won't consider me, then at least consider our children, Sookie!" he said, and this time, his voice was low and dangerous. He was really pissed now.

"Listen, Eric…" I began.

"No, Sookie," he said, carefully moving away from me and getting to his feet. "You will listen to me!"

He kept his voice low, almost a hiss.

"Thalia will take you home, and you will stay there until I return. We will continue this discussion later."

And with that, he turned away. I heard the fabric tear a bit at the top as he yanked the curtain aside and stalked out.

"Shit!" I said aloud as I buried my head under the sheet to hide my tears from the people standing around watching the scene.

"Mistress, are you ready to go? There is a car waiting outside."

I saw Thalia standing at the side of the bed when I'd dried my eyes on a corner of the sheet, and pulled it down. I hadn't heard her come in.

"Yeah, I guess so," I answered, wishing I could wallow by myself in my misery for a little bit longer.

I couldn't believe that I had snapped like that at Eric when he had rushed to the hospital, full of love and worry, to heal me. I grabbed a tissue from a box at the side of the bed and blew my nose.

Thalia gave me a disapproving look, and then waved her hand at the young orderly that was standing behind her with a wheelchair, dismissing him.

"I don't need that," I said, but shut up when she shoved the chair in my direction and said, "Sit!"

I climbed out of bed, straightening my disheveled clothing and smoothing my bloodstained hair, then grabbed my purse and got into the chair, feeling like an idiot.

We headed into the main area of the emergency room, and found Batanya waiting patiently. Travis was gone, replaced by Thomas.

Thomas seemed oblivious to the wide eyes of all the waiting patients that were silently watching him, their aches and pains on hold while they took in the big red haired vampire. He saw Thalia and me and smiled, walking up to join us.

"The car is right outside, Mistress," he said, taking Thalia's place as he began to push me towards the door.

"Hold on, Thomas. Listen, Thalia," I said, putting my foot down on the old worn out linoleum floor to slow our progress. "Aren't we supposed to check out or something?"

"Taken care of," she said, tapping her small foot as she glared at my dragging sandal.

"Okay, but can we hold up for a second?" I said, pushing my foot down harder until Thomas stopped the chair.

"Listen, Thalia, I know we're supposed to go straight home, and we can do that in a minute, and I'll stay put, really I will. But while we're here already, I just want to check in on Mark. It will only take a minute."

"The wolf will live or he will die. There is nothing you can do for him," she said, matter of factly. "You are to go straight back to the house from the hospital."

"Come on, Thalia. I won't tell if you won't. Eric said to take me straight home from the hospital, right? Well, we won't be leaving the hospital if we just go check on him. It's the least I can do. He saved my life."

She looked at me for a moment and I gave her my best "I'll be good if you'll just do this one thing for me look". She relented.

"Batanya, find out where this wolf is being kept."

"He's in the recovery room," Batanya said when she returned a few minutes later. "Third floor."

"Five minutes," Thalia said and Thomas pushed me towards the elevator.

We got out on the third floor and found a nurse walking down the hallway, carrying a tray full of shiny metal instruments.

"Can you tell me where we might find Mark Fowler?" I asked her.

She looked at our unlikely group and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. Only immediate family is allowed in this area. You can get information about visiting rules at the front desk downstairs."

"You will tell us where he is," Thalia said, capturing the nurse's gaze, "and then go about your business."

I got a picture in my head of Obi-Wan saying, "These aren't the droids you're looking for," and for the first time that afternoon, I smiled.

"Second door on your right," the nurse said before she continued on down the hall. Sometimes it was handy to have a vampire around.

Thomas wheeled me to the right when we got to the door, and I held up my hand to signal him to stop, putting my finger to my lips. I didn't want to barge right in and wake Mark up or anything.

Mark was lying with his eyes closed in a bed clearly visible from the door. There were several IV poles, and he was hooked up to an assortment of drip tubes and monitors that beeped with a steady rhythm.

Travis sat hunched in a chair at his bedside, and I wondered what method he'd used to gain entry into this restricted area.

The big were was holding Mark's one unencumbered hand, and while we silently watched, he brought it to his lips, laying a gentle kiss on the palm. I could see that he'd been crying.

Feeling like a peeping Tom, I hurriedly signaled Thomas to turn me around, and we quietly made our way back down the hallway to the elevator.


	105. Chapter 105

CHAPTER 105

The kitchen smelled so good when I walked in that I almost drooled down the front of my bloodied shirt. It smelled like chicken pot pie. I loved Grace's chicken pot pie and I was starving.

The yard had been filled with guards, and the house was filled with the smells and sounds of home, even if we were in Las Vegas. I had barely gotten the door shut behind me before Claudine came running up to greet me, almost tumbling over her own feet, her arms reaching up as high as they would go as she called, "Mama!"

I bent down and scooped her up and hugged her as close as could be. She was fresh from the bath, her hair damp and smelling like baby shampoo.

"Hey angel. Mommy missed you!"

I heard a "tsk tsk" from Grace, and saw that she was getting up from her place next to Cat at the table and going over to the oven, hopefully to pull out my still warm dinner. She began to mumble something about bloodied clothes, and I remembered that I must look a fright.

"Hi Grace, hey Cat. Sorry I'm so late. Thanks for keeping Claudine, and giving her her bath. There was a little trouble on the way home from the bank."

"Hmmmpff!" was all Grace had to say about that.

"Here, let me take her and you can get cleaned up," Cat offered.

"Yeah, okay. I should do that before I eat. Something smells awfully yummy, Grace," I said as I handed Claudine over to Cat. "Mommy's gonna get cleaned up, sweetheart. You stay with Cat."

I didn't wait for a response, since I knew I wouldn't get one, but just hustled my filthy butt to the bedroom to take a shower.

"Hey, did Fee ever wake up?" I called back, but before I'd barely gotten the words out, the little angel was flying over to land on my shoulder.

He grabbed hold of my collar and leaned over to take a big sniff of the blood on my shirt and then noticed my hair. The first got a snort of disgust, the second a look of concern. He took wing again and hovered behind my head, his tiny hands parting my hair to look at my scalp. When he had determined that I was going to live, he zipped back to my shoulder and began to chastise me in what sounded like several different languages. I couldn't understand any of them, but I was getting the gist of what he was trying to say.

"Yeah, yeah. I heard it all from Eric already," I said. "And I'm going to be a good girl now, so you can lay off. Go find some honey or something."

I shooed him away, and closed the bathroom door while he was still running his mouth off at a mile a minute.

I knew he was just showing concern, but I didn't need to be chewed out again. I just wanted my shower, then maybe some food and a good nap, and then I wanted fabulous make-up sex with Eric when he came home and I had a chance to apologize for being such an ungrateful bitch. I could eat a little crow when it was called for.

I couldn't remember a hot shower ever feeling better. Well, that wasn't really true, but it felt darned good anyways. The water in the drain was pink-tinged and nasty as I rinsed out my hair, which I washed twice. I should have had a nurse take out the stitches before I'd left the hospital, since they were going to be a problem, but maybe Grace could do something about that? I didn't want to have to call Dr. Ludwig all the way from Louisiana for something that simple.

There was no point in throwing my new clothes into the laundry hamper, since they were pretty much ruined. You can never get blood out of linen, so I threw them straight into the trash and got out some comfortable jeans and a nice soft tee. Throwing some sandals on, I headed back to the kitchen.

My pot pie was steaming on a plate for me, a hot cup of coffee at its side, when I sat down to the table. Batanya was summing up the day pretty well for Cat and Grace. I dug in, getting in a few big bites before I put my two cents worth into the conversation.

"So, Eric is at the conference and I'm on house arrest, and I don't know when Mark will be home, but if he made it out of surgery, I guess it's just a matter of time before he's okay. Weres heal pretty fast. I'll call tomorrow and see when we can go get him. I figure we could put him in Jordun's room to take care of him while he's recovering, since Jordun stayed home."

Grace began tsking again, and stared at the towel wrapped around my wet hair.

"I think it's going to be hard to brush out my hair," I said, addressing her stare. "The cut is all healed up, but I have some stitches. I'm not sure how many."

"I think we have a first aid kit around here," Grace finally said, apparently willing to forgive me for causing everyone so much worry.

She went straight to the cupboard over the sink and pulled out a white plastic box with a big red cross on it. Of course she knew right where everything in the house was.

While Cat got Claudine settled into her chair for dessert, Grace pulled out some antiseptic, a tiny pair of scissors and a tweezer and plucked the stitches out of my head. It barely hurt at all, and I figured I must be almost as good as new.

I ran a comb through my hair and decided to just let it dry naturally. Eric liked my hair down, especially now that it had gotten so long. It had passed the length of his quite a while back and at the rate it was growing, would be down to my butt by the time the baby was born. I wasn't sure that I wanted it that long though.

Getting the dishes done and the rest of our clothes put in the drawers, all with Claudine's help and quite a bit of laughter, took a while, and then it was time to get Claudine settled down for the rest of the night. Knowing I needed some rest too, I decided to go ahead and get into bed. I would sleep for a few hours until Eric came home.

I woke up about an hour before dawn, and Eric wasn't home yet. My first thought was that he was still mad at me, but then I figured he probably just had lots going on with the council in town and all. But by the time I was fully awake, I realized that something was wrong. I could barely feel him through the bond, and what I did feel was not good at all. Anger, pain, frustration and maybe even fear.

I switched on the light next to the bed and looked at the clock. He should have been home, no matter what. Vampires didn't wait until the last minute to get to their resting places for the day, not unless they had to. The council should have adjourned a while back. And knowing Eric, he would have been back in time for our little "talk". He had stuff to say, and he was going to make sure I heard it.

Hoping that he was just on his way back, and maybe pissed at something going on with council business, I decided to text him. I pulled my phone off the charger and began to type.

When my phone started to vibrate a moment later, my first reaction was one of relief. He had returned my call right away. Then I read the message.

"You are to be presented before the council an hour after first dark tomorrow. Bring Claudine with you to the club."

Okay, this was so eff'd up! There was no way that Eric would send a message like that over the phone. And there was no way that he would present Claudine to the council. Something very bad was going on.

I reached out to our bond to see if Eric was close, and I could hardly feel him at all. It was like there was a big cloud of smoke between him and me, and he was visible only as a darker shadow in a field of gray. He was shielding me from something, and that something was very, very bad.

I jumped out of bed, donned my cast off jeans and shirt and went to find Thalia.

"We have to do something," I pleaded with her a few minutes later. "He's in trouble, I know it. We have to go and find him."

"You are not to leave the house, Mistress. I will send someone to investigate. In the meantime, you must stay inside."

"But we need to go now! What if he's injured?"

She was already on her phone, and before she had hung up, I could hear cars starting up outside.

"There is nothing that we can do tonight. It is almost first light. Someone will go to the club and see what is afoot. You must not go there, no matter what. If we cannot reach Eric or Daniel soon, I will arrange for you and the child to be taken back to Louisiana in the morning. You will be safer there."

Her phone buzzed and she stepped out to take the call, her eyes glowing now, ignoring my protests that I wasn't leaving anywhere without Eric.

Okay. Eric wasn't dead. I knew that from the bond. But maybe he had been captured or something. Or the council was holding him for some reason, or punishing him. Although why they would do that was anybody's guess.

The FOTS could have got him maybe, but what was that phone message about? No, something had gone badly wrong at the conference meeting, and Eric wasn't able to get home or even send me a message. No way was I going back to Shreveport, Thalia or no Thalia! I had to find out what was going on with Eric.

Figuring I might need somebody that would listen to me and go along with what I thought was best, I picked up my phone. A few moments later, I was speaking with Jan.

"I need you to get here as quickly as possible. Get in your coffin and have someone pick you up and take you to the airport. Don't come to the house or to Fangtasia. Just have them hold you at the airport and I'll pick you up personally. If I'm not there by first dark, then call Thalia and join up with her. Someone's holding Eric, and Thalia wants to send me away, but I'm not leaving. So don't tell her I called you if you hear from her."

"Mistress, it would be better to listen to Thalia. If you are in danger, then you will be safer here. I can arrange to have your plane met at the airport, and you can be taken to a safe house."

"Listen, Jan. I don't have time to argue with you. I just need you to get moving now. The sun will be up anytime. There's no time, and I can feel him! We have to help him!"

I was about ready to get hysterical any minute. I knew I couldn't just burst in and grab Eric if he was being held against his will. He'd be heavily guarded. The only way to deal with this was to go in with our own force. And Jan and Thalia were some of the oldest, most bad-assed vampires in the country.

"Eric would not be pleased if I was to come there and leave the state unguarded," Jan was arguing.

"Listen, I don't give a fig if someone takes over Louisiana. Jordun can deal with Louisiana until we get back. I care about Eric surviving. And he's not your mistress, I am!"

I threw my will behind that statement, and I heard Jan sigh. I didn't like to throw my weight around with him, but if it was true that he was pretty much "my child", then dammit, he could just get his ass here and help me out.

"As my mistress commands. I will leave immediately."

Looking at the time, I knew he would have to go hell bent for leather to get things arranged before the sun was up, but I trusted that between him and Jordun, they could make it work. Or at least I hoped so.

I'd have to do this carefully. Bill's rescue from the clutches of Lorena had been a one-off. No one at Russell Edgington's compound had known who I was, for one thing. My picture had since been in the tabloid news. Everyone in the vampire world would recognize me.

Even though the weres in Nevada were working for Eric, the command of the council members would trump anything else, so there was no telling what side the weres would take. They council were the last word where vampires were concerned, so I couldn't count on any vamps other than our own family, but the council damned well didn't have any authority over me, no matter if they thought I "belonged" to Eric or not.

I barely listened to Thalia as she outlined how she was going to get me and Claudine back to Louisiana, where Jan, Jordun and Mr. Cataliades could come up with some plan to get us to safety. Eric's private jet would be on the runway in two hours, and I was to be on it, taking Grace, Cat, Fee and Batanya. She had called Travis at the hospital, and he was on his way and would get us all to the airport.

Thalia herself had little regard for the council, or any other authority figure. She had originally signed on with Eric because no one else wanted such a rogue in their district, and Eric had treated her respectfully and fairly, asking only a few hours of service at Fangtasia each week.

But her loyalty had been won over, and she would do what she could to see if Eric could be rescued. If there was no saving Eric, then she would find me when it was all over. Thomas was sticking with Thalia. His child, Daniel, hadn't returned to the house yet either, and he would not leave Daniel behind.

Acting like I was going to cooperate, and even shedding a few genuine tears, I headed off to the bedroom to get our things together. Thalia and Thomas had decided to go to ground somewhere else. Thalia didn't expect our place to be stormed, since this was looking like a political take-over, not a bloody one, but better to be safe than sorry.

I told them to leave their phones on. I'd leave them a message when I was safely back home.

When my own phone rang, just a few minutes before dawn, I realized that with everything going on, somehow I had totally forgotten about Pam. As usual, Pam was one step ahead of everyone else.

"The bastards have Eric, but they want you too. Gone to ground and will wreak what havoc I can. It's been a good ride! Get out of Dodge and don't do anything stupid for a change."

By the time Thalia and Thomas were forced to get under cover, Travis had arrived and the womenfolk of the household were dutifully following orders and getting into the van for transport to the airport.

But as soon as the sun was fully up, I let Travis know that the plan had changed.

"I'm not leaving. That was Thalia's idea. Jan will be here in a few hours, and we will be getting Eric back from the council if we have to kill the whole lot of them."

"If they've decided that Eric's broken some vampire law, you know they can do whatever they want with him," Travis said. "You need to listen to Thalia and get on the plane. I'll come with you, and we'll find you someplace safe, although where the hell that will be if the council is gunning for your ass, I couldn't say, Ma'am."

Travis just looked weary. I knew that he had been up all night with Mark at the hospital, and it had taken its toll on him, both physically and emotionally.

"Just stop the car for a minute, Travis, and listen to me."

I was sitting in the front seat next to him, and I put my hand on his shoulder, squeezing a bit.

He sighed resignedly and pulled off at the next exit. The car following us, full of our were guards, pulled up behind.

"How is Mark doing?" I asked when he had turned off the engine and was looking in my direction.

"He'll pull through. The bullet did a lot of damage…knicked one of his lungs and just about shattered his shoulder. It's gonna be a while before he's up and running, but he'll recover."

"That's good," I said. "I figured as soon as they let him out of the hospital, he can stay at the house. Grace and I can look after him until he's in a little better shape. Grace's cooking can cure just about anything!"

He smiled at the thought, but shook his head, as if he didn't believe that was going to happen.

"I don't know what's going to happen with him. He's too injured to be moved, and if someone else takes over the state, well, there's no telling how it will go for the weres that signed on with Eric. We're independents, and generally that means we can move between territories with no problems from the vampires, but if the council takes the area on, well, they may just decide they want to change the rules."

"Don't you go talking like Eric is out of the picture. That's only going to happen over his dead body, and I'm not letting them kill my vampire. If I have to, I'll make some kind of bargain with the Dark Prince, and we'll see how much those fuckers in the council like being hunted down by his hellhounds and the Wild Hunt."

"Amen to that," Grace said from the backseat.

She was holding Fee's basket on her lap, and she looked pissed. And Grace, pissed off, was nothing to mess with.

"Language!" Cat scolded, putting her hands over Claudine's ears.

"Sorry," I said.

I glanced back at Dante, crammed into the way back with the luggage.

Yeah, let them get a look at the Hounds of Hell, and they'd cut Eric loose right quick. That was not going to be my first approach though. I didn't know what I actually had that I could bargain with the Prince, except Claudine of course. And her destiny was never going to be a bargaining chip.

"You know," Travis said, "I can almost believe that you could make that happen."

"I can and I will!" I said. "You and I both have someone left behind here, Travis. Whether you go with me or not to Louisiana, Mark is vulnerable. And there's Pam, and Daniel."

And now Jordun too, since he was already on his way to Las Vegas at my command.

"Pam will never give up, until they kill her. And Thomas may seem perfectly fine with Thalia, but he isn't complete without Daniel. They need each other, like you need Mark and I need Eric."

"I just don't see you going in there and talking them into letting Eric walk out though," Travis said. "Not if its you they really want. And you know Eric would die before he'd give you to them."

"I have no intention of trading myself for Eric. I'm not that stupid. But I think I can convince them that it's in their best interests to let us both go. I'm not sure on what grounds they're holding him, but I guess they might be talked into dropping any charges if they think they won't survive to carry out the sentencing."

"Okay, tell me the plan, and then I'll tell you if I think it can work."

"First thing, we get Claudine out of here. Grace and Cat can stay with her, and Batanya can be their guard. Fee better go too. Jan will look out for them once they get to Shreveport."

I looked around the car, and I could see that everyone thought that was probably a good idea.

"If Eric and I don't make it back, then they call in Jerahmeel. Claudine and Fee will be safe with him."

And maybe even better off in the long run, I thought, although I felt pretty traitorous to think so. Claudine had no real place in this world. She'd never really pass as human, and she'd always be a target. But she was just a baby, and for right now, she needed a mom and a dad more than she needed universal acceptance. Let's just hope I could make sure that she would still have one after tonight.

"Mr. Cataliades will know how to reach him. Or there's the emerald that Claudine wears. If you call to him through that, he'll come. I'll take Dante with me. Vampires don't like Hellhounds."

I heard Grace mumbling something, and I thought that she might be voicing total agreement with the vampires. I didn't believe it for a moment though. It might be a love/hate thing with her and Dante, but it wasn't totally hate.

"You know Eric is going to kill me if I don't make sure you are on that plane."

"Well, we'll just see about that! Mr. High and Mighty will have to just reign himself in after we rescue his ass…sorry…bottom," I said, giving a nod to Cat in the back seat.

Eric would be pissed off at Travis, that was true. But Eric wasn't so stupid that he would waste a resource like my two were guards that had proved their loyalty more than once. Mark had almost proved it with his life.

"Okay, so what do you say, Travis? I'm not getting on that plane in any case. You'll have to knock me out and drag me, and I know you're not the type of man to go beating on a pregnant woman."

I could see how conflicted he was. I was too. I was pregnant, and I could possibly be putting my unborn child at risk. But with Eric definitely at risk, I didn't see what else I could do. I wouldn't survive if something happened to Eric. I just knew that right down to my bones.

"Okay, let's get the kid to safety. I think you might be right, that we are all going to be up shit's creek without a paddle if Eric is killed. I don't like it, but I don't see what else we can do. There will be nowhere to run for you if the council wants you bad enough. And I don't like the idea of leaving Mark behind, or leaving you on your own either."

I did have a place to run. Either Jerahmeel or my great grandfather would take me in. But I wasn't going to leave my world behind because of a few greedy vampires. And I'd rather die fighting for Eric than live without him.

"So, are you in?" I said.

"Yeah, I'm in."

I noticed that he had dropped the Ma'am thing, and I kind of liked that. It was about time.


	106. Chapter 106

CHAPTER 106

I had to admit to myself that it felt good to take charge of my own life. Maybe I was a darned fool, and I should be have been more worried than I was, but I felt confident I could pull this off…whatever this was! Because, frankly, I didn't completely know what I was getting myself into.

One thing I did know though, was that I wasn't without resources. I had several powerful and ancient vampires on my side, as well as the Prince of Demons and the Prince of the Fairies if called upon. I had Dante, the wonder dog, and I had a hand of fire. I could call lightning and even fireflies, and hey, if push came to shove, I could probably call in some pretty scary moles or other rodents.

Okay, I was letting this whole thing go to my head and becoming a little slaphappy, but I did feel like I was going to walk out of that council room with my Viking and the rest of my family intact. And if I left a few dead piles of ash behind, so be it.

The parting at the airport had left me a little shaken. I'd gotten Claudine all buckled up in her seat, and given Fee a little pat on the head when he'd settled into his basket. Grace had even given me a big hug before I rushed down the steps of the plane so they wouldn't all see me crying. I don't think Claudine even understood what was going on, because she was too busy trying to hum along with Fee, doing his best to give her something to smile about.

Travis and I had expected to find some interference when we'd gotten to the airport to drop everyone off, and sure enough, there had been a few weres there.

They had gotten about halfway into their little song and dance about how they'd been instructed by the council to see me back to the club when Travis, Jim and Dwayne had them sprawled out on the ground. The one that was holding the pilot hostage inside the plane decided to give up without a fight when Dante came charging in, his eyes glowing with green light, and spittle falling from his snapping jaws. The guy knew he didn't stand a chance, and just about pissed himself before he remembered he could just pull the trigger on his gun. By that time, it was too late, and he was trussed and thrown into the cargo hold of the plane with his buddies, express delivery to Louisiana. Jordun could deal with the lot of them.

We watched Eric's jet take off down the runway and then headed back to the cars. There wasn't a whole lot that we could do before dark, and we would need some food and some rest before doing it, so we found a couple hotel rooms off the strip, and settled down with some take-out to plan our strategy.

I didn't think there would be much trouble getting in to Fangtasia on the Strip. They wanted me there after all. I could just walk in through the front door. Getting out would be the problem. And really, the weres couldn't help much with that. But they might help with getting Jordun and Thalia in along with me.

In the end though, it was up to me to convince the council to let Eric go. Once they had me in their clutches, they were better off to take Eric out quickly, so I had to talk fast and give them something to think about.

Maybe it was just suicidal to go in there. And I guess if that were the case, I would be killing my own unborn child along with myself. I had a lot of soul searching to do with that one. But, the council would consider me more valuable alive than dead and I really didn't think I would fail.

In the end, I knew that I had no choice. What the magic of our bond was, I didn't know, but I knew that if Eric died, I wouldn't survive. We weren't two people anymore. We were like those conjoined twins, co-dependent. Our life forces had melded together when we bonded, and we needed each other to keep on breathing, well at least the breathing part was true in my case. So, I would do what I had to do.

"I think we may have one thing on our side," Travis said as we sat at the airport, waiting for Jan's transport to arrive.

"And what would that be?"

"I've been talking to a few of our weres on the phone, the ones I think we can trust. Most of them had no idea that Eric was in any kind of trouble. They just got the word that the council was the one in authority for now, and they were to allow no one into the club - employees, guards, anyone, except you."

"Okay, so they won't necessarily be actively against us, is that what you're saying?"

"Yes. But then again, they won't be the ones guarding the place once nightfall comes."

"So you think we can spring Eric now, while it's still daylight?"

"I'm not saying that. I don't think there are enough of our people there, and there are plenty of the council's people. But I found out something else interesting."

"Okay, give."

"That old woman that's always calling the shots, The Ancient Python they call her…"

"The Ancient Pythoness."

"Yeah, that's the one. Well, she's not here. And I gather she gets the final vote in really serious shit in the vampire world. She took Eric's side in the past, against the last King of Nevada, right?"

"Yeah, she did. Actually, I think she kind of likes me too."

"Who wouldn't?" he said, smiling, and then all joking aside, "I think that's significant."

"So, you're saying this may not be authorized. That the council may be acting outside their mandate or something."

"Yeah, maybe. Although who knows with the vamps. They have all this archaic stuff they base things on."

"And the werewolves don't?"

"Okay, I'll give you that one," he said, laughing. "We have some pretty outmoded traditions too, although I don't generally subscribe to all of it."

"Taking this to the next level, I guess that means if we have to kill a few of the council members, the repercussions might not be too bad, if it's true they're acting on their own."

"Well, that's how I see it. Because it doesn't make any sense, does it? I mean, this whole bond thing you have with Eric. That's considered sacred, right? No one can break it, and no one can go after you no matter what. Granted, the humans don't recognize it, although they do have to accept that you two are married, but even the wolves accept it as something special. And if that's the case, the council has no right to demand anything of you without Eric's consent."

"Well, that's how I'd interpret things, but then I've been wrong before when it came to vampires."

"It might not make much of a difference one way or another, but more information is always better."

"That's what Eric always says, and he's survived for a thousand years."

"I think that's your vamp, being unloaded now," Travis said, and we went over to fill out the paperwork and collect Jan's coffin.

It was a little challenging to get the coffin into the van, but the transport people managed after a bit, and we headed off back to the hotel. I was yawning by the time we got there. What sleep I'd had the night before had not been that restful, and I rarely made it through the day anymore without a nap. Knowing I'd probably not get much sleep that night either, I laid down on one of the beds in the hotel. I punched in a few text messages, plugged in my phone so the batteries wouldn't run out, and let myself drift off.

"Fly away, Sookie," Eric said. "Take the key and fly away."

His voice was weak and hoarse, as if he were far away, or like he'd been screaming.

"You know I can't fly, sweetie. You'll have to carry me."

I looked at Eric's wings and saw how they lay all crumpled and bleeding.

"They have broken my wings, and I can't carry you anymore."

The thick gray fog was swirling around again, and I lost sight of him for a moment.

"I can't leave you, you know that. I need to stay close to you."

"I tried to keep you close, to protect you, but I should have known that the caged bird can't sing. Fly away, Kjære."

"But she can sing for you, if you will just touch her. Listen, Eric."

I ran my fingers over the cool silver metal of the bird's wings and the sweet sounds of the Nightingale's voice broke through the gray fog.

"She'll carry us, my Love. Just follow her voice."

"Ma'am? I'm sorry to wake you. Ma'am?"

I snuggled a little deeper under the covers, hoping that whoever was poking me wasn't serious. It couldn't possibly be time to get up, could it?

"Your vamp will be rising soon, and it's probably a good idea to let him know you're here before he goes off half cocked."

My vamp. That must mean Jan, since Eric was "indisposed".

"Gads, these sheets are scratchy!"

I hadn't meant for that thought to be shared, but I must have said it out loud because Travis responded.

"Yes, Ma'am. Not the six hundred thread count you're used to."

Okay, we were back to the Ma'am thing. Travis was going to be all formal again. Maybe because the vamps were back in the picture? And it sounded like he probably knew more about sheets than I did!

"I've gotten spoiled," I said, realizing how true that was. "And let's cut the Ma'am crap, Travis. I think we've been through enough together to be on a first name basis, don't you?"

"Yes, Ma'am," he said and laughed.

"Okay, okay. I'm getting up. Did someone get the blood?"

"We've got a couple cases out in the van. Just in case we have injuries."

"Why don't you go and grab a couple bottles. There's a microwave in here I think. Better make it four bottles. I'll freshen up and then go see Jan. Pam and Thalia will be here before long, I'd guess. And Thomas."

I climbed out of bed and rifled through my suitcase for some fresh underwear. I wasn't going to take the time to shower, but I'd change quickly, brush my teeth and comb my hair back into a ponytail. It didn't matter what I wore to this shindig. If I wore something nice, it would just be my luck to end up with it ruined with bloodstains. If the council didn't like that I showed up in jeans, well screw them. I didn't care what they thought.

The sun had pretty much set by the time we'd opened up the back of the van. There was just room for Jan to unlatch the top of his coffin and climb out, barely, which was good, because unloading it would have been a major pain.

"Mistress," he said, bowing.

I didn't stand on ceremony, but walked up and put my arms around him, giving him a big hug.

"Thanks for coming, Jan. The rest of the gang will be here any time, and then we'll go spring Eric."

He looked at me with wide eyes, reacting to the hug, or just to the whole situation. I couldn't tell. Vamps weren't generally touchy-feely, and none of them were really supposed to be touching me, but I was going to hug whoever I wanted to.

"Perhaps you might inform me what we may expect," he said, as I let him go and stepped back.

"We have a room where we're all meeting. We've got food and everything. We'll wait for everyone to get here, and then I'll tell you what I know."

"Let me just get my weapons," he said.

I thought that was amusing, since his body was already loaded down with lethal devices. I'd felt the body armor, and the knives and guns stuck around his body when I'd given him the hug. But the amusement turned to astonishment when I saw what he pulled out from the coffin. How he'd fit himself in there with all of that stuff was a mystery. It couldn't have been very comfortable.

"Okay, I guess we're stocked up after all."

That had been a concern. It hadn't seemed like a good idea to go back to the mansion to hack into the weapons locker, since we knew the place was probably being watched. And even though none of our weres went out without some kind of weapons, I hadn't really thought to pack even a knife! But Jan had been planning for just about anything. The stakes he handed to Travis were proof of that.

"I'm hoping we won't need these," I said. "I'm going to take a more diplomatic approach. But, I'm glad you thought of them, just in case."

Jim was looking closely at a small package of something. "Detonators?" he asked Jan, and Jan nodded.

"You know that we don't want to actually blow up the building," I said. "Besides the fact that Eric is in there, and who knows who else, it will bring law enforcement down on us like a swarm of hornets. And Pam will be so ticked off if we destroy her club."

"They are for the cross bolts," Jan explained. "Just a little something extra for those who don't care for fire."

He said it in a tone that made my skin crawl. I never wanted to get on Jan's bad side.

"A regular boy scout," Jim remarked as he slid one of the extra stakes into his back pocket. "Always prepared."

Jan looked flummoxed by that remark, but everyone else laughed.

"Okay, come on. I'll warm you up a blood," I said, leading the group back to our room.

Jan was barely finished with his bottle before there was a knock on the door, and Thalia and Thomas showed up. Pam was not far behind.

I'd expected Thalia to be all bent out of shape that I'd disregarded her plan to smuggle me out of Nevada, but she didn't say a word about it. She was swinging her sword, and Thomas was wearing a bloodthirsty grin at her side. They both looked ready to kick some butt.

"Quite a party you're throwing here," Pam said as she walked in, turning up her nose at our cheap hotel accommodations.

"Be careful with those," I warned her, as she picked up one of the crossbow bolts, now tipped with a detonator, from the coffee table.

"Oh, I can just imagine how much fun these are going to be," she said. "You didn't bring an extra bow, did you, Jan?"

"I'm afraid not, but I will leave these in your capable hands," he said, handing her a very sharp and shiny short sword and what I took to be a hand grenade.

Thalia and Thomas already had their own swords, which they never left home without, but Pam often went weaponless. Not that her own body wasn't a pretty lethal weapon.

I told everyone what Travis had found out, and they thought it was significant too. We still didn't know why Eric was being held. There hadn't really been time to do any extensive surveillance or reconnaissance work. But ultimately, it didn't matter. We were going to make them release Eric, or we'd all perish in the attempt.

When the vamps had finished their bloods, and I'd fortified myself with some very nasty caffeine from the coffee pot in the room, we headed out. Our plan was meager at best. Get in with as many of us as we could, and then go for broke if diplomacy didn't work.

Dante's jowls were still dripping when he was loaded into the car, and Pam just couldn't avoid remarking on it. We hadn't brought any dog food with us, but the hound had scarfed down a couple of hamburgers and a big bowl of water, and after he kept sniffing at the bottled blood, I'd poured one of those into his bowl too. I figured it probably wouldn't hurt him, and it was better than nothing. He'd lapped it right up.

"You need to get the tailor to make some of those bibs for this animal," Pam said. "Like you put on that messy child. It's really quite disgusting."

I'd seen Pam dripping with blood more than once, but I hadn't been rude enough to remark on it at the time. She was going to be really surprised when I had the tailor make her a bib, with her name embroidered on it!

"Lay off the dog, Pam. He's the fright factor for tonight. Dripping blood just adds to the effect."

"You may have a point, Sookie. Although I'd rather he be dripping Etienne's blood."

"I don't know who that is," I said.

"He's one of the new council members. I think this whole thing must have been his idea. It would be just like that arrogant bastard."

"You want to elaborate, Pam?" and "look who's calling the kettle black" I might have added, but thought better of it.

"They take turns, different Kings, or Queens, taking a three year term. So, there are a few new members on the council. Etienne is the King of California."

That was new information to me. I hadn't thought of how they picked the council, and had never thought about Eric maybe having to serve a term some day. I guess it was just like the Rotary Club or any other group, where everybody had to take their turn at doing the different jobs.

"I wasn't at the closed session, that's just for the upper level. But Jonathon got called in, and they were looking for Cataliades too at some point. He was conveniently unavailable."

Eric had left him in Shreveport, and I had thought that a little unusual at the time. Did Eric anticipate this scenario?

"They were in there for a couple of hours, and then the next thing you know, I couldn't reach Daniel, and a bunch of LA vamps start showing up to watch the doors. I figured that wasn't a good sign. This was supposed to be a low-key thing, that's why the Pythoness isn't here. No trials of monarchs or anything like that. So, we should have been providing security."

"What about Eric? Do you know what's happening with him?"

"I knew something was up. He was sending me something, like 'get the hell out while you can'. You remember when De Castro moved in on us?"

She must have meant through their maker/child bond. It wasn't quite the same as Eric's and my bond, but in some ways it was similar. I wonder if he'd been trying to reach me too, and I just hadn't picked up on it, or if he had just been shielding me from something awful as I thought.

"It isn't likely that I'd forget that night when Victor Madden came knocking at my door," I answered.

"Well, after that, Eric made sure we all knew. If there was another take-over attempt, we were supposed to scatter, cause what collateral damage we could until we heard from him. So, I've been stirring up a little trouble. I didn't have much time though. It wasn't obvious that something was going on until pretty close to first light."

Things were starting to make a little more sense to me, especially when I heard that Jonathan had been called in before the council. An interesting little plan they had going, but it wasn't going to work. Dr. Ludwig had warned me about this, and Eric had too, but at the time, it had seemed like the less pressing thing on the agenda, after say…birthing children, adjusting to my new magic, dealing with fairies and demons.

It was looking like all of this was my fault after all. So, it was only fitting that I be the one that dealt with it, one way or another.

"Okay, so this Etienne. Tell me about him."

"He's a ruthless son of a bitch. Very, very old. Very powerful, with a lot of assets. He might even give Thalia a run for her money."

Thalia snorted at that, but didn't argue the point. Interesting.

"He's organized, which is why he can run such a big state. I've never met him to speak to, but he looks like he was middle aged when he was turned, maybe fifty? He says he's French, but I think he was some kind of Barbarian. He has the manners of a weasel."

"Tell us what you really think, Pam."

"Well…" she began, but I interrupted.

"No. It doesn't matter. He's going down tonight, I don't care how old he is."

Thalia smiled at that, and Pam gave me a high five, which surprised the hell out of me.

"I like to see you getting all up in someone's face again, Sookie. You've been like a doormat lately, and it just doesn't suit you for the long term."

"Yeah, well, motherhood does that to people, Pam. They have to put their own life on hold for a while. I guess maybe I'm liking this too though, although what kind of bloodthirsty bad Christian that makes me, I don't really know."

"You need to get rid of that outdated mindset that they call Christianity, Sookie, and get with the new program. Angels and Demons are the same thing these days, as you have seen for yourself. It's just a matter of time before we find out Jesus Christ was some kind of elf or something. This is not about Christian morality, or right or wrong, it's about Darwinism - survival of the fittest."

"Lord, Pam. You are such a heathen!"

"And proud of it, Sookie!" she said as she began to hum "Jesus Christ, Superstar."

"And unfortunately, stuck once again in the seventies," I added.

Author's Note: Pam might recommend the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical, but I don't know that I would. Some might enjoy it, especially the costumes…very definitely a period piece. If you aren't familiar with the song though, you may want to give it a listen, just because.

Thank you to all the kind readers who have taken the time to write, review or sign up for notifications. I really do appreciate it. It makes this so much more of a pleasure for me.

Thanks to Ms. Charlaine Harris for the use of some of her characters. The rest of the characters belong to me. I receive no monetary benefit of any kind for this derivative work.


	107. Chapter 107

CHAPTER 107

"Travis, leave the keys in the van, just in case we need to make a quick getaway. Then, I think you should go to Mark at the hospital. If I don't contact you by tomorrow morning, then get him transported out of here…get an ambulance if you have to. I left a message with Mr. Cataliades about what is going on, and his office will arrange whatever you need. Then you two go fishing for a couple of months until things settle down. Tortuga or something."

I didn't know anything about Tortuga except that it was an island in the Caribbean, but the name sounded good, like someplace where there would be good fishing.

"You might need me, Ma'am. I think I'll be staying."

I impulsively threw my arms around him and gave him a quick hug.

"Thanks, Travis. You can deal with any weres that try to get involved, but leave the vamps. I don't want to lose you. Try not to kill anybody if you can avoid it. Me and Dante will go inside. Thalia, Thomas and Jordun will be backing us up."

"And I guess I'm just chopped meat," Pam said, sounding affronted.

Pam was the youngest of our family, and the most vulnerable if there were really old vamps inside. I wasn't interested in making her canon fodder, but it didn't mean that she couldn't be useful.

"You round up any of our vamps around that you can, Pam. You know some of them will be lurking. Then you can keep the council's vamps busy and out of our hair if more of them show up."

That seemed to be as much plan as we were going to have. Surprisingly, my family seemed willing to let me call the shots on this, maybe because no one had any better idea. We all looked at each other, and since no one voiced any objections, we headed to the back of Fangtasia.

The new Fangtasia on the Strip was a lot bigger than the original club in Shreveport. It was fancier too, in keeping with its location. The logo was the same, but it was in bright red and white neon on the front of the building, which was constructed of a dark gray stone and several stories high. The lights were dimmed tonight, and a lighted message board told customers that they were closed for the week for private parties.

The place had its own private parking lot, which had been closed off with chains to keep any cars out. The few vehicles parked in the back were clustered around the employee entrance, which was where we headed. There was a group of vampires clustered there too, and several unfamiliar weres roaming the dark lot.

I walked straight up to them, making sure I stayed in the light cast by a few dim bulbs shining by the back door. Vampires have good night vision, but I didn't want to be caught in the crossfire by mistake. I didn't think either side was interested in shooting me on purpose…not just yet anyway.

Thalia kept a few paces behind, and Dante was dogging my heels, his breath hot on the backs of my legs, even through my jeans.

"Ah, Mrs. Northman, you have come to answer the council's summons," a voice said from the area of the door.

"Come out where I can see you."

I wasn't going to argue the point of why I was there, even though I hadn't had an official summons yet.

A tall, thin, vampire that I didn't recognize stepped forward a few feet. He was old, but not so old that he'd be a real big impediment. The other vamps that were accompanying him might add up to a problem though.

The vamp looked at Thalia, then sniffed the air to see who else I had brought with me. He looked a little unsure of how to react when he saw Dante, and his brows furrowed a bit.

"You must leave your pet outside," he said, "and your other creature."

He addressed that to me, but was looking at Thalia, who stiffened at the slight. Personally, I wasn't sure which term he was using to refer to her, pet or creature.

"Sorry, but I don't go in without them," I said, taking a step forward.

I guess he hadn't really taken either Thalia's or Dante's measure quite well enough, because he brought his hand up from his side and pulled out a gun, as if either of them were going to be held off with that.

The other vamps pulled swords, and one of them, quick as a flash, was at my side, ready to take my arm and escort me inside.

Dante took care of him right quick, leaping from my side to the vamp's throat and tearing it out without any warning. The loud, wet thunk I heard on the pavement let me know that Thalia had taken care of the one with the gun, and a bright blast of light that almost blinded me, let me know that Jan's detonators had worked. Two of the vamps were just blazing torches, the stakes being the least of their worries.

The last one, a little guy, was dangling from Thomas's hand, which was wrapped around his throat.

"Where is the Viking?" Jan asked the vamp when he had reached our side.

He didn't answer quickly enough for Thalia's taste, and I heard a sickening crunch and a muffled scream from the vamp.

"The main bar," he said. "He is being held in chains."

"And the other Nevada vamps?"

"Most are in the basement, or in the offices, in coffins."

With that, Thomas snapped the vampire's neck. He'd survive it, but not without some blood and a little time.

"That seemed too easy," I said.

"Perhaps. The man is arrogant. He is not stupid though, so he will have his best fighters inside," Thalia said.

Just then, Pam ran up, followed by Rasul.

"Travis and I have dealt with the weres," Pam said.

"Thanks, Pam."

"Ah, beautiful lady, it is a pleasure to see you again," Rasul said, his very white teeth sparkling against his dark skin as he smiled.

"Nice to see you too, Rasul. Are there many more of our people around?"

"A few. They have scattered, but Pam and I have been texting them. They will be here soon. We can keep the door until they arrive."

"Okay, great. Let's get this show on the road then."

We opened the outside door, and just walked right in.

The main bar was on the street floor. There was a bar on each floor, and slot machines of course (this was Vegas after all), but the biggest room and dance floor were at the main bar. There was a stage there for live musicians, or for Eric's throne when he was in town, and that would no doubt be where the council was meeting.

Thalia and Jan went ahead of me, through the dimly lit hallway that faced the offices, storerooms and employee break rooms. Jan slid into the first room on the right and came out a moment later, wiping his sword off with his handkerchief. Thalia took care of the room on the left. She didn't carry handkerchiefs, so she just swung her sword at her side, flinging the blood off the edge when she was finished.

So much for my thought that we could mostly keep this a matter of negotiations, I thought, as I noted the blood spatters on my jeans. Good thing I hadn't dressed up too.

The next room held coffins, some wrapped in silver chains. Jan pulled out a pair of gloves and what looked like a small crowbar. I was a little puzzled as to how he managed to secure all this stuff on his person and not walk around clinking like some gothic movie ghost rattling his chains. He quickly wrenched off the silver chains holding the lids in place and freed three of our own people, who fell in behind Thomas. The fourth coffin held just a plain old human woman, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and unfortunately dead as a doornail.

The last door would lead us to the bar. I hesitated for just a moment. Maybe I wasn't doing the right thing. I was the one going off half-cocked. My plan wasn't much more than a gut response to the situation. Really, it wasn't a plan at all, just a reflex, like my leg jerking when the doctor tapped my knee with a rubber hammer. Maybe I should have called in the Ancient Pythoness, if she would even come, or the Prince of Darkness or even Niall.

A picture of Claudine, playing with her nasty mole and laughing at Fee came into my head, and I realized that what I wanted to do was sit down on the floor and cry for a few minutes before I dragged my sorry butt back home to Louisiana. I might never see my little girl again.

But the other half of my heart was on the other side of that door, and I couldn't walk away not knowing what his fate would be.

All of a sudden I wished that I hadn't told Pam to stay outside, cause I knew that otherwise she would be standing at my side right now, humming "Stand by Your Man". With that classic going round and round my head, I put on my big girl panties and went into the bar.

The council was seated on pretentious looking "thrones" on the stage and I'm sure that they would impress the hell out of most people, but they just enraged me. I let my gaze fall on them briefly and then my eyes found what I was looking for – Eric.

"Oh God!" I said and bolted forward, only to be held back by Thalia, who put a restraining hand on my arm.

"Let me go, Thalia," I said, but she just ignored me.

Eric, who had been an unmoving, huddled mass on the floor, turned his head painfully in the direction of my voice, and tried to get up, then fell back.

His hair hung limply, partially covering his face. It was streaked with dried blood, as was his face. His body was wrapped with silver chains, and the weight of them alone would have kept a human from rising from the floor. He had several wounds that were still oozing blood, so he was no longer able to heal himself (an effect of the silver, I guessed) and his body seemed to shiver, as if for once, he was cold. His eyes closed, and he seemed barely conscious.

I felt faint for a moment, my head starting to spin, and I think I must have been holding my breath, because Jan leaned into me, propping me up and said, "Breathe, Mistress."

Looking at Eric made me wonder how I could still be functional. He must somehow be shielding me from his misery, but how he could still control the bond when he was obviously in such horrible pain, I couldn't say.

"Bonjour, Madame. It is my great pleasure to meet the famous Sookie Stackhouse at last."

The voice from the stage spoke in a heavy French accent, very smooth and fluid.

"I'm afraid I can't say the same, and it's Mrs. Northman to you," I responded, looking up to the speaker.

"Mrs. Northman, then," the vampire said, shrugging. "I am Etienne Sauvignon, the King of California."

Sauvignon? Like the wine? Hmmm. He might sound French, with a French name, and that suit he was wearing might even be a Louis Vuitton, but Pam was right. This guy looked like a Barbarian.

He was about my height, and his body was heavily muscled like he'd been born to hard work, or to carrying heavy weapons. Like many men in their mid years, his chest had gone a little rounder, and his legs a little thinner, but he still looked burly and strong. The suit fit him well, and made the most of his physique.

His hair was another matter though. It was a color that most people would call mousy, sprinkled with gray. It fell slightly below his shoulders and it looked like it had been cut with a weed whacker, or maybe a battleaxe, choppy and uneven.

His full beard was more heavily grayed, and covered a good deal of his face, up onto his cheeks. His moustache had been trimmed with the same implement as his hair, and it didn't hide his cruel mouth or his yellowed and crooked teeth.

His eyes, a light brown, seemed small, what you might call beady, but then maybe that was only when he focused on something intently, as he was focusing on me.

He was old, very old - probably the oldest vampire that I had run across yet. I wondered where he had started out in life. The term Barbarians encompassed quite a few different peoples, didn't it? Was he one of the Goths or the Visigoths, or something? Certainly what we thought of as Goth nowadays didn't give any clues. I should have paid more attention in history class. All those ancient peoples had seemed pretty uninteresting at the time. Really, though, it didn't matter very much. He could be Conan himself and I didn't really care.

But it was a little worrisome that Pam might also have been right when she said that he could be a match for Thalia. More than a match, I thought, now that I had seen him.

"I think you know Isaiah, King of Kentucky, and this is Basil, King of Virginia," Etienne said, nodding at the two vamps on the stage.

So only three of the council, as there had been at Victor's trial. There had been five when Sophie Anne had been tried, and both times, the Ancient Pythoness had been part of the team.

But the vamp that really caught my attention, standing with the dozen or so extremely old vamps that were part of Etienne's retinue, was Jonathan. Jonathan the spy, who had been in charge of the hunt for the escaped Bob, and who I now suspected had actually found him.

"Just wait until I find that cat. We'll see about that whole nine lives thing," I said silently, sure that he was around here somewhere too, if he wasn't dead already at the hands of these new vamps. Well, if they hadn't taken care of that problem, I was now more than willing to do it myself.

"Let's cut to the chase here," I said, not caring to spend any time on polite utterances when my man, or vamp, was lying on the floor, suffering.

"I have heard of your reputation for bravado," he said, and then, inhaling deeply and picking up my scent, he smiled.

I had to admit that his smile was not bad, all things considered, but all I could think was how I'd like to wipe that smile right off his face.

"I see I have not been misled," he continued, "on more than one count."

He looked at my belly then, and knowing vampire's sense of smell, I knew very well what he was referring to.

I didn't bother to reply. I might have a reputation for showing no fear, but I was shaking in my boots (okay, tennis shoes) looking at the odds against us. At least three of the vamps surrounding us were as old or older than Thalia. I could pick up that one of them almost certainly was Etienne's child.

Etienne cut to the chase.

"Eric Northman has been accused of entering into covenants between the states of Louisiana, Arkansas and Nevada and the sovereign realms of Demon and Fairy, without the mandate of the Vampire Council of the United States. Penalty for such an overreach of authority is death and forfeiture of all holdings to the council," Etienne said. "As his bonded mate and purported Queen of his dominions, do you have anything to say in his defense?"

I wasn't sure how much to say and now I was wishing I'd called in and waited for Mr. Cataliades. But Eric had specifically not invited him to these meetings, and that must be significant. Maybe because the lawyer would have to testify about the actual contracts that we had entered into, which otherwise might very well just be hearsay, on the word of a cat, no less.

Eric actually hadn't been the one to make any agreements though. Yeah, he might have signed them, because I was his possession (according to vampire law), but the agreements had been mine – one with Jerahmeel, accepting his promise of protection and allowing his "agent" to stay with me, the other to aid and abet the fairies in procreation. Well, I guess we'd had one with the Britlingens too, concerning Clovache, but I was the one taking responsibility for her, not Eric, and Etienne hadn't even mentioned that one.

I decided that less was more in a situation like this, so I stayed silent.

"Nothing to say?"

He shrugged, as if it didn't matter what I said anyway.

"He has also been accused of providing instruments for defense to the Demons, which could be used to their advantage in a conflict with the vampires."

It took me a moment to get that one, but he had to mean the gloves I had given to Jerahmeel, the ones to avoid contact with iron. I wasn't sure how those could be used against the vampires, although it did make it easier for them to come into our world if they wanted to. I was surprised that Bob even had known about them, since I had taken them to Bon Temps to give to the Prince. But they had been delivered to the house first, and apparently Bob wasn't as stupid as he looked and had put two and two together.

I decided to say something after all.

"I believe that the accused is allowed counsel, and I don't see his lawyer present. And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Ancient Pythoness supposed to pass judgment when the trial concerns a monarch?"

He considered that for a moment, looking a little surprised. What had he thought I would say?

"There are many that feel the seer has outlived her usefulness. She has been granted some authority out of respect for her age, but it is more a matter of tradition than of the law."

So Travis had called this one right. This guy had his own agenda. He was giving lip service to the whole council law thing, but he didn't really care one way or another. I suppose if he was powerful enough, and rich enough, that no one would push him too hard one way or another, especially if he was in control of an asset that other vampires wanted as much as he obviously did.

As to what part the other two monarchs played in this? They were sitting quietly, letting Etienne do all the talking. I didn't doubt that they were getting something out of it, if nothing else, he was allowing them to live. "Right again, Pam," I thought. The man is ruthless.

Thalia growled a little bit when she heard his comments on the Ancient Pythoness. I guess she still had respect for the ancient oracle, and didn't care to see her position usurped.

"I'm surprised the Northman hasn't had you put down yet, Thalia. Certainly no one else was willing to tolerate you," Etienne said, glancing at Thalia as if she were just an annoying insect.

"As I was saying, the Northman's transgressions are punishable by death, but there may be a reason to continue his existence, under very restrictive circumstances perhaps, but he might still be allowed to keep his life."

He stopped to brush a nonexistent piece of lint off his sleeve, enjoying his little power trip.

"It would be a shame to waste any assets that he must forfeit. His death would damage you unfortunately. Almost certainly, it would be fatal."

I think I had known that for a long time, that neither of us would survive the death of the other, or would even want to.

"So, you leave Eric alive and you get yourself a telepath? Is that what this is all about? You can't possibly think that you could ever trust anything I revealed to you after the way you have treated Eric."

"Oh, I don't need another telepath. But what you have to offer is much more valuable, and not only to me. I am confident that you will be willing to share the secret of your gift with whomever I choose," he said, looking at Eric, still slumped on the floor.

"How much pain do you think he can withstand before he can no longer shield you? And your daughter also shares a blood bond with him, does she not?"

I felt Dante stiffen at my side when Etienne mentioned Claudine. If I had ever had any doubts that Dante understood what people said around him, they were dispelled now.

"There was quite a bit of speculation, you know, about your daughter. There was that story of your unfortunate kidnap by the fairies. The child has wings, so perhaps a fae parentage would explain her, although winged fae are unusual. But this one that you carry must be the vampire's. I cannot believe that he would have allowed anyone else to impregnate his wife, even by modern medical techniques. And then it appears that this miracle of vampire fertility has been shared with one of your chosen nest mates. He is being called your 'child' I believe," he said, making a sound of contempt at the very thought.

He looked at Jan then, who had not moved a muscle since we had entered the room. He was like a tightly wound spring at my side, and I worried that if Clovache was threatened in any way, he would explode. It would almost certainly be a bloodbath, since we were surrounded, and not one of those in the room would be considered young, except perhaps Jonathan.

"Where is your little girl? Did you send her back to Shreveport? Did you think she would be safe so far away?"

I was starting to really get nervous about this. Perhaps I had made a big mistake, thinking I could come in her and reason with them in some way, or fight them off, when really, this ancient vampire was now holding all the cards. It had never occurred to me that he could use Claudine against me and Eric both.

I had figured Claudine would be safe. She was wearing her emerald, and Jerahmeel would come to her rescue if something happened. He would whisk her off to Demon if nothing else. I would insist that the Ancient Pythoness be called in to arbitrate with the council. Wasn't she the last word in vampire law? And I had three of the oldest vampires in the country to challenge anyone who disputed that.

But as I looked around, I realized that there were enough ancient ones here to take on our group, even with Dante and what fairy magic I could use to add to the fight.

It was time to call in the big guns.

"Jerahmeel," I said silently. "Jerahmeel, I think I need you, right now!"

I didn't know how to direct my call, but he had told me that I could just call to him, and he would come.

"Of course, if you were to offer your services willingly, there is room for negotiation. I'm afraid we would have to keep your mate; he is a criminal after all. But the level of his discomfort would be up to you. Tell me, little telepath, is it your blood that holds the gift? Or sex magic, perhaps?"

A low growl echoed through the room, and at first I thought it was Dante, but then I realized it was Eric.

"No, of course he doesn't share you, as is his right by law. Never let it be said that we didn't abide by the law. So tell me, how is it done?"

"I don't intend to tell you anything, and don't pretend that you are above the law. Do you think the other vampires will tolerate that you have gone behind their backs with this? The Ancient Pythoness…"

He waved off my words.

"Do you think I fear the others of my kind? Let them come. Let them bring their champions as you have brought yours. Shall I show you how insignificant they are to me?"

Thalia stepped forward, as if she were ready to accept the challenge of this power hungry mad man. It was me that put forth the restraining hand this time.

"Wait," I said out loud.

"Jerahmeel, where are you?" I said silently.

"Ah, not so brave now, are you? Let us test how truly stalwart you are. I think you will soon be on your knees telling me what I want to know," he said.

He glanced quickly over his shoulder, and the vampire that I had identified as his child made his way to Eric's side. He took his time, pulling a long, thin knife from a sheath on his belt. He reached down and grabbed Eric by the hair, yanking him part ways up.

As the knife approached Eric's eye, a powerful feeling of dread overwhelmed me like a flash flood. I wanted to rush to Eric's aid, but I stumbled, failure seeming as inevitable as the sun rising in the east.

Eric was reaching the end of his endurance, and under this further torture, would not be able to maintain his shields. If something didn't happen pretty quickly, we would both be drowned by the pain and despair.

My whole body reacted to the threat, bile rising in my throat and my legs trembling. A clammy sweat broke out on my forehead and I choked back my own vomit as I screamed out, "NO!"

It all happened at once then. I reached out with my hand just as an unearthly howl cut through the silence of the room. And the hellhound leaped at the vampire that was holding the knife.


	108. Chapter 108

CHAPTER 108

I swear I wasn't even thinking when I flung out my hand, and when the fireball followed the trajectory of my thrust, I thought for a moment that it might hit Eric too and engulf him in flame. But the fire took the path of my will and it went for the vampire that had been attacking Eric, just as my howling hellhound made contact with his body, forcing him to the ground.

White-hot flames erupted, encompassing Dante and the vampire and filling the room with an almost blinding light.

"Dante!" I screamed. Oh my God, had I killed him too?

My ears rang with my own cry and the ungodly screams of the vampire as he burned. Everyone else in the room went unnaturally silent, in shock I think.

The room felt for all the world like the eye of a storm. Unfortunately, we were still standing in the middle of it, and everybody knows you don't go out in the calm, because its just a matter of time until the rest of the hurricane shows up and you are just gonna be blown apart.

"Who are you?" Etienne said.

He didn't sound so arrogant now, and for a moment I felt an almost irresistible urge to giggle. I wondered if he'd seen the Rambo movies.

Jason had them all on video, and him and Hoyt would sit on the couch in front of the TV, drinking beer and just waiting for the moment when that question was asked. Then they'd both puff up their chests, screw their faces up into a Stallone-like sneer, and bark out, "Your worst nightmare!"

My hand was still out, and I did let a small laugh escape me, as I watched the other vampires in the room begin to take steps back away from our group, every set of eyes focused on my fingers, which still issued strange sparks of light.

"I'm Sookie Stackhouse Northman of Bon Temps, Louisiana." I said. "Wife and mother, and extremely pissed off telepath. And I guess you just fucked with the wrong woman, buddy, and you can just step the hell back!"

I don't know if he even heard my little diatribe, but his beady little eyes got as big as saucers when he saw what was pouring out of the portal that was opening up right in front of me.

Etienne sure as hell stepped back then, drawing his sword - but too little, too late, as Gran used to say. Jerahmeel's hellhounds were on him before I could say "Jack Robinson".

"Thank you, Jesus," I said to myself as the Prince followed his hounds into the room.

All Hell (pardon the expression) broke out then, as those vampires that didn't immediately surrender began to fight for their lives. More than one was hit by the demon's white fire as he flung bolts of flame as casually as kids throwing firecrackers on the Fourth of July.

My vamps stuck close to me, surrounding me with their bodies, even though I wanted so badly to get to Eric and hoped that he wouldn't be even more damaged in the crossfire. They fought with anything that got too close, the swift motion of their swords seeming to create a whirlwind of destruction swirling around me.

I know I will never forget the sounds that I heard that night. How do you describe the sounds of rending clothes and flesh? The vampires screamed as the fire licked over them and the hounds made a terrible noise with their growls and snarls, the clicks of their nails on the hardwood floor and their snapping jaws.

And the smell! Burning vampire overlaid with that strange sulfur like smell that I had noticed before with the opening of a portal. The odor permeated my nostrils and it was all I could do to not be sick.

I had no real sense of how long the battle lasted, but it seemed to last a lifetime while probably only lasting a few minutes.

When it was over, the place was a mess. A few of the opposing vampires remained alive, the other two council members, and even Jonathan unfortunately. Most of the really ancient ones had probably thought themselves invulnerable or were sworn to fight to the death or some such archaic crap, and had refused to surrender. Well, good riddance to bad rubbish was what I had to say about that!

My vamps were relatively unscathed, except Eric of course, who still laid in a huddle on the floor. I rushed to his side, stepping over things that I'd rather not describe and wished that I had never seen.

He didn't speak as I wrapped my arms around him, but his low moan and trembling muscles let me know that even that amount of pressure was causing him more pain. I pulled back, reluctant to let even a few inches of air come between him and me.

He was a mess! I thought they must have broken most of his bones, and his arms hung uselessly at his side, resting at an odd angle. Of course it was hard to tell, with all the silver chains they had wrapped around him.

I began to unwrap them, frustrated by the padlocks that prevented their total removal. Thank God they hadn't stripped him first, because every place the silver had touched him, his skin was raw and burned. He shuddered and hissed as I tried to peel the chains off.

"Somebody come help me!" I yelled desperately over my shoulder, and Jan was there at my side, pulling on his gloves and prying the links apart with brute force.

I think even through the leather gloves, the silver was noxious to Jan, and by the time we had the chains off and thrown to the side, he hurled the gloves away from him too, and looked at his hands as if he expected them to be scorched.

"Eric, sweetie? I want to give you some blood. Can you hear me?"

He had begun to gasp, taking in great gulps of air, although he didn't even need to breathe. Maybe it was some kind of instinctual response to trauma, left over from his human existence. His skin, where it wasn't covered with dried blood or burns was a sickly gray. A few cuts still oozed slowly. He wasn't able to heal himself, and he wasn't responding.

"Somebody give me a knife," I said, knowing that there were probably dozens of them in the room, in sheaths on belts, in pockets or stuffed down into boots.

I grabbed the first one that was handed to me, and thankfully the edge was nice and sharp. I winced as I made a quick cut at my wrist, then laid my wrist over Eric's mouth, letting the first drops of blood flow over his lips.

He caught the smell of my blood, and the taste, and latched on immediately. It hurt like hell, not at all like the blood exchanges we had during our lovemaking. But he was starved and desperate. Briefly, I worried that he wouldn't be able to stop, but then I had several powerful vampires standing beside me who could break his hold if needs be.

"Mistress, he has silver poisoning. It would help him to have vampire blood. With your permission, of course."

"Oh," I said, feeling a little disoriented for a moment from the blood loss.

I had probably given him about all I could give in any case, so I slowly began to ease my wrist away from his mouth.

He seemed reluctant to let me go at first, but I stroked his hair, and sent what calm I could through our bond, telling him all the while, that I would be right next to him, and some one would give him more blood.

When he let me pull away, I ran my finger over one of his still bleeding wounds, using the blood to seal the cut on my arm.

Thomas was standing over me, knife in hand, ready to offer Eric some of his own blood.

"Yes, of course, Thomas. You have my permission to feed him."

It seemed ridiculous that he had to ask for my permission first. Surely they wouldn't let Eric suffer or die because they didn't have my go ahead, I thought. But then, most vampires took the whole blood bond thing very seriously, unlike the barbarian that had had to learn to respect it the hard way.

I got out of the way, but stayed sitting at Eric's side, running my hands over his hair, and beginning to shake now that the adrenaline was leaving my body and the real impact of all that had happened started to hit me. I had come so close to losing everything.

"Someone needs to call Dr. Ludwig and get her here as soon as possible," I said to Thalia, wishing that she had a hankie I could borrow so I could wipe my tearing eyes. "And Mr. Cataliades needs to contact the Ancient Pythoness. She'll want to deal with the ones that are still alive, I'm sure."

"Jan is already taking care of that," she assured me.

"Except for Jonathan," I said. "Eric will want to deal with him personally, I think."

Thalia smiled wickedly at that, almost licking her lips in anticipation of what awaited that traitor. I had to look away.

"Some of our vamps must still be in the basement. We need to find Daniel," I said. "Maybe you can get Pam and Rasul to see to that, they should be outside somewhere. And give me your phone, Thalia, I have to call and check on Claudine."

Thalia handed me a cell phone, and I quickly dialed in the number of the house in Shreveport. Grace answered on the first ring.

"Grace? Oh my God, Grace, tell me that you all got home okay and that Claudine is alright."

I closed my eyes and listened to Grace as she told me of their uneventful trip home. Alcide and his people were dealing with the weres that we had picked up at the airport. Jan had extra guards on the house and Cat had given Claudine her bath and was now getting her ready for bed. Fee had gotten into the pollen again, but had only managed to make a fool of himself by falling into the tub with Claudine. He hadn't drowned and he was still conscious.

Just the strong, solid sound of Grace's voice, and the ordinary (well, for some) events of a day in the Northman household seemed to ground me, and I could feel like everything would be okay again, if not immediately, then very, very soon.

I told her that I thought they could come back the next day, and I would have someone make all the arrangements. I hated to have them running back and forth across the country, but I wanted Claudine with us, and I didn't think Eric would be ready to travel for a bit.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Grace. Thank you."

She made some noncommittal sound that might have been "You're welcome" and I snapped the phone shut.

Thomas got up about that time, and already, I could feel that Eric was better. His wounds had stopped bleeding, although they weren't quite healing yet, and the trembling had stopped. I eased his head over to rest against me, and I could feel him drift off into something like sleep.

I was exhausted too, from all the tension, and from the blood that Eric had taken. I probably needed to eat something too, although looking at what was on the floor in front of me; it might be a while before I could hold anything down.

Everyone seemed to be busy. There would be a lot to do, organizing how to hold the prisoners, and making sure that anyone with wounds had blood and a place to clean up. There might be more of Etienne's people in town too, so caution would have to be taken, not only in getting everything cleared up without drawing too much attention from the humans, but in making sure that all the Vegas people were safe.

I knew that Jan or Thalia could manage all of that. My focus would be on Eric, and getting our family all back together in one place again, healthy and happy. And speaking of family…

"You'll have to stake me first before I'm getting into any car to drive home with that mutt," Pam said, striding up to me looking very put out indeed. "This is beyond the pale! What has he been rolling in?"

"What are you talking about, Pam?" I said, then gasped as I saw that Dante hadn't burned along with the vampire, but was very much alive, covered in muck and frolicking about the rest of his breed that were standing guard over the prisoners.

I let out a sigh of relief, just as Pam looked down at me and got her first look at Eric.

"Mother of God!" she said, sounding shocked and outraged. "What have they done to my Master?

I didn't know what was more surprising, that Dante was still alive, or that a Christian utterance had come out of Pam's mouth.

"He's pretty out of it, Pam, and Thomas says he has silver poisoning. We've both given him blood, but he's probably going to need a lot more before he's well again."

"I will feed him, of course," Pam said. "It is my duty and privilege as his child."

"Of course," I agreed.

She looked around at all the destruction.

"It's going to be a bitch to get all these stains out of the floor," she said. "At least Etienne is dead, the bastard. Although a quick death was too good for him. Which one is he, Sookie?"

She didn't wait for my answer, but started walking through the piles of muck and ash, stomping on each one, and muttering to herself.

"Pam! Stop! It doesn't matter now," I called out, but she just kept slamming her overpriced shoes onto the remains of the vamps, all the way to where Jonathan was being held at bay by a few of the hounds.

She walked up to him, slapped him in the face, then taking the knife that Jan had loaned her, she just stabbed him.

"Take that, you slimy piece of trash. I can't wait until payback time for you. Do you see my bar? Do you see these shoes?" she said, as she kicked his shin, almost knocking him to the ground.

"I paid six hundred dollars for these shoes. Ruined! And I am going to get my money's worth out of your hide!"

With that, she turned back to stare at me and Eric, obviously unsettled and not knowing what to do about it.

Well, Pam would work off her anger one way or another, and I was sure that we could find a car for her to drive home in that would not include the filthy, but now even more loved Dante.

I wanted to go home, and get Eric clean and comfortable, but there was one person I needed to speak to first. I looked around the room for Jerahmeel.

He was leaning against a far wall, looking very cool and removed from all the bustle. His wings were tucked away with glamour and he looked like he was wearing a cape, like the first time that I had seen him. He was just watching me, but walked over when he saw that I had caught his eye.

"I don't know how I will ever thank you," I said.

A pan of home made brownies, even delivered to his door, was not going to be enough for this favor. Actually I had no idea what could ever be enough for saving Eric's life.

"It is my pleasure, M'Lady," his said, in his usual gracious manner. "There is no debt between us."

Dante, realizing that the older hounds were not going to leave their posts to play with him, bounded over to me and Jerahmeel, parking himself next to me, and rolling onto his back, hoping to have his tummy scratched. The Prince went down on one knee, and stroked the dog's fur, speaking softly to him in their demon language.

"I thought that I had killed Dante earlier. He jumped at one of the vamps to help Eric just as I threw one of those fireballs, and it hit him too. I listened to the vampire's screams as he burned. How could Dante still be alive?"

"The hounds are creatures of fire. Our flame knows them and will not harm them."

"Our flame", he had said. I just had to shake my head. Creatures of fire. Was I that now too? Could I walk in the demon fire and come out unscathed?

"All of this is so new to me," I told him. "I don't really understand what I am, and what Claudine will become."

"We will speak more of it, when you have rested, and your vampire has healed."

"Yes, I'd like that," I said, and watched him walk back through his portal to his own world, his pack of hounds trotting beside him, like they'd all been out for a summer night's stroll.

I closed my eyes for just a moment, feeling the comforting weight of Eric's head on my shoulder, and let my exhaustion carry me off.

"It is time to leave, Mistress," Thalia said, breaking me out of my stupor and scaring the bejeezus out of me. I eased Eric's head off my shoulder and got up off the floor, stiff and sore from sitting so long on the hard surface.

Jan picked Eric up as if he weighed no more than a kitten and carefully settled him onto a mattress in the back of a van. I rode in the backseat with Pam. Dante was banished to another vehicle, as I didn't want to hear Pam complain all the way back to the house about how filthy he was.

She found something else to talk about though.

"First thing tomorrow, we start hunting cats," she said merrily. "And then I'm going shoe shopping."

Author's note: I'd like to personally recommend the 1988 classic, The Cat Came Back, an animated, award winning film by director Cordell Barker. It is based on an old children's song, and it puts me in mind of Bob the witch cat. If you need a laugh, check it out.


	109. Chapter 109

CHAPTER 109

It wasn't often that I saw the sun rise.

For years, I had worked at Merlotte's Bar, getting home in the middle of the night, and then sleeping until late morning or early afternoon. By the time I'd quit that life, I was living in a household of nocturnal creatures that scurried under cover before the first rays of light and I was usually snuggled in with my vampire as dawn cast its rosy glow in the sky.

"The dawn is so beautiful," I said to Travis. "I guess I'd almost forgotten."

Travis looked half dead from lack of sleep, and he probably looked better than I did.

"Mark and I often don't even get in until light breaks when we go out for our monthly runs," he said. "We like to take a thermos and sit somewhere with our cup of coffee and watch the sun rise before we call it a day."

"That's not something I can do with Eric," I said, a little sadly because I could never share a sunrise with my husband, but smiling at the thought of Eric going to work with a thermos full of blood.

I knew that lots of the were guards carried those big, green, stainless steel thermoses, the same ones that construction guys carried. You could drop them and they never broke, and they had a lifetime guaranty against rust. Jason had one too and he swore by it.

"You should probably get some sleep," Travis said. "Claudine will be back by the afternoon, and I expect it will be crazy around here tonight."

"You should too. You've been up for days. There's plenty of guards here now, it looks like a military base. We'll be fine."

"Yeah, I know. I'm going to get a few hours sleep before I go see how Mark's doing."

"You bring him home if he's ready. Grace will want to fuss over him."

"Seems like Grace is going to have enough on her hands," he argued.

"Then I'll want to fuss over him," I insisted. "There's no reason to depend on strangers, when you've got family, you know."

"Well, we'll see how he's feeling," he said. "Thank you, Sookie."

That put a smile on my face. He had never called me Sookie before. I knew he was waiting for me to be safely inside, so I got up off the porch and headed to bed so he would get some rest too.

We'd all had a very long night. We'd gotten Eric inside, and even though I thought he should go straight to bed, the vamps insisted that he be bathed first, to get off as much of the silver contamination as possible.

I just cut off his nasty clothes with a scissors. They'd go in the burn pile. His wallet was still in his back pocket. Well. The California vamps had been torturing, murdering rat bastards, but I guess they weren't thieves as well. I wasn't giving them any brownie points for that though.

Nudity was something I was getting used to around the household, but I still wasn't comfortable about stripping in front of all the men, and there was no way I could handle a limp Eric by myself in the bath. (Even using the word limp while thinking about Eric was difficult to do.)

Pam didn't have a problem with it though. She just stripped off her clothes and carried Eric into the shower to rinse him off.

When I'd convinced Thomas and Daniel that if they left the room for a few minutes we weren't going to be attacked in the shower, I joined Pam and helped wash all the blood out of Eric's hair, managing to get myself clean in the process. Pam didn't make even one snarky comment about me being naked in front of her, so I figured she was pretty upset about Eric's condition.

He didn't look good. After some of Pam's blood, he had started to heal all the biggest cuts, and his limbs were looking a little straighter, but his skin looked gray and pasty. He still wasn't really responsive either, so I figured he must have gotten a really big dose of the silver. Either that, or as I suspected, he was using all of his strength to hold his shields in place, as he had been doing for a long time now. He must be exhausted.

It felt good to be clean, and after I'd slipped on a nightgown and robe, I helped Pam get Eric all settled into our bed. Then I'd gone down to the kitchen to find something to eat. There were still leftovers from Grace's potpie, so I microwaved a good-sized helping and wolfed it down.

After washing up my dishes, I went out on the back deck to just sit for a while, basking in the calm, while the vamps all got settled down into their daytime rest.

Jan had said the doctor would be flying in later that day with Grace and Claudine, although I didn't know if there was much she could do for Eric. He'd just need lots of blood, and some time to heal.

Mr. Cataliades would be coming too. He'd made arrangements for the Ancient Pythoness and her retinue to come to Vegas. She would be arriving sometime that night to straighten this whole mess out. At least I didn't have to worry about keeping them at our place. We'd have a full house already.

So, everything was coming together, and I needed sleep in the worst way, but something had been niggling at the back of my mind. It was something Etienne had said. He hadn't actually said a whole lot, so it should have been obvious what was bothering me, but I couldn't bring it to the front of my mind. When Eric woke up at sundown I'd talk to him about it. I was just so tired and I couldn't think anymore, so at some point I just went to bed.

I curled up next to a clean smelling Viking, pressing myself up as close as I could get. He seemed colder than usual and I pulled the covers up over both of us, wrapping us in a little cocoon. It felt strange to not have Claudine in the house, and even stranger to feel the strange silence in the bond. It made me feel lonely.

"I hope that's coffee I'm smelling," I called out as I came into the kitchen later that afternoon.

"Mama!" screeched Claudine as she flung herself against my legs, wrapping her little arms around my knees and almost knocking me over.

She looked so big in her little girl overalls decorated with a Fangtasia on the Strip logo on the bib…one of Pam's new sale items I figured.

"Hey baby girl," I said, picking her up and almost squeezing her to death. I was so glad to see her.

I let down my shields and tried to check her, although reading the mind of a child that young was not always telling. She appeared to be just fine though, happy and healthy, so Eric's trauma had probably not affected her, as Etienne seemed to think it would.

Perhaps he didn't realize that Eric had only had her blood once, right after she'd been born. He had fed her, but not fed from her. Eric didn't feed from children. Perhaps that snake Etienne didn't entertain such scruples.

Fee came flying in behind Claudine, and perched himself on my shoulder as usual, sniffing and checking me out, and smiling with satisfaction when he couldn't detect any damage.

"I bet you haven't been eating while I was gone," Grace said. "I've got your breakfast about ready."

She turned away from the stove, spatula in hand, but after looking me over and coming to the same conclusion as Fee, she went back to turning over the sausage. It smelled wonderful.

Batanya was at her usual place at the table, and sitting next to her was Clovache in front of an untouched plate of food. She looked a little green about the gills, and I suspected that she was getting her first introduction to morning sickness, or "all-day" sickness if she was anything like me. Jan would be pleased to see her. There was no reason for her to stay in Shreveport anymore. It wasn't like all our secrets weren't going to be outed at this point.

I greeted everyone and sat down to a big plate of sausage, eggs and toast, happy to have my family all in one place again, even if in less than ideal circumstances. Jordun would be missing, since someone needed to stay back and deal with Louisiana's day-to-day business, but the rest of us were all together again.

"The doctor has gone to see to Mark," Grace said, "and Mr. Cataliades is over at the bar checking on the cleanup. I can do gumbo for dinner I guess, but someone is going to have to get to the store. We're almost out of milk in a house full of pregnant women, and I guess the dog would like some fresh meat."

"We can send one of the weres," I said, glad to see that Grace seemed to be in a good mood.

I had to chalk it up to relief that we were all still alive, since the state of the house certainly wouldn't have cheered her up. We'd tracked in enough dirt the night before to put any housekeeper on edge. I wondered if she had seen Dante in his previous night's state, or if someone had hosed him off. I certainly hadn't gotten to it. Someone must have told her that Dante had defended Eric though, since the hound was in her good graces for now.

"I'm going to make brownies for the Prince," she continued, and I just couldn't help but laugh, remembering what I had been thinking when I'd thanked him for saving our lives.

"You know he'll love that, Grace," I said. "We have a lot to thank him for. I guess we should invite him over when this all settles down a bit. I think right now the vamps are going to be agitated for a bit."

"Like a nest of hornets," Clovache said. "Let's just hope they don't start swarming."

I was feeling a little agitated too. I could barely feel Eric at all. There was an awareness that he was still alive, but the hum that usually sang between us was gone, and it left a big ugly hole right where I knew my heart was. I missed him terribly, and the emptiness seemed to be growing, as if he was farther and farther away.

I felt a little better after eating and spent some time playing with Claudine and Fee, although my heart wasn't in it. When she went down for her nap, I headed to the bedroom to be closer to Eric, physically if nothing else, asking Grace to send the doctor in when she showed up.

Eric was still lying where I had left him of course, still pale and unmoving as always during the day. His healing hadn't progressed any further and he still looked bent and broken. Maybe nothing more would improve until he had blood again. The doctor might know.

I opened my shields completely, and sent out what comfort I could to him, but for once I thought he might not be able to hear me. I got under the covers with him, wrapping him in my arms, and thought about everything that had happened.

I should have listened to Eric, and not necessarily about going out to the bank. I didn't think the shooting had anything to do with last night's events. It had probably just been a fanatic and that could have happened anywhere, even if I'd been out with Eric. There was no way I was going to spend my life locked up in the house or something like a prisoner. Eric and I still had to talk about that.

But maybe I should have let him just kill Bob the first time that witch had betrayed us. The thought of a cold-blooded execution of someone just because they could be a threat to us didn't sit well with me though, although it wouldn't have bothered Eric one bit. My own black and white ideas of right and wrong had gone pretty gray, but I wasn't quite as ruthless as the vampires yet, and I never wanted to be.

And there had been that dream of Claudine and her cat. What had that been about? We had begun to see our dreams as visions or something, and maybe some of them were. But the one about that cat might just have been a regular old dream, something everybody has, and something that didn't need to make sense or have a purpose.

Had I given that too much weight? I had seen so many things that were beyond imagining in the last few years, things out of tales and legends. I didn't know what to believe was real anymore. My whole worldview had been broken down, and I was still rebuilding it, piece by piece.

But Bob had turned out to be a nightmare that was back to haunt me again, whether he had meant to or not this time. There was no other explanation for Etienne knowing so much about our family's business. Jonathan could have told him some of it, but even Jonathan wasn't really privy to the contracts that we had agreed to, or things like the gloves that I'd given to Jerahmeel. And Jonathan had been in charge of tracking the escaped cat.

So, where was Bob now? Nobody had found him at Fangtasia. Jonathan might know and Pam would get it out of him no doubt, although I didn't like to think about that process. After that, I'd just let the vampires deal with the Bob problem.

The other vampires were the real problem now, as Dr. Ludwig had predicted and we'd known they would be. It had always been just a matter of time until the fertility issue became obvious. They had just found out a little sooner than we'd hoped.

The drive to reproduce was paramount in all living things, sentient or not. Vampires had a way to produce "children" and those children had a pretty strong tie to their makers, but there had been no way for them to pass on their actual genes - until now.

I wondered if it was that powerful primal drive to see your own genetic makeup continue that had driven Etienne. Had he envisioned some eternal dynasty of his own children, humans tied to him by blood, and possibly turned after they had produced the next generation? Human children would be fragile, and would require care, but the growing years of a child were the blink of an eye to a vampire, and progeny that walked in daylight had the advantage of being able to blend with the humans, earning their trust and affection. It was a chilling thought in some respects.

I let those thoughts mull around my head for a while before going back over everything that Etienne had said to me in Fangtasia. By the time I finally figured out what had been bothering me the night before, my mind was exhausted and I let myself drift off to the consolation of sleep.

A persistent tapping sound woke me up. It was rare for anyone to disturb us when Eric and I were alone in our bedroom, but I knew the doctor was coming, so I got up, threw my robe on, and went to unlock the door. I was a little surprised to see Thalia and Daniel standing there and I wondered how long I'd been sleeping. Surely it couldn't already be dark out. Eric was usually wide-awake by the time it was dark.

"Is he awake?"

The voice came from the small woman standing with the vampires, almost unnoticeable next to them.

"No," I said, stepping aside as Dr. Ludwig strode into the room.

Daniel followed behind, carrying what looked like an ice chest.

I adjusted the belt on my robe, and ran my fingers through my hair, not quite awake yet, and watched as the tiny woman croaked out a "Hmmpf" and walked over to the bed. Thalia followed her in and picked her up, depositing her on the bed.

"Have you fed him?" she asked.

I wasn't sure if she was asking me or the vampires, but I answered.

"Not tonight, but last night he had some of my blood and some from Thomas and Pam."

"Did he bite, or just feed?"

"No, no biting. But he swallowed on his own."

She pulled the covers down, leaving Eric naked in front of everyone. Not that he would care of course, but somehow it seemed like a violation when he was sleeping like that, even if she was a doctor. It made him seem so vulnerable. I almost protested, but then shut my mouth. She would have to look at him. But why wasn't he waking up?

He looked beautiful, for all that I could see that his color still wasn't right and he still looked damaged. His hair was sprawled over the pillow in golden tangles. I should have braided it before I tucked him in. It would be a mess to brush out later.

The doctor pulled a small flashlight out of her pocket, and examined his eyes, just like the human doctor at the hospital had done to me. Then she spent a little time poking him and prodding him before she finally just leaned down and took a good sniff of his neck.

"Why isn't he waking up? When Bill had silver poisoning…"

"Compton was bitten a few times with silver teeth. It looks like Eric has been cut with silver multiple times, and was probably wrapped most of the night in it, on top of his other injuries. But I think there is something else going on too. He's been shielding you or you wouldn't be walking around. Can you feel him at all through your bond?"

"Faintly," I said, my voice a bare whisper. "At first I just knew something was wrong, but then after that, all I could feel was that he was still alive, and just barely. There was a moment, last night, when I felt…"

I relived the brief contact I had from Eric when the knife had been so close to cutting his eye and this time his feelings of dread and despair seemed to overwhelm me. I felt tears begin to well in my eyes.

"She's going to pass out," I heard someone say, and the next thing I knew I was sitting in a chair, my head being held down between my legs until my head had stopped swimming.

Someone handed me a clean white handkerchief, and I wiped my eyes and blew my nose.

The doctor was standing in front of me, and her face was almost level with mine when I was sitting. Her brows were furrowed and she looked worried, which scared me.

"By cutting off the bond your vampire has protected you, but while he has spared you his suffering, he has weakened himself. I believe he is in a healing sleep, much like a human coma. He'll recover, but in the meantime, you will need to remain strong. Others will be looking to you during this crisis, and you cannot afford to show weakness now."

"I brought some donor blood," she continued. "It will need to be warmed first and we'll need to get as much down him as we can."

So that was what was in the ice chest. I hoped it was from willing donors. She was a doctor after all. She probably had a connection with the Red Cross or something? Yeah, right!

"You can feed him a small amount of your own blood, but I don't want you draining yourself. It's not good for the child. And he'll need vampire blood. Older is better," she said, glancing back at Thalia.

"Can't you just give him a transfusion?"

"His veins will reject the needles, and close up too fast for a transfusion to do any good."

"Okay. What else can we do?"

It seemed like there must be something we could do to help Eric, besides just feeding him.

"Try to reach him if you can. The sooner he lets go of those shields, the sooner he will regain his strength and be able to heal himself. In the meantime, you need to take care of yourself. You're not eating enough. You need more than two meals a day. I'd tell you to minimize your stress levels, but I guess around here, there's not much hope of that. But get as much rest as you can. Letting yourself get run down won't help him or your child."

Batanya came to the door then, telling me that Mr. Cataliades was in the living room and needed to speak with me.

"Tell him just a minute, Batanya, while I get dressed."

I gathered up something to wear, then reluctantly left Eric in the capable hands of Dr. Ludwig. Thalia already had out a knife and was preparing to cut into her wrist to feed Eric, just waiting for my nod of approval. I rubbed my fingers over my own wrist where he had bitten me so many times before.

Now that I wasn't pumped up with desperation and adrenaline, I needed to sort out the complicated feelings I was having about all of this – the emptiness I felt burning a hole in my chest, my feeling of inadequacy that my blood alone couldn't heal him, and maybe even a little jealousy that someone's else's blood would be running through his veins. I'd have to ponder all of that later though.

I nodded to Thalia to give my permission to feed Eric, then grabbed my phone before I headed into the bathroom to change. There was one other thing I needed to do before I went down to see what the demon lawyer had to tell me.

He picked up the phone after only one ring.

"Jordun," I said. "There is something I need you to do for me."


	110. Chapter 110

CHAPTER 110

I picked out some plain black slacks and a light blue silk blouse and threw them on over some clean underwear. I grabbed some black flats out of the bedroom closet on my way to meet with Mr. Cataliades.

Thalia was still feeding Eric, and even though he was swallowing, he wasn't really awake. His fangs hadn't even come down, and I didn't think that was a good sign at all. I walked over to the bed, laid a quick kiss on the top of his head and went to the living room.

"Ah, Mrs. Northman, you are looking lovely as always."

"Thank you, Mr. Cataliades. It's a pleasure to see you."

The demon lawyer was dressed in his usual business suit, and had his leather briefcase on his lap. It looked like someone had already served him a glass of sweet tea, so we didn't waste any time on pleasantries, but got right to the point.

"How is the King, my dear?"

"Dr. Ludwig is with him now, and Thalia is giving him blood. He looks a little better than he did last night, but he appears to be in a coma of some sort," I said, my voice almost choking on the words.

"Ah, the silver poisoning," the lawyer said, as if he was talking about the most natural thing in the world, like a common cold.

"Yes," I said.

"I have spoken to Jan, but I would like to hear things from your perspective, if you wouldn't mind."

I gave him a quick rundown of the last two nights, including the shooting and Etienne's Last Stand, which was what I was calling it in my mind.

"So there was no previous agreement that the Prince would come to your aid, or the King's, during this particular engagement?"

"No, but…"

"And perhaps he was alerted to your distress through the hound, who was under no direct order or inducement to attack," he said casually, stopping to take a drink from his glass of tea and looking at me over its rim.

I could see where he was going with this, and played along.

"The hound did let out a gawds awful howl before he sprang," I said.

"And then you dealt with Etienne's child, who appeared ready to unlawfully carry out a death sentence upon your King, putting your own life in jeopardy at the same time," he continued. "Very nicely done, I might add."

"Thank you, I think," I replied.

"And you at no time attacked, or ordered your child or any other vampire in your kingdom to assault or otherwise endanger any of the council members, is that correct?"

"Yes, I'd say that was correct."

"Very good. Killing a council member is a capital crime," he said, "but technically, it was done by someone out of vampire jurisdiction. That has the potential for a new set of issues, but we can look at those later."

"Is who killed him more important than why he was killed?"

I wondered if it had been my fire bolt that had killed Etienne if I would then be looking at the death penalty, or if I would be considered out of vampire jurisdiction too. Or could Eric be considered personally responsible for my actions, since I was his property?

"Not necessarily," he evaded, "but it means that it can not be held against us directly. The survival of the other two members is in our favor."

I didn't know how happy I was that they'd survived, but if it would help get us out of this mess, then I wasn't going to complain about it.

"So, what's the bottom line here, Mr. Cataliades? Do you think they'll want to try me or Eric for the death of that madman? You didn't see what he did to Eric, and he threatened Claudine for Christ's sake! A baby! Of course we were going to defend ourselves."

"Mrs. Northman, if you will excuse my bluntness. You seem to be under the misapprehension that the laws governing vampires are based on some sense of fairness. I can assure you that they are not, any more than human law is."

Well, yeah, I guess I was assuming that. Whether Eric had broken some law or not, he had deserved a fair trial, and holding Eric and torturing him to get something from me was just not something that sat well in my code of ethics.

Not that that kind of thing didn't happen in human courts too. It hadn't been that long ago that the newspapers had been full of stories of my own country torturing prisoners while holding them without due process. You couldn't read a history book without finding out that "Might is Right" was the morality code for most regimes. Not that I'd paid a whole lot of attention to history.

"So, are you saying that Eric is still in trouble, or that I am? Or what?"

"It is hard to say how the Ancient Pythoness will see this. It is true that Etienne may have overstepped his authority in how this was handled, but there is still some room to interpret our contracts with other realms as unlawful."

"There is no question of keeping our kingdom's personal entanglements private at this juncture. The documents will be demanded, and we will have to produce them. Depending on how the seer views the situation, this could work in your favor. Knowledge of your new 'abilities' makes you a more desirable asset, but having the Prince's interest in your welfare more widely known does offer you some small amount of protection from further threats."

I wasn't sure exactly what he was saying with all of that. I might be a more desirable asset? Did that mean I could somehow bargain away Eric's possible crime by helping vampires produce little juniors? That was basically what Etienne had demanded, only not in a very clean or nice manner.

"Then there is the question of whether we will take California, now that Etienne is dead."

Wow! That was a big leap out of nowhere. I hadn't even considered what would happen to California now that their king was dead.

"Wouldn't his second in command be the king now? It's not like we mounted a takeover. Anyway, I don't even know if Eric wants California! And it's not like any of us killed Etienne, so how would we have anything to say about who ends up with his domain?"

"His child Augustin was his second, and I believe that you are responsible for that death? This is one of the issues that will have to be decided, once it has been determined whether Eric will face charges of treason for the contracts. And a strong regent ready to take the reins of the kingdom during Eric's recovery will be important in all of these decisions."

So now I had a name to tack on to the one I'd killed. Augustin. That made it feel a little more personal, but not enough that I was regretting what I'd done.

"Who did you have in mind? Do I need to call Jordun home? He's Eric's brother, would that be enough?"

I couldn't see Pam taking over the whole kingdom, although she had stood in good stead for Eric when he'd been cursed by witches.

"Oh no, my dear. I think you would be the one to fill that position."

Okay, this was getting ridiculous.

"You can't be serious," I said. "I don't know anything about vampire politics except that they suck."

"You have been recognized as the Queen by your mate, and his subjects have sworn fealty to you by blood rite. I grant that not being a vampire does add a new dimension to the idea, but I have a feeling that it will fly with the new council."

"The new council?"

"Yes. I also have a feeling that Isaiah and Basil may have a date with a stake before long," he said.

And then, for the first time I think, I heard Mr. Cataliades laugh. I wasn't sure that it was a very pleasant sound, and I certainly didn't know if I appreciated his sense of humor, but I thought it probably was a good sign that he could laugh at something about this situation.

I must have still looked dumbfounded and I barely noticed when Mr. Cataliades patted his face with a napkin and got up from the couch, gathering his still unopened briefcase into his hand.

"This visit has been a delight, my dear, but I can see that you will need a little time to take this all in. The court, in consideration of your condition and that of the King, will not convene until tomorrow night. I have offered the bar again as a meeting place. Will that be a problem for you?"

I wasn't sure why he was asking me. It was Pam's bar, after all, or at least I had assumed it was. She sure acted like she owned it. I really wasn't keyed in to all the financial sides of these things.

"No, that's fine," I said, wondering if by my condition he meant my pregnancy, or my more general predicament of being up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

"Hopefully Eric will be awake by first dark tomorrow, but if not, you will be informed about when to appear in his place. I will of course be there to guide you."

"Thank you, Mr. Cataliades."

"And if the Prince were to hear about this trial, by means unknown of course, it would almost certainly play to our advantage," he said.

I wasn't sure what to say to that, so I just didn't say anything again. I was learning that sometimes that was the better part of valor.

"Good night, Mrs. Northman. I will contact you if any other concerns should arise."

"Thank you again, Mr. Cataliades," I said to his retreating back.

I heard him as he walked through the kitchen, mentioning to Grace that the Prince would surely enjoy her invitation to sample some of the lovely brownies that he'd heard she was so famous for. Perhaps Grace was meant to be our "means unknown" for informing Jerahmeel about the impending trial.

It wasn't long after I heard the door shut, that the noise of baking pans being dragged out of the cupboard could be heard from the kitchen.

Grand Central it wasn't, but with the traffic in and out of the house, it sure seemed like it. I sat on the couch in a stupor, watching vamps and weres walk through, most of them holding phones up to their ear.

Claudine had picked up on the excitement, and was running through the house shrieking, Fee flying around behind her. The vamps, with their uncanny sense of everything that moved around them, managed not to step on her, sometimes pausing in their stride to pat her on the head. Cat was letting her run off her excess energy, keeping a watchful eye, so I just let her have her fun.

It felt like I should be doing something, but I wasn't sure what. Grace had the kitchen well in hand. Cat was minding the kids. Jan would see to the business end of things, and Mr. Cataliades was obviously dealing with the politics. I would have liked to sit down with Eric and talk all of this out, but he was in a coma being tended to by a dictatorial hobbit.

"You planning to invite anyone else to your pity party?"

I sort of jumped to attention when I realized that I'd been addressed.

"I would have invited you, Pam, but you're hardly dressed for the occasion."

Pam was not looking her best. Her three hundred dollar designer jeans were splattered with something (I didn't want to know), and her cashmere sweater had several sizable holes in it and seemed to be unraveling as we spoke. She had a phone in one hand and a glass of milk in the other.

"I dropped over to the club, and couldn't resist a little visit with Jonathan," she said. "Your brownie said you needed this. The doctor must be in the house."

She shoved the milk in my general direction, and I took the glass, realizing that I was actually pretty thirsty. It didn't escape my notice that she had taken to calling Grace "your brownie", just like Eric did.

"Thanks, Pam. Do I want to know what Jonathan had to say?" I asked, trying not to sound too eager even though I was dying of curiosity.

"He says he doesn't know where the cat is being kept," Pam responded.

I flinched as she flung herself down onto one of the chairs in her nasty clothes. My brownie wasn't going to stay in a good mood long if Pam stained up the upholstery.

"He has really gotten on my nerves," Pam continued. "You have no idea how much work he is causing me. Do you know how hard it is to get donors at the last minute like this? There must be some kind of hooker's convention or something going on in town. Everybody's busy. No one answers their phone."

She glared at the cell phone still in her hand as if it was the phone's fault.

"Don't we contract with someone to get donor services, Pam?"

She gave me a look that might have been interpreted as "Well, duh!"

"You should see what they sent over, Sookie. They must have pulled that trash right in off the street. There's no way we're serving that to the Ancient Pythoness's entourage! It's impossible to get good help these days," she sighed.

I didn't know what to say to that age-old lament, but I made an effort.

"I'm sorry you're being put to so much trouble, Pam."

"Oh well. What is it you always say, Sookie? No rest for the wicked! Oh, by the way, I'm supposed to tell you they're bringing your wolf in from the hospital. I think he's out in the driveway."

And with that, she got up, put her phone back to her ear, and strode off to the office.

I jumped up from my seat on the couch and headed to Jordun's room to make sure it was ready to receive an invalid.

Most vamps spread their personal possessions out in more than one location, moving frequently in case their hidey-holes were compromised, but when they do settle in, they are much like anyone else, accumulating the odds and ends of things that are useful, that attract, or that amuse. Jordun was no different, and his room looked comfortably lived in.

The bed had already been freshly made up, probably by Grace. Where she found the time to do everything, I would never know. Several bookcases were filled with assorted novels, weapons, personal care products and a few photos. A few pieces of art hung on the wall, landscapes mostly. There was a small table sitting next to the bed, and I saw that Grace had already set out a pitcher of water and a glass, a box of tissues and a few magazines. The room looked recently cleaned, so there really wasn't anything for me to do except needlessly fluff up the pillows and pull back the covers.

I hoped that Jordun wouldn't mind that we used his room for a few days, but the house was pretty full up, and this room was close to the family living area and would be convenient for dealing with someone that needed care. I'd have to make sure it was well aired out after Mark was better, so the smell of wolf wouldn't bother Jordun. Vampires and their sensitive noses!

Mark was wheeled in a few moments later, Travis pushing the chair. He looked pretty pale and tired, but considering surgeons had been screwing his shattered shoulder together less than two days earlier, he looked darned good. Weres really did heal fast.

"Glad to see you home, Mark. If there is anything we can do to make you more comfortable, you just sing out."

"Thank you, Ma'am. It's just good to be out of that hospital."

"It's me that should be thanking you, Mark. If it weren't for you…"

"I was just doing my job, Mrs. Northman, and I'm just glad we all came home alive."

"Amen to that," Travis said as he locked the wheels of the chair, and swung the footrests aside.

Mark was wearing institutional looking pajama bottoms and those flimsy paper slippers that the hospital gives out. His chest was bare except for thick wads of bandages and a dark blue sling that kept his arm in place. He was able to stand long enough to make it easy for Travis to transfer him into bed, his back propped up a bit with pillows.

Of course, Claudine had to come in to see what was going on, and it was all Cat and I could do to keep her from flying up and landing on the bed to play with Mark. We all laughed at her antics, but by the way Mark winced, I could tell that even that small bit of activity was causing him pain. A call from the kitchen that dinner wasn't getting any hotter waiting for us on the table was a good reason to hustle Claudine out of there and leave Mark to rest. Travis stayed behind, parking himself in a chair at bedside with a book.

I figured that a meal was not going to help with the knot in my stomach, or the emptiness I was feeling, but Dr. Ludwig was joining us for dinner, and there was no way I was going to avoid dinner without a scathing lecture from her. So, I sat down with the rest of the family (or at least the breathing component) at the dining room table.

The food actually made me feel a little more grounded, physically at least, and having the doctor's quick and lively banter with Grace and the Britlingens made the occasion seem more like a social call than the crisis situation that actually existed. I found myself enjoying Grace's hot and spicy gumbo, but excused myself as soon as I'd eaten, not even offering to help with the dishes, or waiting for one of the warm brownies that I could smell baking in the oven. I wanted my vampire.

Our bedroom seemed eerily quiet, away from the bustle of the household. Eric lay inert, covered by a sheet and unchanged from the night before except for a slight smear of blood at the corner of his mouth.

I grabbed a tissue out of the box by the bed, and dampened the corner of it with a little spit before wiping off the dried blood from Eric's face. Okay, I know, gross! But it wasn't like Eric could catch anything, or that we hadn't shared every kind of bodily fluid already. And I'd hardly ever been sick a day in my life, at least, not until I'd gotten pregnant. Besides, Gran had used that method to clean jelly off us kids for years, and Jason and I had both survived.

I went over to lock the door, grabbed the hairbrush out of the bathroom, and climbed up on the bed. It took a little maneuvering, but I managed to prop his head up on my lap, and began to run the brush through his silky golden hair.

"Shall I tell you about my day, sweetie?"

I was already missing our nightly ritual of talking about my day. I often wondered if Eric listened so patiently to indulge me, or if he was actually interested in the trivial woes and joys of being a stay at home mom. But listen he always did, smiling at the tales of Claudine's antics and stroking my hair when I'd vent the frustrations that were inevitable in dealing with kids, dogs and everyday human life.

"Claudine seems to be enjoying all the commotion," I told him, carefully teasing out a tangle with the brush. "And Fee has just been flying around behind her all day, like he's keeping an eye on her. Dante's hardly been in at all though. He found a place outside in the sun, and just laid out there most of the day, soaking it up. Do you think he has to recover or something after living through that fire bolt? Maybe he had to maintain some kind of shield all that time and it wore him out? Kind of like you're doing, I guess. Anyway, Grace was probably glad to have him out from under foot. She sent Jim to the market to get him some steaks, can you believe that?"

Of course, Eric didn't answer, and the silence was almost like pain to me - a nagging, throbbing, hurtful thing.

I thought about braiding Eric's hair, so it wouldn't get all tangled up again, but the ties were in the bathroom, and I didn't want to leave him even for the few moments it would take to go get one. Instead, I set the brush on the night table, and slid down to lie beside him.

He was cold. So very, very cold. My body shivered slightly in response to the contact with his skin. I reached down and pulled up the quilts, but I knew that mere cloth would not warm the icy chill that lay over him.

I wanted to talk to him about what was going on, about how I'd killed someone and didn't feel guilty about it at all and how I didn't know what that said about me anymore. I wanted to tell him that I was sorry I hadn't listened to him about Bob, and how worried I was about what Jordun would find out. I wanted him to reassure me that everything would be okay and that he would always be there to protect me, but instead I just said the most important things of all.

"I love you," I whispered in his ear, "and I miss you."

I pulled on the power that I was becoming more familiar with, the same power that had sent Augustin to his final death, and I let the fire invade me.

My hands glowed in the dim light of the room, sending the warmth of life into Eric's body as I ran my fingers over his smooth, pale skin.

Dropping my shields completely, I opened my mind to reach out. I felt the warm concern and mild disapproval that so often surrounded Grace, the relief that had settled like a blanket over Travis as he held vigil at Mark's bedside, the delight that Fee radiated as he watched over Claudine, the worry, fear and anger that hung like a black cloud over the vampires.

And under all of the chaos of the many busy minds and hearts spread throughout the household, I found my Eric.

His pain had eased so that it was bearable, but hopelessness had spun a tight cocoon that closed his mind off from the world, and now, alone and afraid, he no longer had the strength to break the web that despair had spun.

"Eric, come back to me. I need you."

I felt him stir as I reached down the barely discernible bond that still tied us together, the warmth of my demon fire burning away the bonds that enclosed him.

He was so afraid. Afraid for me. Afraid that they would use his pain as a weapon against me. He had experienced my struggle to hang on to my own sanity while being tortured by the fairies, and he couldn't bear to watch me in pain again, even if it meant that he would have to suffer through this torment alone. He had denied himself what comfort I could give him, to spare me.

"Come back. We're safe now, and I miss you so much."

I called to him, sending love and comfort and warmth to him, sharing my strength and my determination, to help him fight his way back to me.

I felt the flowerings of hope unfold in his mind, and tears of relief dripped down my cheeks as he opened his eyes to look at me.

"Sookie?"

It stabbed at my heart to hear my proud Viking sound so weak and vulnerable, and a fierce determination began to grow inside me.

"I'm here, sweetie," I said, wiping his own bloody tears away with my fingertips.

"I was so afraid that they would take you," he whispered, his voice low and raw.

"Hush, my love," I whispered back. "Sleep, and heal. No one will take me from your side."

I stroked his hair lightly as he fell back into a more restful sleep, our bond beginning to hum between us.

"And I won't let them hurt you again," I added. "I'll burn them all if I have to!"


	111. Chapter 111

CHAPTER 111

The ringing of my phone woke me. I had slept long and dreamlessly, wrapped around my vampire, not even getting up for the bathroom. And believe me, when you're pregnant, that's saying something. I glanced at the clock. It was still morning.

"Hey Alcide."

I sat up a bit straighter, using my free hand to untangle myself from Eric's arms.

"How's it going, Sookie? I hear you got yourself some trouble out there."

"Tell me about it! Sorry to have sent any of it your way."

After capturing the weres that had tried to prevent Claudine from leaving Nevada, bundling them up in the cargo hold and sending them off to Alcide had seemed like a better alternative to just killing them all. After all, they were just following the council's orders. We had enough problems already without pissing off the Las Vegas were pack.

"You did the right thing. Just let me know what you want me to do with them when you decide."

"Thanks, Alcide."

"But that's not what I'm calling about," he said. "Jordun asked us to look into a few missing persons out in Red Ditch. He wanted me to get back to you with whatever we found out."

At the word "missing", my heart skipped a beat, and I was glad that I was sitting down. When I'd finally realized the significance of what Etienne had said, that he didn't need "another" telepath, I knew who he was referring to. It wasn't as if telepaths were a dime a dozen, and Barry had seemed pretty happy working for Stan in Dallas, so I'd asked Jordun to have someone check on Hunter and Remy.

"Did you find them?"

"The house was closed up. Nothing unusual out front except for quite a bit of mail in the box, grass grown up a little high, like they'd gone away for a bit. Front door was locked and there was a pick-up in the carport, but it didn't smell right, you know? So we went in through the back. Whoever it was left a little dog in there. Poor thing looked half dead. Guess he got into a bag of dog food that was left out or he woulda starved. Surprised the neighbors didn't call in a complaint. He must have made some noise being locked up like that."

At least they hadn't killed Hunter's little dog Sam. I held my breath, waiting for the rest of the bad news.

"I sent a tracker to check the woods out behind the house. We found one dead male, maybe thirty-five or forty, dead for no more than a week probably, not buried very deep. No kid though. What you want us to do?"

I started to ask how Remy had been killed (cause it was almost certainly Remy), if it had been a vampire, but in the end, I just didn't want to know.

"Did anyone see you?"

"We were careful, wore gloves, didn't disturb anything too much. Jordun can send a vamp out to talk to the neighbors, just in case anyone noticed us snoopin' around. We took the dog though. Couldn't leave him there like that to starve."

I wasn't sure what to tell him. If I found Hunter, I didn't know how we would deal with the authorities. It wasn't like they would give me custody of Hunter. I lived in a house full of vampires for goodness's sake. And they would question how I ended up with him in the first place, with his father lying dead out in the woods.

Remy would have family, and they might want the boy. Not that they would know how to raise a telepath, and anyway, Hunter would never be safe with a human family. He needed someone strong enough to protect him. He would be outed to the supe world eventually, if he wasn't already, and he would be looked at as just an asset, not as a little boy that needed a family, love and affection.

I didn't know what Eric would think if I brought him home, and I couldn't very well ask him in the state he was in. Did he want more kids around the house? He certainly hadn't been anticipating the family life when he'd taken me on. Having loved ones was an Achilles' heel for a vampire, something that could be used against them, as we were seeing right now. Not that he wasn't glad to have Claudine or wasn't a good father to her.

Then there was the question of whether I'd be able to find Hunter at all. But I wasn't going to let myself think that I wouldn't.

"Listen, Alcide. I'm going to talk to Mr. Cataliades and see what he thinks we should do, and then have him call you. Can you take care of the dog until we get home? His name is Sam."

"Sure thing. You gonna be alright out there, Sookie?"

"Yeah," I said, sounding a little more confident than I felt. "Thanks for everything, Alcide. I owe you."

"You're a friend of the pack, Sookie, and that's what friends are for."

I took a moment to count my blessings. There'd been more than one time when I'd wished I'd never met another supernatural, and Alcide hadn't always acted like I'd expect a friend to act. But right now I was sure glad to have him as a friend.

Mr. Cataliades' number was on my speed dial, so I hit a few buttons and waited for him to pick up.

"Mrs. Northman, what a pleasure to hear from you."

You had to love the demon lawyer. I had just met with him a few hours before, and he sounded as if he had just gotten a call from a long lost friend.

"How is the King?"

I looked down at the sleeping vampire in my bed. The improvement in Eric's state was immediately apparent. It seems strange to say that his color was better, since it isn't like vampires have a whole lot of color to their skin to begin with, but the grayness was markedly less, and the glow that usually surrounded him seemed brighter and cleaner. But the most noticeable thing was the bond that tied us together, humming strong and steady, and filling me with assurance that he would soon be his old self.

"He's looking much better, although I don't know that he'll be up for the meeting tonight," I said. "But that isn't what I called you about."

I proceeded to tell him about my relationship to Hunter and what Alcide had found out at the house in Red Ditch.

"And you think you know where the boy is?"

"Not exactly, but I think I can find him. Maybe you could help with that too. I'll need a little information."

I told him my thoughts about where Hunter might be, and he promised to get back to me within the hour with the information I needed.

"Thanks, Mr. Cataliades."

"My pleasure, my dear, and I hope you will be careful. An asset like that will not be left unguarded. And you might tell Grace that the Prince has accepted her invitation and will be there shortly."

Modern civilization has seen the creation of the gas engine, penicillin, space travel and computers, and all of those things were very well and good, but was there anything really better than hot water, and plenty of it, first thing in the morning? Well, maybe caffeine!

I slid out from beside Eric, gave him a quick kiss, made sure he was well tucked under the blankets and made my way to the shower.

I washed my hair, shaved myself smooth as a baby's bottom, and plucked, brushed and made myself up until I looked my best. There was nothing like a few extra minutes of primping to instill confidence in a woman, and I was going to need all I could get today.

The house was already in full swing when I sat down to my first cup of coffee of the day. I was beginning to wonder if Grace ever slept at all these days, as she carried a tray with the remains of breakfast out of Mark's room, and started in on French toast for me.

Dr. Ludwig was nowhere to be seen, and I figured she probably had headed back to her hospital in Louisiana to deal with her other patients. Batanya and Clovache might have still been sleeping, or outside on guard duty. But Dante was back in his usual place in a corner of the kitchen, just as if we were still home in Shreveport, his teeth making a grating sound as they gnawed away on a big bone.

Claudine was working on her own breakfast in her high chair, her hands and face a sticky mess. I noticed one of her dolls on her tray; its face looked like she'd tried to feed it some of her French toast. I didn't see Fee, but he was probably in his own little house, or outside hunting up nectar.

I polished off my plate of food and helped Grace lay out her brownies and the good china for the visit from Jerahmeel. Everything looked ready and Claudine was washed and dressed in fresh clothes when Mr. Cataliades called back to give me the location of Etienne's main headquarters in Los Angeles. I doubted there was a Yellow Pages for vampires, but Mr. Cataliades had connections all over the place apparently. Now all I needed was transportation.

Los Angeles is really not all that far of a drive from Las Vegas, although I hear the traffic between the two cities is murder. Not that I planned to spend the day in the car, especially with the meeting with the Pythoness scheduled for later that evening.

It had occurred to me that I could ask Niall to just pop me over there. Hunter was his great-great grandson after all. But I didn't really want to be asking anything of Niall. I didn't really know what his motives were these days (not that he'd ever revealed any of his motives to me), and I didn't want Hunter to be under any obligation to the fairies.

I wasn't about to try popping myself there either. I hadn't really had much practice with teleporting myself, and even if I could manage to get there in one piece, I didn't really believe I could get back with Hunter in tow. Then there was the consideration that I didn't know what I'd encounter when I got there. The lawyer was right. A prize like Hunter wouldn't be left unguarded, but we couldn't very well plan a full-scale assault on another kingdom, not when our own was possibly under siege.

If Eric ended up with Etienne's territory (something I thought highly unlikely at this point) then Hunter would be included with the other assets. But if someone else ended up with it, they weren't going to give up the little boy. Right now, while California's leader was dead and its status uncertain, was the time to go get him out, and Prince Jerry was just the man to pull it off.

"I hate to ask any more of you, but I think you're my best bet to get Hunter back," I said.

Claudine was sitting happily on Jerahmeel's lap, while he alternately took a bite of his brownie, fed Claudine a small bit, and occasionally dropped down a piece to Dante, who had curled up contently around the Prince's feet, waiting for fallout. He looked very much at home here in our kitchen, well, minus an outfit that looked like something out of the sixteenth century and the big honking sword strapped onto his back between his wings.

He listened quietly while I repeated the story of Hunter's relationship to me and why I thought he was being held in Etienne's territory. I probably should just have taken out an add in the Sunday Times, since I was telling this story so many times now.

"I don't really know how I am related to the angels," I said, "since that probably goes way back. But Hunter's my blood, so I guess he is yours too."

It seemed pretty obvious that that was where the telepathy came from at this point, since it wasn't from Niall's side of the family.

"He's just a little boy too, so he's probably pretty darned scared. He might not know what happened to his father yet, but if he saw what they did to Remy…"

I didn't want to imagine what that would do to a young child. I had lost my folks at a pretty young age, but I hadn't had to witness their death.

I figured that I had laid out a lot of good reasons for rescuing Hunter, and the Prince had seemed a man of his word and a general all around good guy, so I was a little surprised when he put a condition onto the offer of his help.

"I will perform this service for you," he said, "but I would ask something in return."

"I don't know what I can give you that you would want," I said. "You know that Claudine is not going to be a bargaining tool for anything."

He actually looked surprised when I said that, as if it had never occurred to him to bring Claudine into the discussion. I almost felt a little ashamed that I had brought that up.

"I would have you welcome my sons into your home, that they could spend time with others of their kind."

"Oh!" I said, surprised at his request.

I had never expected that, and my face turned red with embarrassment. That he would think he needed to bargain to have me accept his own children in my home made me feel pretty bad. He shouldn't have had to ask. I should have offered.

If they'd looked human, or even if they'd looked like angels, wouldn't I have already asked that they come along with their dad? Claudine had enjoyed them, and they had been gentle with her. Okay they weren't quite what you would call normal in other respects, but wasn't that like the pot calling the kettle black to think that?

"Of course! Nathaniel and Raphael would be more than welcome. I apologize that I didn't invite them sooner."

We were both quiet for a few awkward moments, and then we began to plan how to find Hunter.

"He will know you, if you call to him?"

I knew that he meant telepathically, since it wasn't like we could just send him a text message.

"Yes. I've talked with him that way before. So, if I reach out to him, he'll answer me. The problem is getting close enough. I don't know what my range is, really. And he might not know exactly where he is being held, so we'll need to get close enough for me to hone in on him."

"Then I will take you to this vampire headquarters. Can you show me where it is, on a map perhaps?"

"Well yes. I guess so. I don't have a map of California lying around, but we have a computer, and we can Google it."

His eyebrows cocked a bit at that, and I realized he probably didn't know what I was talking about, so I got out the laptop, and I introduced him to the wonders of the Internet.

Me and technology was like cats and bathwater. I hadn't even had a computer until Amelia had moved in with me in Bon Temps. But she had shown me how to get around on my laptop, and I knew that we could find all kinds of maps, so that's what we did.

Jerahmeel seemed pretty fascinated by the whole process, especially the satellite photos that we found. He thought we could get to the hills pretty close to the headquarters. Without a focusing object, like something that belonged to Hunter, we would have to hone in on Hunter's mind to pinpoint him, and that would take proximity. I didn't have anything of Hunters except for the "samples" that Niall had somehow acquired for his DNA research, and those were locked in our safe in Louisiana. So we would get as close as we could, and I would scan to see if I could contact Hunter.

"We will need to walk in the portals. It is too far to just 'pop' as you call it."

"It's safe though, right? I mean, we'll have to bring Hunter back that way, and he's just a little kid."

"It will not harm you, but it may not be pleasant."

"Will it take long?"

I knew I was supposed to be at the meeting with the Pythoness sometime after first dark, but I didn't want to wait another day to get Hunter. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him because I didn't go right away.

"Time is different in our world," he said, "so it would be better to go now."

He had said that before, that time was different in his world. I didn't know what that meant exactly, but that could be a discussion for another time. Better to just get going.

I gave Grace and Cat a brief rundown of what was going on, leaving Claudine in their care again.

"Your vampire will not be pleased if you leave this world," Grace cautioned.

"Yeah, I know. But this is something I have to do, and I have the Prince to look out for me. Save some dinner for me," I said, trying to make light of the situation.

The Prince wasn't kidding when he said that the portal might not be pleasant. For one thing, it must have been 120 degrees. The desert in Nevada gets that hot, but I don't usually hang outside in the middle of the day in summer. For another, there was that awful smell of sulfur. The sky was an odd color too, if it was even the sky. It glowed red, and not the soft red fading to gold of sunset. This was more like walking in the shadow of an erupting volcano, red fire and white heat.

"Come," he said, holding tightly to my hand, and pulling me along briskly, as I tried not to wretch. I wasn't sure what we were walking on, since I couldn't really feel the surface under my feet. My clothes were quickly soaked in sweat and my breath was coming short, although he still looked fresh as a daisy. It occurred to me that someone getting a glimpse into one of these portals might very well have seen the entrance into the demon world as the fire and brimstone of hell's gate.

About the time that I thought I was going to expire from heat and exhaustion, his free hand grabbed at what looked like thin air, and he ripped a hole back into my own world. I don't think I have ever been so glad to see blue sky as I was at that moment.

We were up on top of a hill, probably not far from the Hollywood sign if I remembered the map correctly. We had a great view of the huge sprawling city below, although I wasn't in much shape to appreciate it right then.

"Are you alright?" he asked, obvious concern in his voice.

"Yeah. I think so. I wish I'd thought to bring some water with me though. Is it always that hot in your world?"

"You are best advised not to eat or drink anything in the portals. And no, not all of my world is like that, although it is not quite like yours either. I am sorry that you have been distressed."

Distressed was a polite way to put it. I probably looked like shit, all sweaty, shaking and barely able to stand, my hair damp and smelling of god knows what and plastered to my head. So much for my extra primping that morning.

"Well, at least it was quick," I said.

"I believe that we have been gone for about two hours of your time," he said, looking at the position of the sun.

I checked my watch, and he was right. Now that was weird. It had only seemed like about ten minutes. Okay, so this is what he was talking about with the time thing. It was lucky that he'd shown up as soon as he had during the council meeting, since I had called him at kind of the last minute. He must already have been somewhere close to Nevada. Had he been watching out for me when I'd left Louisiana?

"Well, we better get moving then," I said, although I really would have liked to sit down for half an hour or so and recover, and ask him a lot of questions too.

"Yes, that would be wise."

I didn't have to worry about making it down the hill, since he offered to fly me down.

"Won't people see us? I mean, you're a little bit big to be mistaken for a bird."

"No one will see us," he said.

I had flown before, with Eric, but this was something quite different. There was no explanation for the magic that allowed Eric to fly, but it wasn't mechanical. He just sort of glided where he wanted to go. But Jerahmeel used his wings.

When they were fully spread, I could see that they were huge and must have been very heavy, but he didn't seem to strain as he scooped me up into his arms, took a running leap and launched himself towards the sky. I could feel the magic of his glamour sliding over us, making us invisible to human eyes. I wondered what radar would make of demons flying around. Would it even pick him up? Not that there was any reason that radar would be scanning the Hollywood Hills, although in this day and age of surveillance, anything was possible.

I can't say that it was comfortable. He actually had to work to move his wings through the air, and the feeling was a lot like being on a horse I guess, an even, loping movement that left me feeling a little car sick. When we had reached what he thought was a reasonable height though, he let his wings catch the wind, and we glided down with the air currents, touching down softly within a stone's throw of a beautiful mansion on the side of the hill.

"Call to the child," he said quietly as he set me down on the grass.

The walls of the place were made of concrete, and were topped with metal spikes interspersed with broken glass. I could hear a steady humming sound that I thought might be a swimming pool pump. There appeared to be several outbuildings besides the main house, which was huge and covered with a terra cotta roof - fireproof I was guessing, since California was well known for its tendency to burn every summer.

I dropped my shields, and reached out to Hadley's little boy.

"Hunter, can you hear me? Are you okay? Answer me if you can hear me."

I waited for a moment, sifting through all the minds that I could feel on the property. There were vampires here; quite a few of them if I wanted to count the blank spots that always accompanied a vampire's mind, but they were all sleeping so shouldn't be a problem. I did try to count the guards, and there were quite a few of those too, at least five humans, and it felt like about ten of the two natured, probably weres. Underneath all of the chaos of so many thoughts, I found the one I was hunting for.

"Is that you, Aunt Sookie?"


	112. Chapter 112

CHAPTER 112

"It's me, Hunter. Now you have to listen to me very carefully so we can get you out of there, okay?"

"Okay, Aunt Sookie."

"Whatever you do, don't talk out loud. You can do that, right? Just use your mind, like we do when you come to visit. Is there anyone else there in the room with you?"

"Curtis is watching TV. He goes with me when I have to go to the bathroom and he said he was gonna take me swimmin' in the pool later. He doesn't talk much, and his mind is all fuzzy, but he's nicer than the vampires."

That would be a were guard then, one that had been nice to the kid. I looked over at Jerahmeel, who was waiting patiently for me while I talked with Hunter.

"He has one guard in the room with him, a were. I don't want you to kill him, if you don't have to. Actually, it would be better if we didn't kill anyone unless we have to."

Jerahmeel nodded in agreement. I opened my mind to the Prince so that he could pinpoint the boy and then refocused on Hunter.

"I brought my friend Jerry with me, Hunter. He's going to come in and get you. He's like us, and he's going to listen in while we talk. Then he'll be able to find where you are, okay? You need to go with him."

"Is he a vampire like Uncle Eric, Aunt Sookie?"

Even though I was hearing only his thoughts, it seemed as if Hunter's voice got very, very small when he said that. I wondered what Etienne had said, or done, to make Hunter so frightened of the vampires. Jerahmeel must have picked up on it too, because his eyes seemed to glow until they were a very bright green… and very, very cold.

"No, Hunter. Anyway, the vampires are all still sleeping, so you don't have to worry about them. Jerry is like Claudine. He has wings."

"Is he coming soon, Aunt Sookie?"

"Yes," I said, looking quickly at the Prince. "He's on his way now."

"I want to go home, Aunt Sookie. It's my job to feed Sam, and he's going to be so hungry."

Tears began to well up in my eyes at the thought of this small boy worried about his pet.

"Don't worry, Hunter. My friend Alcide is taking care of Sam. He's just fine. Just stay where you are. Jerry's on his way and you'll get to see Sam really soon."

"Maybe I should go with you," I said quickly to the Prince. "He sounds so frightened."

In answer, a brief taste of his magic seemed to brush against my tongue as Jerahmeel wrapped himself in a cloak of glamour and just disappeared.

"It is safer if I go alone. Make your way back to the portal. I won't be long."

Wasting no time, I got up and started to trudge back up the hill. Realizing how conspicuous I was up there, I followed suit and closed my eyes for a moment, letting my own glamour cover my presence just as my Uncle Dermott had taught me. Too bad I couldn't just fly, I thought.

The hot afternoon sun didn't respect the visual shield that I had thrown up, and I was sweating again before I'd made it halfway to the place where we had exited the portal. Well, it was going to get a lot hotter before we got home, so I figured I'd whine about that later. For now, I just worried that everything would go okay down in the vamp's compound.

I had wanted to go in too, but Jerahmeel had wisely pointed out earlier that I was no match for the weres that would be guarding the child, not unless I planned on torching them all. Not that he cared a fig if we burned the place to the ground - weres, vamps and all. But the guards were just doing a job they were paid to do, and the Master of this establishment had already paid with his life for his crimes. There was no reason to go in guns blazing, when stealth would do as well. The Prince could get in and out a lot quieter and quicker without me to watch over too.

He was right of course, and I was already beating myself up about not listening to my "elders" (aka Eric) - as much as it galled me to admit that they usually had better judgment than I had. But still, I felt pretty useless, and I was awfully tempted to just pop myself after Jerahmeel and see if he needed any back up. But doing something reckless just to make myself feel like I was being useful was just plain stupid. Of course if I'd thought that on the night they'd taken Eric, I might have sat home doing nothing, and we'd have all been screwed.

No. For this, I would leave it to the expert. Not that you could put two experts on any subject in the same room and not have them fight it out or have to agree to disagree.

By the time I was just about up to the portal, and had argued back and forth with myself until I was just about blue in the face, I heard a soft whoosh, and Jerahmeel was landing next to me.

He had Hunter (looking pretty freaked out) held firmly under one arm, and he lowered the boy down gently. As soon as Hunter's feet touched the ground my little cousin hurled himself into my legs, almost knocking me over.

"Aunt Sookie!"

"Hey Hunter. It's okay. I got ya!"

I wrapped my arms around the child, all the while staring up at the Prince, and the apparently unconscious man slung over his shoulder, face hidden from my view.

"I recognized the smell of your cat," Jerahmeel said. "I thought you might like me to retrieve him."

He could have knocked me over with one of his feathers with that statement, but I didn't get a chance to really think about the whole issue because the Prince was already heading the last few feet to the portal, holding his hand out for me to grasp and saying, "Come. Hold tight to the child."

Considering that I could already hear an alarm and angry shouts coming up the hill from the vampire headquarters, I didn't stop to argue. I just grabbed Hunter's hand, told him to hold on and try to be brave, and dragged him into the gates of hell.

The return home wasn't any more pleasant than my first experience of the portals, and I was sure feeling glad that I didn't have to commute through this on a regular basis. Hunter managed to keep up as well as his short legs would allow, but he was looking pretty hot and breathless, not to mention scared shitless, by the time we "popped" out in the yard of the Vegas compound.

Within seconds of our appearance, we were almost blinded by the bright security lights and guards were surrounding us, their weapons aimed for killing shots. Everyone was on high alert already, and just popping in unexpectedly had raised all kinds of alarms.

I had barely gotten out a frantic "It's me! Don't shoot!" when the vamps came pouring out of the house, looking ready to tear something apart. I guess it had taken just as long to get home as it had to get to Los Angeles, because it was already dark, and the whole family was up.

"It's me, and I've got company. Can y'all just step back a bit?"

Of course everybody just ignored me, my vamps crowding closer. Pam, once she had decided that a) I wasn't injured and b) my companions did not appear to be a threat, took the opportunity to chew my butt out.

"Sookie, where the hell have you been and what the hell were you thinking? Jan has already left for the meeting. We had no idea if you were ever coming back."

I could have almost laughed that she mentioned hell in her query, considering what the portal was like, but I was much too concerned about how the sight of the vamps was affecting Hunter.

He had curled up into a ball on the ground, his small arms clinging to my ankles, his fingers digging into my skin in fear.

"Back up, Pam. I told Grace where I was going and I'm here now, so calm down and watch your language. You're scaring the kid."

I lowered myself down into a squat, and wrapped my own arms around the small boy, hugging him close.

"Hunter? It's okay. No one here will hurt you. These are my family. They were just worried about me. You're safe here."

"Is that Uncle Eric?" he said, his voice so small and timid that I had to strain to hear him. He had peeped around my legs and opened his eyes a fraction to stare at Daniel.

I remembered that he had never actually seen Eric, since Remy would never let him come over after dark. His father had wanted to keep him away from vampires. As it turned out, probably a good idea, but one that hadn't quite worked out.

"No, honey. Uncle Eric is in bed. He's…well, he's not feeling too good right now."

No point in trying to explain that whole situation to a small child.

"That's Daniel. He lives with us, and he watches over me and Claudine. You'll like him, I think. He reads us stories. And that's Pam," I said. "She's Eric's daughter, well, not like Claudine is, but I'll tell you about that later. And then there's Thalia and Thomas."

I pointed to each of the vamps in turn. Hunter's eyes got very big when he looked at Thalia and I realized he was looking at her huge broadsword, which of course was swinging back and forth as it usually was when Thalia was on alert or distressed in some way. I made a point to glare at her sword.

"Could you put that thing away, Thalia? You're gonna poke somebody's eye out. I don't think you'll be needing it."

She looked down her arm at the swinging weapon as if she couldn't see why it was a problem, but she promptly swung the sword up over her shoulder and sheathed it at her back.

"Why don't we take you inside, okay? Claudine is in there, and Grace. You remember Grace, don't you? She made brownies last night, and I bet there's some left over. And wait until you meet our new little friend, Fee."

"Okay, Aunt Sookie," he said.

He didn't sound completely sure of things, but he had loosened his grip on my leg, which I was grateful for, and he began to stand up.

"This is my cousin Hunter. He's going to be staying with us. Let's make a path, guys," I said to the assembled group, taking Hunter's hand to lead him inside.

"M'Lady," I heard from behind me, and turned as I remembered that Jerahmeel was still here with us. "What would you have me do with this one?"

He had laid, or dropped, Bob down on the ground near his feet. His eyes had that cold hard look again, and I pictured him as he had been that night of the Hunt, at the side of his hellish steed, his stance regal and his look hungry. I shook my head to clear the image and looked down at Bob.

The witch was still not moving, but he was apparently alive and breathing. I didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Probably not, for Bob's sake that is.

Little had Bob known when he'd agreed to help Amelia perform that ectoplasmic reconstruction of Hadley's death, that he would be sucked up into all this vampire shit. Kind of like me with Bill, I guess. And he'd probably been glamoured by Jonathan or Etienne and hadn't had much choice in letting the cat out of the bag (no pun intended) about Hunter. But when he'd helped Quinn try to kidnap me and murder Eric, he'd definitely written his own ticket.

I pictured myself in a cartoon for a moment, a little speech bubble over my head, with a light bulb going on. I could make toast out of a vampire that threatened my loved ones, and my conscience could live with that, but I hadn't been able to come to grips with the Bob problem. I'd convinced myself that I couldn't allow harm to come to a cat, that they were just innocent animals after all. But really, it was the idea that I could be responsible for another human's death that was the stickler. Almost as if their life was worth more than a vampire's.

I'd only been fooling myself. We were all predators. Cats, werewolves, vampires, humans, even the angels.

"I think Eric had planned on having Bob over for supper one of these days," I said, considering that little pitchers have big ears and wanting to shield Hunter from anything else that night. "Pam can find him a place to stay in the meantime."

I thought the Prince almost looked disappointed, as if he might have liked to have Bob as his own personal "guest". Pam, however, looked absolutely giddy with anticipation.

I walked over to Jerahmeel and put my arms around his waist, surprising him I think. His hands came up to my shoulders, and I could feel the warmth and strength of them, even as I heard the vampires hiss in disapproval behind me.

"Thank you," I said as I pulled away from the hug.

If it had been anyone else I might have added, "I owe you one." But I remembered Mr. Cataliades' caution about dealing with demons, and swallowed that remark.

So far the Prince had done nothing that would make me distrust him. He had lived up to his promise to protect me and he hadn't asked for anything that I was unwilling or unable to give. But how well did I really know him - enough to indebt myself to him? Maybe.

Instead I just said, "Bring the boys over soon. I'll show them how to make chocolate chip cookies."

Jerahmeel bowed his head and then just walked back through his portal and disappeared.

"Is he an angel, Aunt Sookie?

"Yes, Hunter, he is."

"Did God send him?"

I looked at the question in Hunter's eyes and thought hard about that. There was a time when I had seen the hand of God in almost everything. When people were rescued from disaster, I believed that God must have answered their prayers. Only now I saw another side to that equation. If God took all the credit for the rescues, why didn't he take any of the responsibility for the disasters that just kept on coming?

Gran would have told me that our faith was always being tested and that God worked in mysterious ways, but he was always watching over us. That really wasn't an answer though. It might offer some comfort in time of sorrow, but so did a cartoon of ice cream and a good romance novel.

The idea of God was an easy answer to a lot of hard questions, but I no longer even knew what questions to ask. Maybe answering yes would be a comfort to Hunter, but I wasn't going to lie to him.

"I don't think so, Hunter. I don't think God has anything to do with any of this. Come on, let's go see what's for dinner."

When the door to the house opened, Dante came barreling out, hell for leather, and just about flattened poor Hunter, slobbering all over him. The dog had grown almost as tall as the child! Hunter didn't seem to mind though, picking himself up and grabbing hold of the dog's ruff, giving him a rough pat on the head.

"Now look at you!" Grace said, pushing Dante aside and bending down to give Hunter the once-over. "I think you've grown an inch since I saw you last. Come on in, I bet you're ready for a brownie and a glass of milk."

I was sure ready for a brownie, and anything else in the house that was edible, and a shower, and a nap, and just about anything Grace had to offer that wasn't vampire politics. But I knew some of those things would have to wait.

I took a few minutes to settle Hunter in with Grace and Cat at the kitchen table, snagged a glass of milk, and headed off to get ready.

"How late am I?" I asked Daniel, who had followed me in. "Jan is already there? What about Eric? Is he awake?"

It felt to me as if my vampire were still sleeping, but I had been in California when dark had fallen here, or maybe in the portal. I wouldn't have felt him rising in either case.

"The council will meet at nine. It is now eight thirty. Jan and Cataliades have gone to argue our case. It may well go against us if you or Eric does not appear though. Eric did not rise again tonight, but Thomas has given him blood."

I had fully expected to be back before sundown, thinking the trip through the portals was kind of like teleporting, taking no time at all. And it had certainly not felt like we were gone very long - no more than ten minutes each way and the short time it had taken Jerahmeel to snag our quarry and run. The whole "time is different" in the portals thing was something that just didn't compute for me.

"Have the car brought up. I'll be ready in a few minutes. You and Pam can come with me, but I want Thalia and Thomas here to guard Eric and the kids."

If I was going to hear my death sentence, I wasn't going to show up smelling like something the cat dragged in. I closed the door to our room and started stripping off my nasty clothes, just leaving them where they lay. First things first, I needed the bathroom like yesterday!

I took care of my human needs, then jumped in the shower, soaping up and rinsing off in record time. I toweled off on the way to the closet, grabbing a cocktail gown off one of the hangers. Not wanting to take the time to dry it, I just ran a brush quickly through my wet hair, pulled on some undies and a strapless bra and stepped into the gown, hoping the dress would zip up okay. I was already getting a little poofy around the middle. Soon, I'd have to drag out the maternity clothes again.

When I had my heels on and was as presentable as I was going to get, I went to check on my vampire.

He was lying as I'd left him, the covers not quite straight, probably disturbed when Thomas had fed him. I straightened them out and gave him a quick kiss. His color looked almost normal, and our bond seemed to thrum against my skin, as if he felt that I was close.

He looked so gorgeous lying there; his hair spread across the pillow in a golden wash, an enchanted prince, straight out of a fairy tale. I touched his lips with mine, my hand running briefly down the side of his cool, perfect face, wishing that I could wake him with only a kiss. Things were never that easy though.

"I'll be home soon, sweetie," I said and went to check on Hunter.

I could barely remember how it had felt when I'd heard that my parents had been killed. It was so long ago now. But I hadn't been left on my own. I'd still had my brother Jason, and Gran had stepped up to the plate, filling my world with love and a sense of security.

Hunter had only had his dad to start out with, and there was no way that I could ever be the person my Gran had been. I wondered if I was qualified to provide him with what he needed to heal from all he'd been through. After all, I came with a lot of baggage and a lot of it was pretty scary stuff.

But I hadn't considered the women of our household. When I came out of the bedroom, I found Hunter seated at the table, Grace already setting out a plate of hot food in front of him. Batanya and Clovache were standing guard in the kitchen, with stances that just dared anyone to look crosswise at the boy. Even Claudine was doing her part, sitting in her high chair and holding out her funky stuffed mole to him, as if it was the greatest gift anyone could offer.

Hunter wasn't exactly smiling yet, but he no longer looked shell shocked.

"Hunter, I have to go out for a little while, but you'll be safe here."

It was like I'd hit him in the face, and he looked panicked for a moment.

"Aunt Sookie? Where are you going? Will you come back? Can't I go with you?"

His spoke so fast, the words almost tumbled over each other, and his voice sounded small and scared again. It tore at my heart a little bit and a lump formed in my throat. But I didn't have a lot of choice on this one. I went down on one knee next to his chair and took his little hand in mine.

"I promise I'll be back and no one here will hurt you. You know I wouldn't leave Claudine here unless it was safe, right?"

His own mother had left him, and she'd never come back. He'd had his dad to take care of him, but now his dad was gone too. His poor little head was filled with loneliness, doubt and grief.

"I'm sorry, Hunter. I wouldn't go if I didn't have to. I'll be back as soon as I can."

I leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek, tasting his salty tears as they began to roll down his face.

"You go on, Sookie. We'll be fine here," Grace said, walking over and just picking the boy up out of his chair and giving him a big hug. "We've got brownies and ice cream for dessert, and we're going to set up a tent in Claudine's room, with a cot. It'll be just like camping, won't it, Hunter?"

Hunter's answer was muffled as his face snuggled into Grace's shoulder. I looked at the small women standing strong and proud and determined in my kitchen. She was holding tight to the child although he must have weighed a ton. It was just the way my grandmother had held on to me the night my mother and father had died.

A caravan of cars was waiting for me outside, Jim at the wheel of one of the SUV's, with Daniel standing at the door to help me in. Thalia and Thomas seemed to be arguing with him, probably not liking that they were being left at home.

"Thalia, you and Thomas are two of the oldest things left alive in this world ("Now that the ancients that ruled California got roasted," I added to myself). I'm counting on you to protect Eric. If they try to hold me, I'll just pop home. And Daniel or Pam can stop a bullet as well as you can."

"You do realize that I'm wearing vintage couture," Pam said, brushing her hand down the front of an ugly pink skirt suit that Jackie Onassis might have worn. "I might survive a bullet hole, but my ensemble will not."

I was assuming the vamps would respect the old traditions while the Ancient Pythoness was there to call the shots, which meant death by stake, sword or draining. For that, they would have to get close, and I dared anyone to try after my demonstration of the night before. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

"They probably won't try to shoot me, Pam, so your suit should be safe. But if you think you need to change, you can catch up with us later."

"Fuck it," Pam said, getting into one of the cars. "There's no way I'm missing this barbecue!"

"Don't worry, Thalia. I'll have Dante with me to watch my back. And don't scare the kid. He's been through enough already."

With that, I piled into the back seat of the car next to Dante and buckled up my seat belt, not even yelling at the hound when he laid his head on my shoulder, his hot breath better than a blow dryer on my still wet hair.


	113. Chapter 113

CHAPTER 113

"Do you believe in God, Daniel?"

The vampire looked at me as if I'd just asked him how he'd enjoyed that steak he had for dinner or something. The puzzled look on his face made his scar seem more pronounced, even though I usually didn't even notice it anymore.

"There was a time when I believed," he said thoughtfully. "But if God exists, he has found another playground to meddle in. I see no sign of his presence here."

That was an interesting way to think of things. I knew that Daniel had been born after Christianity had emerged, or "reared its ugly head" as Eric sometimes put it. Many vamps, like Bill, kept their faith in God and even prayed, although most churches taught that vampires lost their soul when they were brought over. Of course the really old vamps, like Eric, had been raised in the time of multiple gods and never believed in the "one true god" idea at all. Their deities were in the realm of mythology now.

Hunter's question was still bouncing about in my head, probably because this is when I'd usually be saying a little prayer to God, hoping he'd be at my side at this meeting. Instead, all my faith was resting on a demon named Jerahmeel and I counted on him to bail me out if things went badly.

Well, now was not the time to have a crisis of faith. I'd just have to put that on my long list of things to be dealt with. And it was one chore I couldn't assign to Amelia.

"What do you think we should do about California?" I asked Daniel. "If the opportunity to claim it comes up, I mean."

Daniel looked even more surprised that I'd asked his opinion on a political matter. It occurred to me that no one ever asked Daniel's opinion on important stuff. He was never in on high-level management decisions. It was always Eric, Jordun and Jan (and sometimes even Pam if it was something in the retail vein), which was sort of strange when I thought about it.

Thomas was never consulted either, but then Thomas was just so…Thomas! He had summed it up pretty well though, one night at the dinner table. "It's always a good idea to listen to Daniel, since he's rarely wrong about anything," he had said, and I had found that to be pretty much true.

Daniel considered my question for a moment.

"Eric will not want another state."

That had been my thought too. Eric hadn't really wanted to rule Louisiana either, but he had taken it because it was the only way to assure our safety.

"The other vampires will expect him to claim it though. If he does not, it will be seen as a sign of weakness," Daniel continued.

Eric couldn't afford to show weakness in the vampire world, and I suppose I couldn't either. Mr. Cataliades had rightly pointed out that the wider knowledge of the demon mark that I carried might afford some personal protection to me, and even to Eric, since his life was so closely tied to mine, but that didn't mean someone wouldn't try to take our assets down the line, even if they spared our lives.

"Do you think we can hold a bigger kingdom?"

"Jordun could manage it. He is much like his brother. He doesn't crave power, but he can wield it when needed. In the human world, he would have grown into a position of authority whether he sought it out or not."

"Would you want the state, Daniel?"

I felt compelled to ask, even though I knew what his answer would be.

"I have other responsibilities," he said, meaning Thomas of course. "And I am content."

The relationship between Thomas and Daniel was odd, to say the least. Most vampires separated from their sires at some point, rarely spending more than a few decades together at any one stretch. Sophie Anne had been an exception, holding her children at her side for centuries. But she had been the strong one, the mastermind. With Thomas and Daniel, it was more that the child had become the parent.

Our arrival at Fangtasia put an end to our conversation, and I stepped out of the car, straightening my spine to convey a confidence I was not sure I felt. Dante leapt out after me, and stuck close to my side, his eyes darting back and forth and his nose busy sniffing for potential threats. I patted him on the head, glad that he was with me.

Rasul was at the back door with his usual comments on my choice of gowns. There were several other vamps that I didn't know, but they remained silent. No one challenged my companions, even Dante, although they all gave him plenty of room to pass without touching them. Word must have gotten out that the hellhound was not something to mess with.

The bar was pretty full, with chairs set up as if there was going to be a performance. I guess it would be considered entertainment for some of the observers, although personally, I would have rather sat in on some good music. On stage sat the Ancient Pythoness with her entourage, Jan and Mr. Cataliades representing Eric's kingdom, and one of the remaining California vamps standing with what I assumed was his lawyer. Isaiah and Basil were notably absent and I didn't see any formal seating of new council members, which might or might not be a good thing.

Mr. Cataliades was talking, but he broke off in midstream and turned to face me as I walked through the door, nodding to me politely in greeting. The Pythoness turned to the door too, but with her blind eyes, it was sort of creepy when she focused on me.

I just walked right up the center aisle, Dante at my side, Daniel and Pam at my back. I did a little curtsy bob maneuver in the direction of the Pythoness even though she couldn't see it. Pam glared at one of our vamps and the man got up and offered me his chair. I muttered a heart-felt thanks. I was dead on my feet, and there was no way I wanted to stand in heels for however long this was going to take.

"I see you have decided to grace us with your presence," the Pythoness said, sounding a little put out.

"I apologize if I'm late, Ma'am," I said, deciding to not let her get to me. "I was a little delayed retrieving our stolen assets from the late Mr. Sauvignon's estates."

Her eyebrows rose at that remark, and I may have smirked a bit. She couldn't see it in any case.

"And your king?" she said.

"He's still recovering from the silver poisoning, so I left him home. I guess I'll be acting as regent."

Since Mr. Cataliades had suggested it, I decided to go with it, hoping I didn't royally eff things up.

"Do you presume to fill the Viking's shoes?" she asked, in a voice that was probably meant to intimidate me.

I was tempted to make a remark about the size of Eric's shoes, but just kept that to myself. I couldn't help letting out a little nervous giggle though, which I tried to disguise as a cough.

"No Ma'am. I don't presume to be anything more than what I am," I said. "That will have to be enough."

"Yes. What you are. That is the question, is it not?"

"I don't know that we're on a friendly enough basis to exchange that kind of personal information," I shot back as I tried to settle myself into the chair. I was really kind of tired of people commenting on what I was or wasn't.

I was getting some pretty disapproving looks from the audience and Pam poked me right in the shoulder with one of her polished fingernails. I knew that I was pushing a few limits here, but I was tired and hungry and just a little on edge. Not much chance of getting a drink or a snack though, even if I was in a bar.

Like any bar, Fangtasia on the Strip was more often than not filled with noise. When a live band wasn't playing, the music piped through the speakers barely covered the sounds of bar stools scraping over hardwood floors, ice clinking in the bottom of drinks and glasses being washed out in the sinks. Not to mention the loud voices of patrons trying to speak over the racket, or just being loud because they were drunk. So the unnatural silence of a room full of vampires seemed even more jarring in this setting. I found myself wanting to fidget, to adjust my dress, to cross my legs, anything rather than sit still and wait to see what the old woman on the stage would have to say. I wished I'd brought my purse, so I'd have something to clasp in my hands to keep my fingers from twitching.

One of the lawyers broke the silence with the shuffle of his paperwork, and a slight clearing of a throat broadcast the intent to continue the discussion that my entry had disrupted.

The Pythoness waved a veined and wrinkled hand in the general direction of the lawyers and cut them off. Whatever the lawyers had to say was no longer of interest to her. Apparently she wanted to hear my side of the story.

I had to hand it to Mr. Cataliades. He had anticipated her questions pretty closely, and in his brief discussion with me the night before, he had given me enough clues to answer truthfully, while not giving out any more information than was absolutely necessary. The one thing I didn't want to do was lie about anything. Not only did lies usually come home to bite you in the butt, but who knew what a "seer" actually did see.

When the Pythoness asked about the agreement that we had signed with Jerahmeel, Mr. Cataliades handed it over to her. She passed it to one of her flunkies, who read it out loud and then handed it back to the lawyer without comment.

"And you supplied the Prince with gloves of some kind, to allow him to handle iron?"

The Prince didn't have a problem with iron, of course, but it was not my job to inform her of that.

"Well, I do intend to have his family over for dinner. It seems only polite under the circumstances."

"Being flippant will not advance your case, child."

"No, Ma'am. Sorry," I agreed, lowering my eyes to avoid her creepy blank gaze.

I had to wonder what she "saw" when she focused like that and if it worked somehow like my telepathy. My own gift was pretty much on overdrive, since I had dropped my shields the minute I'd walked through the door, not wanting to be caught with my pants down if something was going to happen. I couldn't "hear" the Pythoness though. Trying to read her thoughts was like going up against a brick wall.

Vampires were often difficult to read in any case, but I'd picked up a few things that might be useful already, as well as the presence of at least one uninvited guest. I wondered if the Pythoness knew he was there too.

"This agent, that spies for the demons…" she said.

"The hellhound showed up on my doorstep," I threw out quite truthfully, not waiting for her to form that into a question. "He seems to be more of a guard than anything else though."

The whole "agent" thing had always been a little bit questionable, but I couldn't see any reason to bring up Claudine's emerald. That at least was still a secret, or at least I thought it was, even though not much else about my life seemed to be.

"A guard," she said, turning towards the hound that was lying quietly at my feet. "What do you call him?" she asked.

"Um…Dante, Ma'am," I said. "His name is Dante."

She laughed then, a very genuine laugh, surprisingly clear and light coming from someone who looked so old. I don't know why it's always a little startling when a really old person laughs, maybe because they so rarely do have anything left to laugh about. My Gran might have been the exception. She could laugh at the drop of a hat. But then Gran never really acted as old as she was.

"Are you a student of history, Mrs. Northman?" she said, her tone going back to serious inquiry, and sort of disconcerting me, the question seeming so "out of the blue".

"Not particularly," I said.

"A lot less than I should be," I said to myself. I really needed to hit the bookstore and start reading something besides romance novels. Not that they weren't often filled with quite a bit of history, but who knew how accurate it was. Although the history books might not be either, since isn't it always the victors that write the accounts? And they're not going to portray themselves in a bad light.

I could probably learn a lot of history from my vampires too. The old vamps had lived most of their lives in hiding, not always participating in society so much as lurking in the shadows – the perfect observers in some respects. But I'd found that they rarely cared to talk about the past, even though they still observed many of the past's traditions.

"Why do you think that people submit to governance, when it is so often cruel and unfair?"

This sounded like something Eric had asked me before, and it had sounded a little patronizing to me at the time. I couldn't quite see her point in this line of questioning.

"I suppose the alternative would be chaos," I said. "And even less people would survive in the long run."

"Yes. Ultimately it is all about survival. If we cannot govern ourselves, we will not survive. But a governing body that would survive the test of time must be flexible, considering the changing needs of those they govern. They must consider who their true enemies are. And I do not see you, or your mate, as the enemy here. If we do not forge alliances where we must, the growing horde that is humanity will wipe the supernaturals from the earth."

She paused for a long moment, and I realized she had directed the last remarks not to me, but to Jerahmeel, invisible under his cloak of glamour at the side of the room.

"Tell me about this so-called trial, Mrs. Northman. I hear that you questioned the authority of the council to decide judgment without my presence."

I related what I had said to Etienne, and what he had answered. I wasn't sure that I remembered every word, but obviously she had heard more than one account, so she would get the gist of it.

"Even you understand the rule of vampire law, I see, although apparently there are others who do not."

She was sounding a little pissed off now, and it didn't take a telepath to see that she was not pleased that her authority had been called into question by Etienne.

"Bring in the accused," she said to one of her attendants, and the vampire scurried off to the back of the bar.

I was becoming a little bit confused at this point, since I had been under the impression that Eric and I were the ones being "accused". I looked at Mr. Cataliades and he nodded back at me. He was looking quite smug.

I poked Pam and she bent down to listen.

"Do you know what's going on?" I whispered.

Pam looked like it was all she could do to contain her mirth as she put her mouth to my ear. I was surprised when she didn't actually say anything, but started humming "It's a Small World"!

A commotion at the door from the offices drew my attention to the two vampires being hauled in, looking a little baffled by the whole proceedings. A small army of vamps escorted King Isaiah of Kentucky and King Basil of Virginia. Their hands were bound with silver, although the cuffs appeared to be cushioned with something that kept the metal from burning their skins.

"State your case," the Ancient Pythoness said, her face taking on an aspect of boredom, as if this was all a formality before she just drove in the stake.

The lawyer standing with the two kings was quite human in appearance, but his brain signature was close enough to Mr. Cataliades and his niece Diantha that I knew he must be at least part demon. Maybe all the lawyers that represented vampires were related in some way. I would have to remember to ask Eric about that.

As exhausted as I was, I paid close attention to the lawyer's arguments. He didn't have much of a defense really. The kings had come for the meetings, intending to hear inter-district cases and plan strategies for vampire alliances with the two-natured to counteract the increasing threat of the FOTS and other anti-supernatural groups. They had planned to enlist my help with interrogating some of the humans.

They had been unaware that Etienne intended to put Eric on trial. Neither one could remember authorizing his imprisonment or torture. They had voted against Eric because he was clearly a traitor and had planned to overthrow the Pythoness herself, although they now couldn't seem to recall exactly why they believed that to be true.

The interrogation seemed to go on and on, the answers increasingly vague as the questions became more detailed. There was something pretty fishy about the whole thing, and I was beginning to think that someone had been influencing Isaiah and Basil's decision at the trial. Their minds didn't feel quite right, and if they'd been human, I would have suspected that they'd been glamoured. But a vampire couldn't be glamoured, could they?

There was someone in the room that might be able to answer that question, so I directed my mind to him.

The vampire from California was not as old as Etienne or his child, but he was no youngster. He was also absolutely unremarkable in every way. Oh his suit was nice enough, expensive and well tailored, and I suppose he wasn't exactly unattractive. But he was just plain vanilla. Not very tall, not very handsome, not very dark or light, just the kind of person you'd never notice if he was walking down the street. I suspected that that might be his special gift, the ability to just blend in anywhere, never drawing any special attention. Quite an asset if you were a predator and were forced to live in hiding.

Well, I had noticed him, and I didn't care for what he was hiding. He was waiting for all of this to be over, and then he would walk away as the new King of California. When he'd seen what I'd done to Augustin, he knew better than to throw his life away fighting. He had blended into the background while the demon Prince had been defending me, managing to survive as he always did.

He thought Etienne had acted the fool from the moment he'd considered the possibility of fathering a child, but he had loved his master, so had gone to fetch the young telepath for him. It had been easy to slip into Eric's kingdom. After all, no one ever really noticed him. It was unfortunate now that his master hadn't taken his advice. He had warned him that it would be a mistake to leave the witch alive.

Hmmm. Eric had given me that same advice, and I hadn't listened either.

I couldn't quite get everything that had been planned, but Mr. Vanilla had given me enough that I thought I could use it to our advantage. I also knew that I couldn't let them stake someone that was innocent of the charges, so I just stood up and spoke out, cutting the defense lawyer off in mid sentence.

"I'd like to speak in defense of the accused, Ma'am," I said.

Everybody turned in my direction at that, and both of the lawyers looked startled. Pam poked me again. Jeez! Her nails were sharp!

"You wish to defend them?" the Pythoness asked, clearly looking surprised.

"Yes. I mean…I know that they participated in the trial and everything, but I don't really think they had a choice. They never really said anything, which if y'all think about it, seems kind of strange. And King Isaiah didn't act like himself at all!"

Not that I knew the King of Kentucky all that well, but I remembered him from Victor's trial. He had been so full of himself, banging his staff on the ground at every opportunity like a buffoon. He wasn't the kind of guy that just sat there and let somebody else do all the talking.

In Rhodes, he'd told Sophie Anne that I gave him the willies and he hadn't wanted to stand near me. Well, I bet he would be a little happier to have me around after tonight.

Of course, I didn't say all of that out loud. I wasn't going to earn any brownie points giving my opinion on one of the council member's self-important antics.

"It was only Etienne that did the talking. They couldn't vote against him though because I'm pretty sure they were under some kind of compulsion. I don't exactly know how it works, but it was a witch's spell, and they might not even know that they were under its influence."

"A witch's spell?" the Pythoness asked. "And how would you know this, if it is true that you cannot read a vampire's mind?"

This was where I had to be careful. I didn't know if you could actually lie to a seer, and get away with it, but I didn't intend to actually lie. I had read it from a vampire's mind, it was true, and that vampire was up on the stage right now, rigid and deathly still, but I might have gotten the information somewhere else.

"I have the witch at my house right now. He is what I retrieved from California today."

Every thing just went kind of quiet while the room took that all in.

"In fact," I kept going, "if I was you, I'd be asking that vamp up there on the stage a few questions about what he knows about all of this. I believe he's the one that will benefit the most by the whole affair."

Being able to read vampire's mind had sort of freaked me out at first, although Eric had been pretty pleased – once he'd gotten over the initial shock, and as long as none of the other vampires knew about it. Well, I was sure glad about it right then, because before the vampire on stage had even moved one foot, I knew what he planned to do. Pretty stupid when you think about it, considering he knew what I could do.

He was fast, but I was already on my feet when he flung himself off the stage and straight at me. I suppose I could have fried him right there in mid-air, but I didn't want to be responsible for any more deaths. So I just called the wind, just as the Fairy Master of Storms had shown me, and I blew that bastard right back and into the arms of Jerahmeel.

Author's Note: May I suggest for your listening pleasure: If God Will Send His Angels by U2

Thank you to all of the kind readers who have signed up for alerts or posted reviews. I am so sorry if I have missed a reply to your comments. They are much appreciated.

Thank you to Ms. Charlaine Harris for the use of her characters in this derivative work. The author has received no monetary compensation for this endeavor.


	114. Chapter 114

CHAPTER 114

I heard something breaking, and was reminded of the sounds of Gran and me in the kitchen snapping beans for dinner. I thought I heard the sound of swords being slid from their sheaths, but it was hard to say who was arming themselves. Dante was growling too, very low and menacing. He hadn't sounded like a puppy in quite a while, I realized, even though he often still acted like one.

I couldn't see a thing though, except for Daniel's broad back. I was completely surrounded in vampire again, all of them taller than me except Pam. I put my hand on her shoulder and tried to move her aside so I could see what was going on.

"Pam, what's going on? Let me see."

Pam didn't budge an inch.

Chair legs scraped over the floor, feet shuffled, and I could hear whispered voices coming from behind me. Daniel's sword was out - I could see the glimmer of its blade - but it was down at his side still so I assumed that meant there was no immediate threat.

I poked Pam again. Hard. She budged.

My attacker was lying on the ground, hissing. He looked a little the worse for wear, his body angled in an unnatural pose. I thought that noise I'd heard might have been his spine snapping. Whatever it had been, the vamp didn't look like he'd be getting up on his feet right away.

I turned away, bile rise in my throat and feeling a little unsteady, and just sat my butt back in the chair before I ended up on the floor too. I had had just about enough violence in the last few days. I felt tired and sick and wondered how long it would be before I could just go home.

When Pam and Daniel decided the coast was clear and moved back to my side, Jerahmeel came into view, not bothering to tamp down his other worldliness, his skin radiant, making even the glow of the vampires look dim by comparison.

Vamps tended to dress up for these kinds of gatherings, their outfits ranging from cheap JC Penney wool to Armani silk, depending on their station and finances. The women, though there weren't many of those, tended towards the latest fashion houses if they could afford them. But Jerahmeel was obviously not up on what was fashion forward these days. I wasn't sure what century his apparel represented, but I had a feeling it was from a time before most of the people in the room walked the earth.

The Prince's robe was constructed of some shimmering opalescent fabric that seemed to have a life of its own, the intricate embroidery only discernible when he moved. It set off the deep black of his wings and made them seem even larger than I knew they were. It was belted at his very trim waist with a heavy woven chain that was probably made of platinum, since wearing silver would have been a spit-in-your-eye insult in a room full of vamps. The circlet that held back his long, dark hair was made of the same material, with a gleaming emerald hanging in a teardrop against the pale skin of his forehead.

"Prince," the Ancient Pythoness said in greeting, her tone not quite friendly, but familiar, as if it wasn't the first time these two had met.

"Pythia," the Prince responded, bowing his head respectfully. "It has been a long time, even for those of us who no longer count the years."

When I had first seen the Pythoness in Rhodes, at Sophie Anne's trial, Eric had told me that she was the oracle consulted by Alexander, so revered that the primitive vampires of her time had brought her over. That was over two thousand years ago.

When I told that to Amelia, she had gotten right onto the computer and looked up oracles. It seemed that archeologists had found that the temple of Delphi had been built over some fissure in the earth that spewed out methane gas or something.

"No wonder the oracle's prophecies were a little cryptic," Amelia had joked. "Either the priestesses were getting high from all the fumes, or they ended up a little brain damaged."

I had laughed at the time.

Thinking about that now, I wondered if the "fumes" weren't something seeping out of one of the portals between our world and the demon world. And considering the fact that the Pythoness (was her name really Pythia or was that just a title?) also had an odd "gift", maybe she was related to the angels too, as I apparently was. Maybe "what I was" was more important to her than just an indication of who my allies might be, or what abilities I might develop.

It would be interesting to see how Claudine reacted to her, if she would expect the Pythoness to create the little fireflies like she had with Thalia and Dermott, although I still wasn't sure if I wanted her anywhere near Claudine. Actually, it would be interesting to get some of the seer's DNA and see how that measured up to Jerahmeel and all of the telepaths. I couldn't see her offering me a sample any day soon though, and she wasn't in the habit of using coffee cups either I would expect.

"Curiouser and curiouser," I thought, not realizing for a moment that I'd said it aloud.

"Sookie!" Pam whispered, poking me again with what I was now starting to think of as her claws. I was definitely considering taking the nail clipper to her the next time she was in her daytime sleep. Her nails would grow right back anyway.

"What, Pam?"

"Are you okay?"

Her voice sounded a little concerned, and I realized that while I had been sitting there mulling things over, the seer and the Prince appeared to be celebrating Old Home Week, and I had missed it. But I couldn't seem to care. Something was pulling at the back of my mind, and I just needed to be home.

"No. I don't think I am," I replied softly to Pam.

"Excuse me, y'all," I said a little louder, addressing the more general audience and at the same time interrupting the coffee klatch going on between the two rulers up front.

"If we could just wrap this up? This guy on the floor will probably be able to answer any other questions you might have." I shuddered as I tried hard not to anticipate the method of questioning. "And I'm sure that after the two kings are reinstated to their seat on the council, they'll have no trouble supporting Eric's claim to assume the position of King of California. I doubt there's anyone left alive in that state powerful enough to dispute us at this point."

Considering how many of their top vamps we'd taken out, that was probably true, and after I'd just given Isaiah and Basil the way to clear themselves from a charge of trying to usurp the power of the Pythoness, I didn't think they'd go against us either.

A few people were giving me a "What the Fuck!" look, as if I'd just grown fangs or something, but I'd gotten more than one of those in my life, so I just ignored them.

"Mr. Cataliades can arrange for Jordun, Eric's second, to begin reorganizing things there as soon as possible, and I'm sure that he or Jan can take care of anything else that might come up for tonight?"

Mr. Cataliades nodded in my direction, and shuffled his stack of papers as if he'd already come prepared for dealing with the acquisition of a new state.

"I can see that you and the Prince probably have some things to discuss, so I'll just head home and leave y'all to it."

I availed myself of Daniel's offered hand to get out of my chair, made a quick, awkward curtsy in the direction of the Pythoness, and gave a smile and a nod to the Prince. The Pythoness, rather than look put out, which I wouldn't have blamed her for one bit, sat with an amused look on her face. If anyone planned on voicing any objections to my leaving, I just didn't want to hear them, so I just walked out the back door, Dante bounding down the aisle in front of me. No one tried to stop us.

The minute I got buckled into the car, Pam started in on me.

"I don't know if that was such a good idea to just walk out, Sookie, especially with the Prince there. It's going to look like you're turning things over to him, and that might not fly."

"Pam, shut up!" Daniel said, as if he could sense how bone weary I was, and how I needed a little time to recoup. I think his outburst must have shocked Pam, because she gave it up.

I wasn't so tired that I couldn't think about the whole situation though.

"Why do you think that California vamp went after me? Surely he didn't think he would get through Dante and all of you?"

"He knew that his final death was assured at that point. Your fire at least would have been swift," Daniel said grimly.

I thought about that for a moment. Was he like those people that tried to commit suicide by cop, me being the officer? Had I then spared the vamp's life (I didn't even know the man's name!) only to condemn him to a fate worse than death? What kind of life was I leading when those were my choices? I could almost hear the words that Eric had once said to me, "You must be living wrong". Well, I had another moral dilemma to put on my list, I thought, and thinking of lists made me think of Amelia.

"Daniel, where are we keeping Bob? If he can spell a vampire, then he's got to be pretty dangerous to all of us."

I should have thought of that first thing when we'd returned through the portal. I was well aware of what a witch had been able to do to Eric in the past. Not that I hadn't benefited by that in the long run, I guess.

"He's being saved for Eric, in the basement of the guard's quarters. It seems that your demon put some kind of bind on him or we would have just killed him immediately," Pam said.

"He's not my demon," I snapped back, feeling on the seat for my purse before remembering I hadn't brought it. "I'm going to call Amelia, just in case he wakes up. Pam, let me use your phone."

As I punched in Amelia's number, I considered what the demon prince might have done to Bob. The witch had been pretty immobile when Jerry had dropped him down to the ground in our yard. Maybe it was the same kind of spell that Niall had used on Dermott. Could a human survive under that kind of total binding? I knew how to undo it, but I wasn't about to set Bob free. I wasn't that stupid. I could ask the Prince, but he was in the meeting still with the seer and anyway, I didn't want to ask any more favors from him. Better to call Amelia, just in case.

She answered on the fourth ring.

"Sook? It's the middle of the night. What's up? I hope you're calling to say you won a big jackpot in Vegas or something."

Amelia's voice sounded sort of dry and husky and I could hear her bedclothes rustling around her. I must have woken her from a sound sleep. I hoped she didn't have company.

"Hey Amelia! Listen, this is important. We've got Bob back."

She attempted to clear her throat, but just ended up coughing.

"Jesus H. Christ, Sook! Hasn't anybody killed that fucker yet? Really, he is just bad news!"

"Yeah, I know that. Anyway, I need you to get here ASAP. Call Jim and he can have someone pick you up at the airport. Bob's already spelled a couple of vampires here. I think we have him secured, but just in case, I want you here to deal with him if he wakes up."

"Just take your shotgun to him, Sook. Don't tell me you want me to turn him back into a cat or something. Can't you just go down to the pound and get yourself a real cat if you want one?"

"Don't give me any grief, Amelia. I've had a very long day. Just come as soon as you can. Please?"

"Okay, boss lady, will do. I guess I'm the one that got us into all of this shit in the first place. I'll be on the next plane out there."

"Sheesh!" I said as I flipped the phone shut and handed it back to Pam.

Amelia was right I suppose, since all the trouble with Bob had started when she just had to experiment on him, and had ended up turning him into a cat. But that was all water under the bridge at this point. There was plenty of blame to go around for this situation I figured.

"You should just give up on witches, Sookie. They're nothing but trouble. They had the right idea in Salem, if you ask me," Pam chimed in from the sidelines.

"I didn't ask you and you sure weren't saying that when you wanted to get into Amelia's pants, Pam."

"Yeah, well…"

Daniel didn't need to tell Pam to shut up this time, since for once, I thought maybe I had had the last word with her.

The streets of Las Vegas are never clear. It truly is a city that never sleeps. As it gets later the shows let out and the tourists amble back to their hotel rooms, the hard core gamblers collect their winnings and the gift shops bolt their doors, but employees are still heading into work to set up the buffets for the following day and to clean the mess left behind from the revels of the night before. I watched the people on the streets, coming and going, almost envying them their human lives and fighting to keep my eyes open as Daniel steered us through the early morning traffic on the Strip, back to the mansion that we called home in Nevada.

Although the guards were still on full alert in the yard, the house looked blissfully peaceful with most of the lights out. The minute I walked in, I began to feel right with the world again. Maybe I'd just been worried about the kids, or maybe I just needed to be closer to Eric. Whatever it was, the nagging feeling that had drawn me home was gone.

I sent Daniel and Pam to check on things with the troops while I went in search of food and rest.

Dante bolted into the kitchen, hitting the water dish first thing and shaking drops all over the clean floor as he headed from there to his bed in the corner. Poor Grace must have finally gotten to bed, but she had thoughtfully left a plate of food out on the table for me, and I wasted no time popping it into the microwave. I was starved and wolfed a healthy portion of chicken and rice, accompanied by a big glass of milk to wash it down. Dr. Ludwig was right. I didn't eat enough.

After my first solid meal in more hours than I liked to count, I headed down the hall to my room. I passed Jordun's room and decided to look in on Mark, since the door was open. The injured were was lying peacefully asleep in the bed, his color much better and his breathing quiet and even. Poor Travis sat with eyes closed in the chair next to the bed, his elbow propping up his head, and an open book on his lap. I thought about waking him and sending him to bed, but I hated to disturb him if where he wanted to be was at Mark's side. I tiptoed back out of the room and continued down the hall.

The scene in Claudine's room brought a smile to my face, probably the first of the day. As Grace had promised, the kids had been camping, in the broadest sense of the word. Several of the dining room chairs had been co-opted as poles, and some blankets made up the roof and walls of the "tent". Hunter, asleep on a nest of blankets and pillows, was dressed in someone's t-shirt (obviously a grown male's since it covered most of his body) and his arms were flung out above his head. Claudine was on the floor next to him in pink feetie pajamas, lying on her tummy with wings spread open across her back, little puffs of air rustling the fine blond curls of her hair as she breathed. Fee was spread out on a small pillow by her side, his position mimicking Claudine's. He was dead to the world.

I got down on the floor and tucked the blankets around the sleepers, giving each of them a soft kiss on the head. As I got up to leave the room, I noticed Thalia standing silent guard in the semi-darkness, leaning against a wall, sword in hand.

"Mistress," she said, so softly that I had to strain to hear. "All is well?"

"Yeah. I think it will be," I whispered back. "Thanks for keeping an eye on the kids."

"Surprisingly, it has been my pleasure," she said and smiled warmly at the three small bodies snuggled together on the floor.

"Good night then," I said and headed off to my own room.

When I walked up to the door of my bedroom, I noticed Thomas hurriedly placing something back on the nightstand. For a moment I was prepared to snap at him since he was always pawing through my things, but then I had to stifle a snicker, as I realized that about the only thing on the bedside table was a lamp, the clock and my stack of trashy romance novels. No doubt he wouldn't want me to know that he'd been reading one. Well, whatever gets you through the night, I thought. Being on guard duty must get pretty boring.

"Thanks for watching out for Eric, Thomas," I said.

Thomas shrugged as if it was no big deal, then looked over at Eric regretfully.

"He hasn't moved."

"I'm sure he'll be up and about soon," I said, as much to reassure myself as to comfort Thomas. "I'm going to bed."

"Sleep well, Mistress," he said as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

I knew that he would be keeping vigil outside the door until it was time to take his own rest, as he had each night that Eric had not risen.

The shoes were the first things to come off. Pam had been advising me on "decent" footwear, appropriate for a woman of means and position. I had never been cheap about my shoes, since you can't be a barmaid and on your feet for eight hours without good shoes, but I'd shopped for comfort and support, not eye-catching style. Maybe vampire feet were different, but mine were already protesting the medieval torture devices that Pam had helped me pick out, even though I'd only been in them for a few hours.

My dress got hung back on its hanger. A whole evening in a room full of vampires, and I didn't have one blood stain on my clothes! Would wonders never cease!

Heading into the bathroom in my underwear, I got a good look at myself in the mirror. I expected to see lines and wrinkles, hair run amok, and dark circles under my eyes, since I was feeling old and tired. But there was the same face I'd looked at for years, a little thinner perhaps, but untouched by time, stress, kids and heartache. Sometimes it seemed like I was looking at someone else in the mirror.

It didn't take more than five minutes to deal with my human needs, brush teeth and hair and wash my face. My underwear went into the hamper and I threw on a short gown before grabbing up the hairbrush and heading to bed. At least I'd figured out how to set the thermostat. The room was comfortably warm which helped offset sleeping next to a six and a half foot tall cooling unit.

My oversized Viking looked the same as when I'd left him earlier in the evening – my own Sleeping Beauty. It took a few moments of maneuvering, but I got myself situated with Eric's head in my lap, and began to run the brush through his hair, taking my time with each golden strand. I wasn't sure who I was comforting, myself or Eric, but it felt very soothing to be grooming my mate.

Of course the moment I thought of it that way, I began to laugh. That sounded like something from The Nature Channel, and my mind couldn't help picturing a band of gorillas picking nits or something equally as gross off of each other.

"Are you laughing, Lover? Not particularly flattering when I am lying here naked in front of you."

I was so surprised to hear Eric's voice that I jumped, dropping the hair brush right on his head.

"And now you abuse me," he said, sitting up and turning to face me. He was smiling, and his eyes held that mischievous look that usually meant something good was coming my way.

"Eric? You're awake!"

"Either that or we are about to have a very satisfying dream together," he said laughing just as if he hadn't been in a coma for days.

His familiar banter sent a flood of relief over me, releasing the pent up emotion that I had been holding on to. I should have just thrown my arms around him, to let him know how glad I was to see him, but for some stupid reason, I felt compelled to speak. I found myself wanting to tell him about everything that had happened, needing to share all the self doubt, worry, anger and fear of the last few days, except the words couldn't make it past the lump forming in my throat as my tears began to fall.

His brows furrowed and the smile left his face.

"Hush, Lover, don't cry," I heard him say as he pulled me into his arms. "You and I are here together, and that is all that matters. All is well, Kjære."

I wasn't so sure of that, but as his strong arms encompassed me, his cool hands stroking my back, soothing and comforting, I began to feel as if it would be.

"I missed you, my Queen."

His voice was no more than a whisper as his mouth descended on mine, his kiss urgent and hungry, and suddenly nothing else mattered but his body pressed against mine.


	115. Chapter 115

CHAPTER 115

I woke feeling slightly sticky and comfortably sore in all the right places. Eric was sprawled naked across the bed, his head on my belly and his arms wrapped around me in a death grip. The air was filled with the musky smells of sex, my nightgown was a shredded puddle of fabric on the floor, and I didn't even want to think about how long the sheets would have to soak to deal with the bloodstains.

We hadn't been particularly worried about leaving a mess, not that we ever were really. But last night had been intense even by our standards. We had made love frantically, almost desperate to reaffirm that we were both still alive and that we still had the thing that we most held dear – each other.

I touched the small puncture wounds on my neck. Leaving such a visible mark was unusual for Eric, who usually bit in more intimate locations. Well, he had bitten me there too, but he had healed that wound with a drop of his blood, as he usually did. Maybe Eric was still feeling a little vulnerable after his experience at the hands of Etienne and his cronies.

I had marked him too, but the damage on his chest where I had taken his blood had begun to close almost before my teeth had left his skin. Maybe it was some kind of primal instinct to leave a brand of ownership, like the way teenage boys left hickeys on the necks of their new girlfriends. I almost wished that I could leave a scar where I had bitten him to tell the world that he belonged to me. Well, the vamps would be able to smell our blood in each other and that would just have to do.

My bladder was situated right where Eric's head was resting so I dug my heels into the mattress, giving me enough leverage to vault him over to one side of the bed, and got up quickly to hit the bathroom. I badly needed a shower, and I was anxious to see how Hunter was doing and more than a little eager to see what was for breakfast too.

As I stood under the stream of hot water in the shower, I mentally reviewed what we had talked about the night before. It had felt so good to finally share everything with Eric.

He listened attentively as I described sending Claudine back to Shreveport and how the were guards and I had waited at the motel for Jan to arrive. Of course he was familiar with the scene we had walked in on at Fangtasia, but he had slipped into unconsciousness at some point, missing Etienne's demise and the brief struggle with the California vamps, so I related all the details, and how I'd figured out that Hunter had been kidnapped.

I thought he would be mad at me for rushing off to get Hunter, but if he was, he managed to keep it to himself. He didn't quite say "the more the merrier", but neither did he seem to have any objections when I told him I wanted Hunter to stay with us.

"The child is too valuable an asset to turn him over to his own people," he said.

"Hunter's a person, not an asset, Eric, and I _am _his people."

"Yes, of course, Lover," he said, brushing that off as if it were a given that he would stay.

Considering that I was just thrusting my six-year old cousin onto the family, I expected him to have a little more to say about the situation. But then, our lives had turned into one big surprise after another these days, and our quota of shock and consternation was getting pretty used up.

He asked a few questions about my trip through the portal, being especially interested in how time there seemed to be out of synch with our world.

"That's something I want to talk to Jerahmeel about. There's that one out back of Gran's house that the fairies use. I wonder if it works the same way."

The one that I had the key to, I thought.

"Anyway, by the time we got back with Hunter and Bob, I got to the meeting at Fangtasia a little late," I continued.

That got his attention.

"The witch cat?"

"Oh right, you wouldn't know that we got Bob back. He was there in Los Angeles, at Etienne's headquarters. Jerahmeel recognized his scent or something when he went in for Hunter, and figured we might want him. I'll never get used to how the supes can just pinpoint somebody by their smell. Anyway, he snatched Bob up and he must have put one of those bindings on him, like Niall did with Dermott. I called Amelia to come as soon as she could so she can deal with him just in case he gets loose again, since he just keeps popping up like a bad penny. I doubt he's going to be awake anytime soon though. I figured we might want Amelia anyway, to go out and shop and stuff, since I don't want to get shot at again, and Hunter doesn't even have any pajamas or toys or anything here. The poor kid's probably missing Sam, too. I don't know why I didn't just tell Amelia to pick him up and bring him along with her."

Eric's brow furrowed, and I realized that he probably didn't know what the hell I was talking about. The only Sam he knew was Sam Merlotte.

"Sam is Hunter's little dog," I explained. Whoever killed Remy just left the poor thing locked in the house to starve to death, so I asked Alcide to take care of him until we get back to Shreveport. I don't know when we'll be able to go to the house to get Hunter's stuff. Not until all the legal stuff is dealt with I guess. I'm surprised we haven't heard from the sheriff about the whole thing. Maybe no one's found Remy's body yet. Mr. Cataliades said he would take care of it all for me, but I have no idea how he's going to manage all the questions from the police, and explain we have Hunter with us."

I realized I was starting to ramble. I had missed how Eric and I would talk about our days together and I was sort of enjoying myself, although the subject matter was admittedly pretty grim. Eric however, was not wearing his usual indulgent smile. In fact, he looked mad enough to eat nails, anger sort of radiating off him like a furnace.

"Where is he now?"

I knew he was asking about Bob, not Hunter.

"In the basement of the guard's headquarters. He's pretty much unconscious, but at some point, I guess he's gonna need water and food and whatnot."

"His comfort does not concern me, but the binding will have to be removed. I will want to question him."

"Listen, Eric. I know that Bob's too dangerous to keep alive, but I don't know that I'm…"

Eric looked me straight in the eye, and if I hadn't known that he would never ever hurt me, the look on his face would have left me shaking in my boots. Okay, I was barefoot at the time, but even still, you get the point.

"I will not be denied this, Sookie. I will have vengeance!"

Eric knew me well enough to know that I would never see eye to eye (or should I say an eye for an eye) with his methods of "questioning", but I knew him well enough to know that he wasn't going to roll over on this one. He wouldn't be satisfied with a quick, clean kill while Bob was in a position to feel little or no pain. It went against his very nature. And I'd known Eric's nature when I'd married him. I could argue with him, but it wouldn't make any difference. If I didn't release Bob from the binding, then Eric would find someone that would. No doubt he'd make some kind of bargain with Jerahmeel if he had to.

"I'll undo the binding," I said, "but I don't want any part of what happens after that."

Of course I would know, even if I didn't participate, and whatever Bob suffered would be on my conscience. Not that Bob hadn't written his own ticket, but no one really deserved to be tortured. Did they? Well, it would no doubt bother me for a while, but I guess in the end, I wouldn't lose a whole lot of sleep over Bob. I had my opportunity to give Bob a clean death, and I had "saved" him for Eric, knowing full well that there was no love lost there. Yeah, my morals were definitely on the slippery slope.

Eric seemed satisfied with that, and his hot anger melted into a warm embrace as he pulled me a little closer, placing a soft kiss on my forehead.

"Thank you for not fighting me on this. Now, tell me about the meeting with the Pythoness," he said, moving the subject away from Bob.

It didn't take very long to relate what went on at Fangtasia. When I got to the part where the vampire had attacked me, he asked what the guy looked like.

"It's pretty hard to describe him. It's like he has no distinguishing feature at all except that he just seemed to blend in, almost like he was the wallpaper."

Eric seemed to know what I meant, and he smiled at my description of the vampire.

"That would be Anton," Eric said. "Whenever you saw Etienne, Anton would be lurking somewhere in the background."

"So the way I see it, this guy Anton was the one that snatched Hunter, probably killing Remy while he was there, although Alcide didn't say whether Remy was drained or what."

I sighed a bit, thinking about poor Remy. He had been a good man, and had gotten a pretty rotten deal with my cousin Hadley. He'd been as good of a dad as he could be, trying to understand Hunter's telepathy, and only wanting a good life for his son. I just hoped that Hunter hadn't had to witness his father's death.

"And I guess they used Bob to glamour Isaiah and Basil, then sent him to Los Angeles for safekeeping or something. I don't know if Bob was working for them willingly or not. Jonathan must have caught him that night he ran into the woods, and turned him over to Etienne, although who knows how they got him turned back from being a cat. Maybe Jonathan was working for Etienne all along, or maybe he just saw a way to get in good with a richer kingdom when the opportunity presented itself."

"I am sure that Jonathan will enlighten us with that information when he is questioned," Eric said menacingly. "And he will be able to tell us who transformed the cat."

I wondered if Octavia had done it. She knew how to reverse a transformation spell. She had done it before, and she wouldn't have thought twice about doing it again, especially since she knew Bob. She might have questioned how Bob ended up a cat again, but there would be no reason for her to think that Bob was a threat to us. We had never told her about his cooperation with Quinn, or at least I hadn't. I'd have to talk to Amelia about it when she got here.

"I asked Daniel why he thought the vamp, Anton, would attack me. At first I thought maybe it was because I killed Etienne, although really, it wasn't even me that killed him, it was Jerahmeel's hellhounds. But Daniel said he was probably trying to commit suicide."

Eric thought about that for a moment before he responded.

"It is always wise to pay heed to Daniel. He sees things very clearly. Vampires often employ witches, but to use them against another vampire is one of our gravest offenses. For being a part of that, Anton will be severely punished. In fact, he might very well be suffering his punishment a century from now. He may not see it as a mercy that you let him live."

"A century? Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! I can't even think in terms of that many years, or imagine that any offense could warrant that kind of punishment."

"If he had harmed you, a millennium of pain would not be enough to satisfy me."

Eric's voice sent shivers down my arms.

"And what if he was just doing what he was told? Don't you all have to do your master's bidding, after all? Can he be held personally responsible?"

"He is not Etienne's child, so he had some choice in the matter. An oath of fealty would not require that he cooperate with such an illegal act. But even if Etienne was the only one guilty of using the witch, Anton has stolen assets from my kingdom, and has been caught with – what is that phrase that you are so fond of, Lover? – with his hands in the cookie jar! So, if the Pythoness does not punish him, I will. Better for his sake that he had met your hand of fire."

Seeing as how he was still fresh from his own pain and torment, I could hardly blame Eric for wanting to inflict pain on those responsible, but this was a side of Eric that I didn't care to look at too closely, even though I'd accepted it.

"This all sure seems like a pretty elaborate scheme. I'm still not sure how they expected to pull it all off. I guess they figured I'd do whatever they wanted, to keep you alive. But they must have known the Pythoness would be pissed off, even if Etienne appeared to have the other two council member's blessing."

"The Pythoness is of course powerful, being one of the oldest of the vampires. But she does not hold her position through physical threat, although most of our kind would defend her authority," Eric explained. "We bow to her judgment out of respect for her gift and her wisdom, and because most of us recognize the need for governance. Etienne most likely assumed that there would be no one willing to challenge him if he seemed to have the backing of the council, especially once he was back on his own turf. He was very old, and very strong, and had a close following of ancients. It was a good calculation on his part, with a high probability of success. His fatal mistake was that he underestimated you, Lover."

The pride in his voice was like a silken glove moving over my skin. I think I actually beamed to hear it, although I didn't feel like I could take all the credit for Etienne's demise.

"Well, I had some help. Jerahmeel and his hounds came swarming out of the portal like the wrath of God. You should have seen it, Eric. He was magnificent!"

"Although I am pleased that he defended you, I don't know that I care to hear you singing his praises, Kjære."

There was thick disapproval in his voice, and his chest kind of swelled up, the way men often sort of inflate when they think they've identified a rival.

"Ahhh, don't get your boxers into a bunch, sweetie. He doesn't hold a candle to you," I said, trying to make light of it to reassure him, as I snuggled a little closer.

"Sometimes I wonder if you and I are speaking the same language," he said, puzzling at my expressions as he wrapped his arms a little tighter around me.

"What I mean is, don't get all possessive. I can recognize that he is impressive, but next to you, there is no comparison in my eyes."

"I am glad to hear that, my love, since I would hate to have to kill him. He is turning out to be a very valuable ally."

I didn't actually think that Eric could kill the Prince of Demons, but I very tactfully kept that thought to myself.

"Yeah, he is. And I think even if Claudine doesn't choose him down the line, he will be important to her, and to baby Gabriel too. They'll want to know others of their own kind, and it isn't like there are a whole lot of angels out there."

Not that we were certain that Gabriel would be born an angel in any case, but it seemed likely, after the dreams I'd shared with Eric.

As Claudine grew, I had sort of abandoned the idea that Lachlan could be her biological father. She was growing into a female miniature of Eric, with many of his same expressions and mannerisms, although she often reminded me of myself when she was being stubborn. And of course, there was no physical possibility of our son being anything but Eric's child. Still, the whole angel thing was a bit of a mystery.

There was a time I had wondered if the death of my cousin Claudine, and her unborn child, had had some influence over what Claudine was, almost like some kind of reincarnation or something. But I really didn't know what to think anymore. There was some evidence that my genetic makeup was a little out of the ordinary, even by supernatural standard. It might even be unique. But there was no way that I had more than a small fraction of demon/angel blood. So maybe some combination of whatever mix I was, with some special influence of Eric being a vampire, resulted in baby angels.

Obviously, DNA couldn't explain the whole thing, just like magic couldn't be explained by science. But there was no denying the existence of magic. I had seen it with my own two eyes. I had even wielded it. It was just something that had to be believed, kind of the way we had faith in God, with no evidence of his existence whatsoever. So, I had faith in my dreams, to the extent that I believed that Gabriel would be another angel.

And just who would be there for him when he grew up? Where would we come up with a female angel? Would he be in the same boat as Jerahmeel? The image of Jerahmeel and his children could not be very far from my thoughts when I thought of my son growing up.

And where would either of my children find a place, here in this predominantly human world? Would the human world accept them? It had accepted vampires and weres, at least to some extent. But angels?

Of course there were other worlds to inhabit. There was the demon world, and the world of the fairies, and there was no question that they would be accepted in either of those places. Both seemed eager to have a return of the angels, if only to guarantee their own continuation. But I didn't like to think of them living somewhere so far removed from me and Eric. And there was no way that Eric could ever live in a world full of fairies.

As if Eric could divine what I was pondering, he shifted his position and rested his head against my belly. I could almost feel the smile that crept over his face as he focused on whatever it was he was listening to.

"What can you hear?" I whispered, as I reached down to run my fingers through his golden hair.

"Life," he answered simply. "The beating of my son's heart."

His voice was reverent, as if he was experiencing a miracle. And I suppose, in some respects, he was.

I hated to spoil the moment, but I knew that there was one more piece of information that he would want to know.

"So, I guess I better tell you that I sort of told the Ancient Pythoness that we were taking over California."

He raised his head from my belly, and scooted back up to my side until his eyes were level with mine.

"And how did the seer respond to that declaration?"

"Well, I didn't stick around to find out. I just told her that Mr. Cataliades could make any necessary arrangements, since it wasn't very likely there was anyone left alive in California powerful enough to dispute your claim. And then I just walked out and came home to my King," I said. And then a little uncertainly I added, "I hope I did the right thing."

I hadn't expected Eric to be thrilled about the new responsibilities that another kingdom would entail, but I figured he would probably see it the same way as Mr. Cataliades and Daniel had seen it, that it was something that he needed to do. He nodded, as if resigned to the situation before he rolled himself on top of me, pinning me to the bed.

"You will be the jewel in my new crown, Lover," he said proudly, as he lowered his mouth to mine.

I was smiling with that memory as I rinsed the last of the soap off my body, and stepped out of the shower. I would have quite a bit to deal with over the next few days, but Eric was back with me, and at least for now, I felt quite content.

The Northman household was getting more and more like a zoo these days, with kids, brownies, demons, hellhounds, angels and werewolves in residence. I walked out of my bedroom to shouts of "Mama!" and "Aunt Sookie!" and was soon swamped with hugs, wagging tails and fluttering wings.

"Well, it looks like you guys have been having some fun," I said to Hunter, looking at the state of his and Claudine's clothes.

I couldn't tell if they'd been playing in mud or eating chocolate, although it might very well have been a combination of both. Where the kids would have found a mud hole in the middle of the Nevada desert was anyone's guess though. Poor Grace! I would have to get her some more help. Just the laundry alone around here was getting to be a full time job. And speaking of laundry, Hunter was going to need some new clothes.

"We were outside with Travis climbin' trees, but Claudine cheats 'cause she just flies up," Hunter said, glaring at Claudine as she demonstrated by flying up and landing in my outstretched arms.

None of the trees on the estate were that high, but the idea of Hunter up in a tree was worrisome. Not that Travis would let him do anything dangerous, I figured. And of course, heights were less and less of an issue for Claudine, now that she was getting better at flying.

"Travis says maybe we can build a tree house when we get back home, and he says we can make a ramp so Sam can come up too."

At the mention of home and his little dog, Hunter's happy smile looked a little uncertain. I didn't know yet whether he thought he would be going back to his home, or to mine. We'd have to have that discussion soon, because I was sure at some point the whole thing was going to hit the poor kid like a ton of bricks.

I would have liked to find someone that he could talk to, to help him through all of it, but where would I find a counselor for a kid like Hunter? I remembered all too well how the medical community had dealt with my little "disability". I wouldn't put Hunter through that.

"Well, we'll have to see about the tree house when we get back to Louisiana," I said, knowing I had to say something but not wanting to agree to any construction before I found out just exactly what Travis and Hunter had in mind.

Jason and I had had a tree house. My father had helped him build it before he died. At some point, Gran said it was too rickety anymore, and had Terry Bellefleur come and pull it down before somebody fell out and broke a leg or something. Actually, Jason still had a tree house, only nowadays, he called it a duck blind.

"I'm thinking I could have my friend Alcide send Sam here on the plane," I said, since my lack of enthusiasm for the tree house had left Hunter looking a little crestfallen.

"Oh man, Aunt Sookie! That'd be great, 'cause Sam's probably missin' me."

I was sure that Hunter was probably missing his little dog too, and it would be good for him to have his much loved pet at his side. What Dante would think of Sam was another thing. At least we didn't have to worry about how the damned cat would react to another dog in the house.

"Well, that's just what we'll do then," I said, and watched the happy smile return to Hunter's face. Had I been that resilient when I had lost my folks? I couldn't even remember anymore.

"Come on, I want to see what Grace has for us to eat," I said, dragging the kids with me to the kitchen.

As usual these days, I was starving, and thankfully Grace was already at the stove, working on my breakfast.

She barely had a chance to respond to my "Good Morning, Grace" before Hunter was talking up a blue streak, telling her all about his dog Sam and the plans for the luxury mansion he and Travis were going to build in a tree. With the patience of a saint, Grace listened and nodded, smiling encouragingly at Hunter all the while.

By the time I had finished my bacon and eggs and was starting on my second cup of coffee, Amelia came in, her arms laden with shopping bags, Jim trailing behind her with more stuff.

"I think I got everything on the list, Grace," she called out, and then shrieked when she saw me at the table, a big smile spreading across her face.

"Hey Sook! It's about time you got up!" she said, dropping a few bags onto the table to give me an affectionate hug.

"Hey Amelia. When did you get in?"

"Oh, I got the first flight out of Shreveport. I've been here for a couple of hours. I've already been out shopping as you can see. You're not gonna believe all the cute clothes I found for Hunter."

She handed one of the shopping bags to Hunter, who pounced on it like a cat that just saw a mouse running along the baseboards.

"Well, thanks for coming so fast, and for doing the shopping. Grace and Cat have too much to do already. Did you gat a chance to check on 'You Know Who'?" I asked, giving a quick nod in Hunter's direction, so she'd know that I didn't want to say too much while he was in the kitchen.

I was really more concerned with what was up with Bob than whether the shopping was done, not that new clothes for Hunter weren't important too.

"Yeah, no problem there, so I just headed off to the malls with Grace's list. Wait until you see what I found at the toy store."

As if somebody had said the magic word, Hunter gave off looking at his new X-men underwear and pajamas, and tossed the bag of clothes to the side.

"Did you find something for me, Miss Amelia?" he said, looking eager, but waiting for permission before he started plundering the bags with the toys inside.

"I sure did, Hunter. Go on. Look and see what I got for you."

I didn't remember including a memo to "spare no expense", but Amelia had assumed carte blanche and must have bought out half of Toy's R Us. There were trucks and cars, a few stuffed animals (thankfully nothing as hideous as Claudine's mole had become with her hard use), a plastic bat and ball, games and puzzles, and who knew what else. It was better than Christmas morning.

"And I got something special too," she said, looking at me with a devilish grin.

From the bottom of one of the big, white plastic bags she pulled out a costume box containing a small plastic sword, a cheesy looking breastplate, and a shiny, golden plastic helmet that sported two big white horns.

"Your Uncle Eric the Viking is just going to love this!" she said to Hunter, and we both burst out laughing.


	116. Chapter 116

CHAPTER 116

I was tempted to wait for the vampires to wake up to assemble Hunter's new bed, since it had been so entertaining to watch them put together Claudine's playhouse. On second thought, though, I decided to call in Travis and Jim so that Hunter might actually have someplace besides the floor to sleep that night.

"I had them take apart the floor model," Amelia said, "otherwise it would be a week at the earliest to get one of these delivered. It was so cute, I just couldn't resist, but the mattress is brand new."

Amelia had impulse issues with shopping, but since that usually meant that things got dealt with in a very timely manner, I wasn't going to complain. Hunter didn't seem to mind either when he saw that the twin sized wooden bed was in the shape of a racecar, complete with a big number 5 on the side. The sheets, covered with pictures of cars, trucks and tractors, went along nicely with the bed, although they clashed with the girly fairy theme of Claudine's room.

"When we get back to Louisiana we'll try to arrange for you to have your own room," I told Hunter as I tucked in the last new blanket, a glaringly bright blue.

Mark was taking up the only spare room on this floor for his recovery, and I wasn't about to stick Hunter down in the guest vampire rooms in the basement. They were so dark and gloomy and the whole atmosphere down there made me think of dungeons. Visiting vampires might not mind, as that only added to their security, but I wasn't putting a kid in there to sleep. I could ask one of the family vamps to move down there, but in some ways, it might be a good idea that Hunter share a room for now. Claudine was too young to offer him much comfort, but at least he wouldn't be all alone in his room at night.

I had no idea what we were going to do to fit everyone in. As soon as this mess with the vampires was cleared up, Eric and I were going to have to sit down and make some plans for extending the house in Louisiana. Actually a whole separate residence for Jan and Clovache and their expected child might be in order, and there was our new baby that would have to be accommodated. But in the meantime, Hunter could share with Claudine, even if it was a little crowded.

"Okay, Hunter, climb in and see how it feels," I told the eager boy as I put the last new pillow into its case.

As young boys were wont to do, Hunter threw himself onto the bed, making a big "whoomp" noise as he made impact. It would have knocked the breath right out of me, but he didn't bat an eye, hurriedly scampering to the "wheel" of the bed and making "vrooming" sounds as he piloted it around the racetrack of his imagination.

"I think the car's a hit, Amelia. Thanks," I said.

"Yeah, boys and their toys," she said. "A race car bed today, and a few years down the line it'll be a red Corvette!"

I rolled my eyes, but didn't dispute her observation.

"I guess you're right, although if he takes after his Uncle Jase, it will be a custom painted truck with a king sized cab. I think we have a few years before that's going to happen though."

"Let's hope the 'taking after Uncle Jase' part never happens," Amelia countered, rolling her own eyes. "Listen, Sook. I'm going to go work on a containment spell for You Know Who. I brought everything I need from home except the duct tape, but I figure with this many werewolves around here, there's gotta be a few rolls of that kicking around in somebody's truck."

"That's the God's truth," I said, guessing what she planned to do with the tape. If a witch couldn't open their mouths, they couldn't very well utter a spell.

The men from my hometown could always be counted on to have a roll of duct tape somewhere near to hand in case something needed fixing, and the two-natured weren't very different from ordinary human males in that respect. Vampires on the other hand, rarely seemed to be prepared to fix anything. They were more likely to leave a trail of destruction in their wake. Evidence of that was certainly to be found in the orphaned little boy that had apparently been only waiting for Amelia to leave the room so that he could get something off his chest.

"What happened to your neck, Aunt Sookie?" he asked hesitantly, looking down at his new shoes as if he thought he might be asking something he shouldn't, but just couldn't help himself.

"Come here, Hunter," I told him, sitting down on the edge of the bed and putting my arms out to offer him a hug.

Hunter snuggled his small frame up next to mine. He was a little sweaty and sticky, but somehow managed to still have that clean soap smell from his morning bath. Along with the more expensive "toys" would come that musky teenage boy smell that I could still remember emanating from Jason's room no matter how clean Gran kept it, but we had a few years until we had to deal with that too.

"These are fang marks, Hunter. Do you know what that means?"

He shook his head and peered at the marks out of the corner of his eye, his fingers twitching with curiosity.

I breathed a little sigh of relief. If he didn't know about fang marks, then there was a good chance that he at least had not seen his father being drained to death.

"Go ahead and touch them, if you want."

"I don't want to. It's kinda gross," he said, but one of his small fingers reached up and cautiously prodded the skin next to the marks. "You should have a band-aid. Doesn't it hurt?"

"No, it doesn't hurt."

"And the whole point of having the bites on my neck is to not cover them up," I added to myself, but of course that wasn't something I could easily explain to Hunter. This was going to be harder than I thought. How did you explain vampires to a six year old? I didn't want him to be fearful, but then, there were lots of reasons to be afraid of vampires.

"Look at me, Hunter."

He looked up from my neck and I could see the fear in his eyes. His little body seemed to vibrate with it. He looked so much like my cousin Hadley, and that alone was enough to almost bring tears to my eyes.

"I don't know how much you know about vampires, Hunter, but I need to tell you a few things. I don't want you to be afraid, because you're safe here with us, and no one here will hurt you. I love you and I'm going to take care of you, no matter what. Okay?"

"Okay," he said a little uncertainly.

In a way, I was glad we were doing this now, since it was probably better for him to hear the truth from me, than to let his imagination run wild with something possibly even worse. Although right off the bat, I couldn't see how a small boy could imagine anything that was much scarier than vampires.

"Everyone has to eat, Hunter," I began, looking away for a moment to gather my thoughts. I wanted to choose my words a little carefully.

I admit that I was more than a little embarrassed to be talking about this with a kid, too. For Eric and me, sharing blood was about a lot more than just food. Not that I would have to tell him about that aspect of things, but Hunter was another telepath after all, and he wasn't stupid. I had pretty good control over my shields, but there were going to be times when he would "hear" more from me than I intended to share.

It was kind of like a kid being raised on a farm and learning about the birds and the bees from observation. In our household full of vampires, Hunter was going to be exposed to a lot of stuff they didn't teach you in health education. I wanted him to know that he could always talk to me about this stuff, and that it wasn't something shameful. But mostly, I wanted him to feel safe with my family.

I was beginning to understand a little of what my folks and my Gran had had to deal with, having a kid that was constantly being bombarded with thoughts and emotions that were way too mature for her age. And my poor family had no way of really comprehending the reality of telepathy. How many times hadn't I heard a parent say to their child, "Just wait until you have kids of your own!" Well, here I was, in that same boat. What goes around, comes around, as Gran used to say.

"You know how cats eat mice, and dogs eat meat and chew on bones. Little Fee likes honey and pollen from flowers. People eat all kinds of things, like sandwiches and ice cream and vegetables."

He scrunched up his nose at the idea of eating vegetables. No doubt he felt the same way about green beans as Claudine did.

"Well, vampires can't eat regular food. They drink blood – kind of like mosquitoes do, I guess. They need it to survive."

"Is that what's in the bottles in the fridge, Aunt Sookie?"

"The stuff in the bottles isn't real blood, and it doesn't taste very good to them. Vampires can live on that for a while, but sometimes, they need to drink from people, and they use their fangs to bite so they can get the blood."

There was no use pretending to Hunter that vamps drank only the synthetic stuff. Vamps like Bill that said they were mainstreaming, still drank from humans on occasion (I was testimony to that), especially if they were healing from an injury.

"But doesn't that hurt?"

"Sometimes it does," I said truthfully. "But sometimes the human that gets bitten likes it. It's like that with Uncle Eric and me."

He gave me a look that said it wasn't the first time he'd heard about grownups liking stuff that just sounded gross to him. No doubt he'd "heard" all kinds of things before his Dad's girlfriend had up and left, mostly because of Hunter and his strange abilities. And hanging around here, he was bound to hear quite a bit more "adult" stuff. I cringed at the thought of what Amelia had a tendency to broadcast, and of course, there would be my brother, who was pretty much a man whore.

"Are they gonna drink my blood?" he asked, squeezing me with arms that were surprisingly strong for such a little guy.

"No, Hunter. None of the vampires here would ever bite a child."

It was like watching a train wreck to see the expressions that crossed Hunter's face, and I dreaded what I knew was going to be his next question.

"Did that vampire bite my daddy?"

He looked so small and fragile. Sitting there on his racecar bed in his new clothes and shoes should have been accompanied by smiles and laughter, not the tears that I knew were forming in both of our eyes.

"I don't know, Hunter. But I think your daddy won't be coming back. I think he's dead."

"Like my mom," he said.

I just nodded, unable to speak for a moment with the lump forming in my throat.

"You know, my mommy and daddy died when I was around your age," I said, when I could find my voice again. "But I had my Gran that loved me and looked out for me. And now you have me to love you, and I will keep you safe and take care of you."

"But I want my daddy, Aunt Sookie," he said, his voice breaking as the first sobs came.

"I know, Hunter. I know," I said as I pulled his head onto my lap, stroking his hair in an effort to comfort a hurt that I knew could only be healed by time.

As if drawn by the distress of the child, Fee came flying in, landing on my shoulder. He didn't bother to say anything, as if we could understand him anyway. His English was coming along, but it wasn't quite there yet. So, he used the language that seemed to speak to just about everyone. He sang.

The sweet tone of his voice was enough to lull even a vampire in a feeding frenzy, and as he sang, poor Hunter's uneven sobs eventually tapered off to silent tears that soaked into the skirt of my dress. It wasn't long before I felt his body slowly relax as he drifted off to an uneasy sleep.

I picked up the sleeping boy and arranged him so his head was on the pillow, finding one of Claudine's stuffed bears and tucking it under his arm. He clasped it tight, even in his sleep, needing the comfort of something to hold on to. I definitely needed to arrange with Alcide to get his little dog Sam here as soon as possible, even if Eric's private jet needed to make a special run.

"Thank you, Fee," I said, feeling like the words were insufficient to reflect my gratitude to the small creature that settled next to Hunter's head on the pillow, ready to stand watch.

The comfort of Fee's songs, and the happy atmosphere he generated with his antics were worth more than I could ever say. The one thing that I thought might repay his contributions to our household would be to return his loved ones to his side, but I wasn't sure yet that I could accomplish that. I had retrieved the key to fairy, but hadn't yet formulated a plan to get in and get out with the small angels without bringing the anger of the fae world to our door.

Not that I thought the fairies would kill me. I was apparently too valuable to them at this point. However, keeping me in their world might be almost as good to them as having Claudine, and Niall definitely wanted Claudine there.

Jerahmeel's promise of protection meant that he would defend me if the fairies tried to hold me against my will, but there were those not wearing his demon mark whose capture could be used against me. Then there was the thought that it might not be considered kidnapping if I went willingly and ended up caught in that strange disruption of time that I had experienced in the portals. I couldn't take the chance of course, especially being pregnant and all. There was no telling how it would affect the bond between me and Eric if I were away for any length of time. Eric would go berserk, that was a given. But would it affect me too, and perhaps my unborn child? And I couldn't leave Claudine, or now, Hunter.

Since I really didn't know if I could trust Niall's motivations, I figured there was just one person that I might consult if I was going to come up with a plan to reunite Fee with his mate. As soon as we got home, I was going to sit down with Uncle Dermott and see what he advised. He was the only person I knew in our world that had actually been to the fae lands, even though it seemed that he was no longer welcome there. He might have an idea on how to get me in and out safely though.

There was more than one thing I needed to deal with, so I tabled my inner discussion for another time, and headed out of the kid's room, pulling my phone out of my pocket to call Mr. Cataliades.

"Well, my dear, you have made quite an impression on the Ancient Pythoness," he said after we greeted each other with the usual polite utterances.

"That's what I'm afraid of," I answered, unsure of what she would think of me after my abrupt exit of the night before. I wondered what had gone on after I had left, and what the Ancient Pythoness and Jerahmeel had talked about. But better to wait to ask Mr. Cataliades until Eric could be part of that discussion.

"On the contrary, my dear. She has decided to give the state of California to Eric, with you as regent until such time as Eric has been restored to health and can assume the position of King."

"Oh!" I said, surprised to hear that. I had assumed that if she were going to give Eric the state, she would appoint Jordun or some other vampire as regent. It wasn't like I was even remotely capable of handling that kind of responsibility.

"Perhaps we might send for Jordun to assist," Mr. Cataliades said, as if reading my thoughts.

"Actually, that might not be a bad idea for now, although the reason I called was to tell you that Eric woke up last night."

"That is very good news, my dear," he said, and he might have sounded a little relieved. "Do you think he will be taking up the reins immediately, or will he still need some time to fully recover?"

"I don't know that he's one hundred percent, but I think he will be soon. His color is much better, and he was able to feed himself."

My bite marks were evidence of that, and his normal porcelain whiteness had replaced the sickly gray color in his skin. He hadn't left any doubt that other parts of his body were functioning pretty well too. But I had felt the lack of strength in him, and the exhaustion that had almost overwhelmed him by the time he had fallen back into his daytime slumber. It might be a while yet before he was up to full strength, but knowing Eric, I figured he would be back in the saddle pretty quickly. He wasn't one to let grass grow under his feet, no matter how adverse the situation.

"I'm hoping he'll be up and about tonight. I'll have him call you."

"Excellent. The Pythoness is very anxious to hear more about this situation, and also to see what your witch-cat has to say."

"I am arranging for that this evening."

"I will inform the Pythoness when she wakes. I expect that we will all be heading to the west coast soon, then. I am already making arrangements for the transfer of assets, and we can begin negotiating with the were packs there for security."

I remembered to mention Sam the dog, and asked the demon lawyer if he could have Alcide send the pet out to us as soon as possible. He assured me that there would be no problem getting the dog there by the next day.

I would have to send Amelia out to Wal-Mart or someplace to get supplies for him. There was no way Dante's collars or bed would work for Sam, since Hunter's dog would look like a midget next to the hellhound. Grace was going to have a coronary if we got any more pets; although one way to look at it was that we were replacing one malevolent witch-cat with a very cute and cuddly pup.

I hung up after thanking Mr. Cataliades and hearing his congratulatory remarks, wondering if the acquisition of this new state was something to be celebrated. It was a mixed blessing from both Eric's and my standpoint. He already had a lot to manage, and I already had the running of two households to supervise, not to mention two, and before long, three small children to raise. Another state would mean another residence to establish. There was no question we would have to increase our household staff, since even the capable Grace, and the now irreplaceable Cat could not be expected to handle the domestic issues for so many people.

Hopefully extending our base of power would only make all of us more secure in the long run. In any case, I would just have to take it one day at a time, I supposed, like you did with anything that seemed insurmountable. Too bad there wasn't a twelve-step program for how to cope with being a vampire queen.

Thank you to all of my kind and supportive readers who have left reviews. I can't express how much I appreciate them. I apologize for the slow updates lately, and promise to try harder. It's funny how real life gets in the way, even when the world of the vampires is so much more appealing sometimes.

Many of the characters and situations in this story belong to Ms. Charlaine Harris, and I intend no infringement on her rights when I borrow them for this derivative work. The rest belong to me.


	117. Chapter 117

CHAPTER 117

Grace was busy in the kitchen as usual, and I offered to help with dinner preparations, but was assured that she had it all in hand. The one upside to having so many vampires in the family was that their dinner could be ready in fifteen seconds in the microwave. The rest of us were getting jambalaya. No matter where we ended up in our now extensive vampire kingdom, at least we could eat like we still lived in the south.

I made myself useful by helping to set the dining room table, since I really wanted to do something that felt "ordinary" for at least a little while. Granted, setting out the crystal glasses that would soon be filled with True Blood wasn't quite the norm in most American households, but I could lay out the napkins and the silverware for the "almost humans" that would be sitting down to supper too.

The table was a huge thing, made of solid wood planks that probably each represented the death of a small tree. The chairs were big and heavy, perfect for someone of Eric's size, but poor Hunter would be lost in one of them. We'd have to hunt down some phone books or something to boost him up.

Vampire kings rarely did anything on a small scale, and Felipe had spared no expense in setting up an impressive headquarters in Nevada. The accommodations would come in handy tonight, since I planned to have the whole family together for dinner, to welcome Eric back to the world of the living.

When I finished the table, I poured myself a coke and headed out to find Amelia.

"So, you got a chance to check out Bob?" I asked when I had gotten her alone out on the porch.

Cat had taken Claudine in for her nap, and Hunter was still asleep. I had a feeling it would probably be dinnertime before he woke up, even though if you asked him, he would probably swear that he was too big to take naps anymore. Now was as good a time as any to deal with Bob.

"Yeah," Amelia said. "Batanya is down there, keeping an eye on him, but he's sewn up tighter than a drum, Sook. I'd like to talk to whoever did that binding. I've never seen anything like it. Who did it, anyway? Did you find another witch to work for you here in Las Vegas?"

"Not a witch, no," I said. "It's demon magic."

"Whoa! I didn't know they could do that stuff. I know some of them can control fire and I've heard that the old ones were pretty much like fairies with all kinds of illusions and stuff, but demons aren't really considered very magical any more. There aren't any pure bloods left, really. Or am I wrong about that?"

She looked at me expectantly, but I didn't volunteer any more information. It wasn't that I didn't trust Amelia, because I did, but I was becoming as secretive as the vampires anymore, and figured it was better to dole out information on a 'need to know' basis, even to my best friend.

"Let's just say that I'm not in a position to talk about that right now, Amelia. And don't get up on your high horse or anything," I added as she started to puff up like she was going to give me a piece of her mind.

"What I need from you is to just deal with Bob so he doesn't get loose. Then there's the question of who turned him back from a cat into a person. I need you to talk to Octavia and see if she knows, cause if it wasn't her, we might have another witch working for the people that hired Bob, and we will need to deal with that one too."

"What do you mean _deal with_?"

I didn't answer that, since she could draw her own conclusions as well as I could on how the vamps would deal with witches that pissed them off.

"Listen, Amelia. Somebody used some kind of glamour on a couple vamps, and as you can imagine, nobody's too happy about that. I'm assuming it's Bob, but if there's someone else working with him, we need to know that."

"Well, I'll call Octavia. There would have been no reason for her to not turn Bob back to a human. She doesn't know about what happened with Quinn that morning. I know I have a hard time keeping things to myself, but I am learning, Sook. I didn't tell anyone about that."

"But there's no way that Octavia would go after your vamps, or do anything that would have harmed you, Sook. Not after you took her in and everything. Anyway to use something like that against the vamps would be pretty suicidal. They like us well enough when we help them out, but they don't forgive using our craft against their own kind."

"I'd guess it was Bob that worked the compulsion. That's what we witches call it, by the way, a compulsion spell. It's not really the same as vampire glamour, but I guess the end result might be the same. I didn't even know that Bob knew how to do it. It's considered a pretty high level spell. But then, it turns out there's a lot I didn't know about Bob."

I had never understood what Amelia had seen in Bob, even though he apparently had hidden talents in the bedroom department. That wasn't all he was hiding I guess.

"Yeah, who would have thought? He seemed so nice at first. Geez Louise, Amelia, he looked like a Mormon for God's sake, in his geeky black slacks and white shirts, riding around on a bicycle."

"And our last president sounded like a good Christian too until he bombed the fuck out of a whole country for his own personal agenda, Sookie. People aren't always what they seem."

Amelia had a good point. It wasn't only the supernatural beings that surprised you with things that they would and could do, good Christian or not. I hated to think what some agency like the CIA would be able to use witches for, if they knew about them, and if they could actually control them. They were keeping tighter and tighter reins on our so-called free society already with their modern technology and tighter security measures. There was no telling what they would do with something like compulsion spells.

"I'm learning that the hard way I guess," I said, no doubt sounding pretty disheartened, which I suppose I was. "I guess I've been pretty stupid about things in the past, and I'm just now learning what I'm really capable of doing and what the consequences are. I'm a total stranger to myself sometimes these days."

"You're just who you always were, Sook. A woman that wants the best for everybody, even though you're in a unique position to know the worst about them."

I certainly wasn't looking out for Bob's best interests, but then I didn't feel compelled to discuss that with Amelia. That was something between my own conscience and me, and my conscience had pretty much gone on vacation and left me home. I was done feeling sorry for Bob. He'd made his own bed, and he would have to lie in it.

"Well, I wish I didn't know half of what I've learned in the last few years. I think that old saying really is true. Ignorance is bliss."

"Then I guess your brother Jason must be the happiest man alive," she said, and we both had to laugh at that.

"Come on. Let me show you what I did with Bob."

I followed Amelia out to the guard's quarters, a separate building across the yard from the main house.

Our "men in black" were out in force, and they had to be uncomfortable in their dark clothing, standing out in the sun in protective gear and carrying their heavy weapons. It was starting to cool off rapidly, as evening approached, but it was still hot outside, even though we were well into fall. People might say that the dry heat of the desert was better than our muggy Louisiana weather, but dry or wet, hot was hot.

Dante bounded along beside me, not bothered at all by the late afternoon sun beating onto his dark, thick coat. Heat was obviously his element. Several of the guards nodded, but no one bothered us as we walked towards the building and the stairs that led down to the basement. I could see Mark outside, sitting in his wheel chair, getting some fresh air. He was talking with some of the other guys, and he looked a lot better today.

"He hasn't moved a muscle," Batanya said, pointing to the witch lying on a cot in the middle of the stuffy room.

"What is that awful smell in here?" I said, covering my nose with my hand and hoping I wouldn't gag.

Batanya and Clovache were sitting on folding chairs around a small table right inside the door of the room that housed Bob, playing a game of chess. I was tempted to ask them if they would teach me how to play, but considering my life, it was obvious that a game of strategy would not be my cup of tea. Eric, however, would probably be a master of the game.

"Sorry about the smell," Amelia said. "It's the herbs I used for the spell…well… that and the chunk of Bob's hair I added. You have to burn everything, and then spread the smoke around."

I noticed there was a small metal brazier on the floor, the few coals in it already just about burned out.

"He's getting a little ripe anyway," Clovache said. "Being unconscious hasn't kept him from stinking."

"That's the binding spell," I said, remembering the smell of dirty, damp wool that had emanated from Dermott when Niall had spelled him.

"I did a containment on the whole room," Amelia said. "It won't keep anyone else in or out but Bob can't get through it. That's why I used the hair, to make it specific to him. There's no way he can escape this way. The duct tape is to keep him from casting. If he can't move his hands or speak, he can't throw a spell on anyone when he wakes up. The method is pretty simple, but it works."

Bob's mouth was taped shut, and I noticed that his hands were taped together, including his fingers. There was a big chunk of hair missing from the right side of his head too. Amelia hadn't been worried about his appearance when she'd whacked that off.

"So if I release him from the binding, he can't go after me? I'll have to touch him to do it."

"I suppose he could launch his whole body at you and knock you over," Clovache said, getting up from her chair and looking Bob over. "We better do his feet too, and I'll stay close. If he shows any signs of aggression, I'll just knock him out again."

She grabbed the roll of duct tape and began to wrap the tape around Bob's ankles, pulling a knife out of a sheath at her belt to cut it off when she had him secured. She left the knife in her hand as I stepped closer to the cot.

"Okay. I guess I'll undo the binding then," I said.

"So, how do you know how to undo it?" Amelia said. "Didn't you say it was demon work?"

"Yeah, it is," I answered, not giving any more information than that.

I got down on my knees next to Bob, and made myself as comfortable as possible. Clovache was right about the smell coming off the witch. Not that there was much chance of him having a shower, and being dirty was the least of his problems at this point.

"Why even bother to wake him up, Sook? The vamps are just going to kill him anyway."

"I promised Eric he could question him," I said, refusing to apologize for that.

I had promised, and I would do it, and then I would walk away from the whole Bob issue and move on.

"I almost feel sorry for the poor bastard," Clovache said.

"I don't," Batanya threw out as she moved her piece on the chessboard before turning to watch what I was doing.

I placed my hands on Bob's chest and let the magic flow into them, its taste familiar on my tongue. I called up the small flame, just the way Jerahmeel had taught me, and painstakingly burned away each strand of the Prince's spell, careful not to burn the body that was being held by the magic.

A small flaking of gray ash began to form, seemingly out of mid-air, leaving Bob not only smelly, but pretty dusty besides. I didn't bother to brush it off, but rather leaped up and quickly moved back when the spell broke and the witch's eyes flew open.

Bob looked disoriented for a moment as he stared at Amelia and me. Then the realization that he was caught must have hit home, because I could see the fear growing in his eyes. The muscles in his lean body contracted and he tried to sit up, looking at the door as if he thought he might make a run for it, only to be tripped up when he found that his duct taped limbs weren't going to cooperate. He managed to fling himself off the cot, but that was as far as he got. I think he might have tried to call out at the shock of falling flat on the concrete floor, but all he could manage was a muffled groan.

Dante put his body between mine and Bob's, a few drops of saliva dripping from his exposed teeth as he snarled, and Bob went utterly still.

I didn't bother to see if Batanya and Clovache would take pity on the witch and haul him back up on to the cot. I just turned away and headed back to the house. I felt sickened by this whole situation, and the sun was already setting. I could feel the vampires waking up, and Eric would be hungry.

When I got to our room, I saw that Eric was indeed already awake, and that Daniel had come in to feed him.

They sat on the bed, facing each other. The golden strands of Eric's long hair mingled with Daniel's dark, heavier locks, and fell over the younger vampire's shoulder as Eric fed from his bent neck. Eric's fingers were splayed across Daniel's back, holding him in place, although Daniel was there quite willingly, and had no reason to struggle in Eric's grasp. Daniel arms were wrapped around Eric's bare waist. I had never really seen two men in quite such an intimate posture before, and I had to admit there was something very erotic about it, and considering the men involved, something very beautiful.

If circumstances had been different, I would have viewed the scene as one of a passionate embrace, and I suppose it was in some respects. I had experienced Eric's bite, and even outside of a sexual encounter, there was no question that his blood lust was a passionate emotion. I might have been jealous if it had been a stranger, or some blood whore, but within our family, I was willing to see it for what it was – food.

Of course the vampires heard me enter, and Eric's eyes opened, focusing on me standing in the doorway. My own eyes closed, as I opened my shields and allowed the pleasure he felt in this moment to flow through our bond and over me. By the time Eric had taken his last swallow, my own hunger was beginning to manifest, hunger for my Eric.

Daniel nodded briefly as he left the room, but I had eyes only for my Viking as I heard the door close behind me.

I shed my clothes as I walked up to the bed, climbing into his waiting arms. He pulled me close, inhaling my scent like a drowning man reaching for air at the surface of the water. His lips met mine, and I tasted blood in his mouth, the power in Daniel's ancient blood rushing through my own veins and leaving me reeling.

"I'm sorry for these," he said as his lips pulled away from mine. He ran one finger over the now partially healed puncture marks in my neck.

"I'm not," I told him, looking into his beautiful blue eyes with no regrets.

It was uncharacteristic of Eric to leave a visible mark on my skin, but of all the scars I carried, after so much brutality had been visited on my body, these scars would represent something beautiful to me.

"Such beautiful skin," he whispered, his lips tracing a line down the side of my face and over my chin as his hands ran down over my breasts and to my waist.

I closed my eyes and let my head fall back as he lifted me, his fangs brushing lightly across my nipples as he lowered me back down and onto his lap, filling me in one swift movement. I gasped at the feeling of our suddenly joined flesh, fitting so perfectly, and my heart began to beat faster as we began to move together.

"Perfect," he said, the word a cool whisper against the warmth of my neck. "Perfect."


	118. Chapter 118

CHAPTER 118

I wanted nothing more than to stay in bed, snuggled up against Eric, sated and happy. I reflected on how much my happiness depended so totally on this man (vampire, whatever!) and remembered a night in the woods of Bon Temps, when I had been as close to him as I was now, and had compared the two of us to conjoined twins.

That comparison held up pretty well, since only one heart beat between us, and the death of one of us, would almost surely mean the death of us both. Not that I would want to be permanently glued to his side or anything. There were some parts of my life that I might want to remain private. But I treasured the closeness that we shared, and suspected it was a rare thing in life.

I ran my fingers through the soft curls of hair that sprinkled Eric's chest, savoring the hum of the connection we shared. He responded with a low, soft sound that was almost a purr. We had both been starved for contact with each other while he had been in his healing coma. It was more than just sexual desire, although there was no lack of that. The need to "feel" each other had become a gnawing ache - like hunger.

The audible rumbling of my stomach reminded me that I had more than my hunger for Eric to appease. It had been quite some time since my last meal, and after all, I was eating for two. No doubt the family would be waiting for us at the dinner table soon, if they weren't there already. Hunter had yet to meet his Uncle Eric, and Mr. Cataliades would be expecting Eric's call. It was time to get out of bed.

"You haven't eaten?" Eric asked.

His voice was languid, and the movement of his fingers down my arm was lazy – this cat had already had his cream, and was enjoying his basking for a while.

"Not yet. I laid the table for a family dinner tonight. I have a feeling it will be hectic around here for a while and this might be the last evening that most of us will be in the same place at the same time. I thought we could all eat together and Hunter can get to know our family. Everyone will want to welcome back the new King of California too."

He stiffened a bit at that, the motion of his hand faltering for a moment, but he didn't say anything. Maybe I had been wrong to request this new position in his name, but it was a done thing now. Time would tell whether it had been a wise move or a blunder. What was the point of second-guessing everything?

He reached down to place his hand over my belly, his posture relaxing again.

"We wouldn't want my son to go hungry. Come, wife, I will accompany you to dinner," he said.

I grinned at being called "wife". I sort of liked it when he went all old-world in his speech.

He stretched out a bit, making darned sure I had a chance to see what a prize companion I would have at my side at table, and then got up to stand at the side of the bed. When he reached down to pull me up, I placed my hand in his.

By the time we had showered and dressed, I could already hear a commotion outside our bedroom door. From the high pitch of the shrieking, I knew it had to be Claudine. Only little girls can hit that high of a note. The occasional rough and tumble slams into the door would be Dante. The two of them were so funny when they roughhoused. Dante could eat the baby whole in one bite probably, but he seemed to be all grace and good nature when he played with Claudine, never knocking her down or hurting her in any way, no matter how many times she stepped on his paws or pulled his fur.

"I think your daughter knows you're awake. She's been missing her daddy," I told Eric as he laced up his boots.

"As I have missed her," he said, getting that look he always got when he talked about emotions. After all of these years, I think it still surprised him sometimes that he had them.

Claudine literally flew into Eric's arms when he finally stepped out the door, and if he had been a smaller man, she might have knocked him over. Only his natural grace as a vampire kept him from tripping over Dante, darting about at his feet. They ignored me completely to fawn all over Eric. They had seen me that day already, so I was now just chopped liver.

Eric hugged and kissed his little girl, and went so far as to not snarl at Dante, a big concession on his part, as he followed me to the dining room.

When we passed the kid's room, Hunter was standing outside the doorway, looking hesitant. Cat was behind him, urging him forward with warnings that he would be late for dinner. He was decked out in his new Viking accessories, including sword, and looked cute as a button.

"Ready for dinner?" I asked the boy.

He nodded, his eyes as big as saucers as he looked up…and up…at Eric's towering height.

"Eric, this is my cousin, Hunter Savoy, and this is your Uncle Eric, Hunter."

Hunter's mouth was catching flies, and Eric remained silent as he examined the boy, head to toe, a hint of amusement showing in the slight wrinkles at the corners of his mouth.

"Manners, Hunter," I said, egging him on a bit.

"Nice to meet ya, Uncle Eric," he said, in his smallest voice.

His feet shuffled a little nervously, and he looked down, uncertain what to do with the plastic sword in his hand if he was expected to shake like the men usually did.

Eric nodded, and when I "Ahem'd" in his direction, spoke up.

"It is nice to meet you too, child."

Hunter's shuffling feet began making their way back inside the door, but were blocked by Cat standing behind him in the doorway. He grabbed onto Cat's pants leg for support as he continued to check Eric out, trying to decide if he was scary. Seeing Claudine perched comfortably in one of Eric's arms and looking happy as a clam decided him that Eric was okay to talk to.

"You're very tall," the boy finally blurted out, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"I am," Eric said, definite amusement in his voice now. "And you are very short."

"I'm gonna keep growing," the boy shot back, defending his stature.

"One would hope so," replied Eric.

It had probably been hundreds of year since Eric had held a conversation with a six year old, if ever, so I gave credit where it was due and didn't roll my eyes at Eric's response.

"Miss Amelia says you're a real Viking," Hunter said, after a moment, apparently deciding that Eric was more interesting than he was intimidating, because he took a step forward towards our little group.

I doubted that the word Viking had any real significance to Hunter, but since Vikings had their own costumes, one of which he was wearing, he probably figured they were something special, which of course they were.

"Yes, I am."

"Where's your hat?"

"My helmet?" Eric said, looking a little taken aback, and staring at the big white horns growing out of the plastic helmet on Hunter's head.

I was a little concerned that Eric might go all historical on us and tell Hunter how Vikings really didn't wear horns on their head, and that that was a story other groups of people used to frighten children with. But fortunately, he had enough savvy to play along.

"I'm afraid that I don't have a helmet quite as nice as yours anymore."

"Oh," Hunter said, taking off his hat. "You wanna wear mine, Uncle Eric? There's a strap to keep it on your head," he said, pulling on the elastic band that was stapled to the plastic and demonstrating how it worked.

I had never seen my bad-assed vampire quite as nonplussed as he was at that moment. I could barely contain myself, and it was all I could do to not burst out laughing. Cat was forced to cover her mouth and give a little cough so that her snicker wouldn't be obvious.

"Come on Eric, be a sport and try on the helmet," a voice said from behind us.

Eric turned, snarling and giving Pam a look that would peel paint off a barn. She was not impressed and grinned mischievously from ear to ear.

"I don't believe it is my size," Eric said, addressing Hunter, but keeping his glare on Pam. "But I am sure that it would be a perfect fit for my child Pam."

Pam looked leery then, knowing that if Eric commanded her she would have no choice but to wear the child's helmet, but regardless of consequence, she couldn't resist an opportunity to tease her maker.

"Excuse me, master. Of course the hat would be much too small for anyone with a head as swollen as yours," she said, bowing low so he wouldn't see the amusement on her face.

Eric continued to glare at Pam for a moment, and I could see where this could easily get out of hand, especially if I broke out laughing, which I was sure to do at any moment if this kept going.

"Pam, this is my cousin Hunter. Hunter, this is Pam. She is Eric's child, which I will explain after dinner," I said.

"Hello, Hunter," Pam said, straightening from her bow and giving him the same once over that Eric had.

"Nice to meet ya," Hunter said, looking from Pam to Eric and then back to Pam.

The whole vampire child thing would take some explaining, since the two vampires looked pretty close in age to someone who didn't know how this all worked. I expected I'd be doing a lot of explaining now that Hunter was around.

"I think you better wear the helmet, Hunter," I told my cousin. "You never know when we'll need a mighty Viking warrior like yourself to defend us."

"Okay, Aunt Sookie," Hunter said.

His plastic clad chest swelled up at the thought of being a mighty warrior, and he plopped the helmet back on his head, jutting out his chin so I could help him with the elastic strap.

"Your dinner is getting cold," Grace called disapprovingly from down the hall, rolling her eyes and looking between Pam and Eric.

Straightening to his full height, and looking as intimidating as he could with a baby plastered to his hip, Eric began to stride to the dining room with me at his side, and little Hunter, swinging his plastic sword like a mini-Thalia, following behind.

There was more than one muffled snicker as everyone at the table rose to greet their King. Of course the vampires had heard the whole scenario out in the hall, but they bowed at the waist and remained standing respectfully until Eric had Claudine settled in her high chair and had taken his own seat at the head of the table.

Grace began serving out generous helpings of jambalaya to those of us that ate food and Clovache passed me the pitcher of milk to fill my glass and Hunter's. There was a glass of warmed True Blood in front of each vampire.

I helped Hunter get settled onto his makeshift booster seat, and then introduced him to the members of the family that he hadn't met yet. We were such a motley crew now – two telepaths, a brownie, a witch, two Britlingens, a part-demon, the mini-angel Fee, Claudine, and a nest of mostly ancient vampires. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! And of course, there was Dante the hellhound, underfoot, waiting for fallout from the table.

"At this time, I think it appropriate to propose a toast," Pam said, tapping her glass of blood on the table to get our attention.

At that, each of the vampires picked up their glasses of True Blood, and the rest of us followed suit, holding up whatever we were drinking, milk for the pregnant women and kids, a thimble full of honey for Fee and wine for everyone else. Hunter seemed a little confused about these proceedings, but copying me, he held up his glass of milk. Claudine just banged her sippy cup loudly on the tray of her high chair, figuring this was some new game.

Pam looked at the baby indulgently and then began.

"Tonight we celebrate the return of our master to his rightful place at the head of our table."

She focused on Eric, and for a brief moment, her look said she was still picturing what he would look like in the helmet, but she schooled her face into the appropriate serious demeanor and continued.

"And to celebrate his new position as the King of California," she said.

Amelia, whom I suspected had been hitting the wine bottle since she had finished with Bob, lifted her glass to drink, and Pam reached over to snatch her hand back down, obviously not finished.

"In my time, we had a saying for just such felicitous occasions," she said, pushing her chair back as she got to her feet.

Chair legs scraped the floor and dinnerware rattled as we all stood up to toast Eric. Dante scrambled out from under the table to see what was going on, and Hunter, with a little help, was soon precariously balanced on his phone books, sword held out in one hand, glass of milk in the other. We held our glasses high, waiting for Pam to speak.

She nodded her head to Eric and said, "The King is dead. Long live the King!"


	119. Chapter 119

PART 7

CHAPTER 119

Claudine sat scrunched up in an old cardboard box on the floor, happily talking away with her emerald. Her babbling was beginning to sound more and more like actual speech these days. Of course, about the only language that I would recognize for sure was English (or maybe French, since I'd had to take a few semesters of that in high school), but the few words that I did catch sounded a lot like the fairy language that Fee spoke. Maybe I should get him to teach me his native tongue while he was learning ours. It might be a good idea if I knew just what Claudine was saying. Not that a baby her age would be discussing anything earth shattering no matter who she was speaking to.

We were sitting in the kitchen in Shreveport, and it was already well past the kids' bedtime, but I could tell that they were both too wound up to settle in for the rest of the night. Besides, if they were going to have any real family time, Claudine and Hunter needed to be awake during at least part of the vampire hours, just as I was a good deal of the time.

Hunter watched Claudine for a minute, looking as though he were puzzling out how she could just sit and talk to her jewelry for that long. At some point he must have decided that it was some kind of girl thing or maybe just a baby thing, and he refocused his attention on the vampire sitting beside him at the table.

"You have to stay inside the lines," he admonished, sounding very sure of himself for a six year old.

"By whose authority?" Thalia shot back, giving Hunter her most belligerent stare.

"That's just the rules." He ignored her look and frowned with disapproval at Thalia's page, which I had to admit, did not look as good as Hunter's.

The ancient vampire bristled a bit at the young child's comment. That was the second time that she'd been challenged that evening, and since both her contenders were under her protection, there wasn't much she could do about it.

She'd almost burst a blood vessel when I'd refused the glass of milk she had poured for me earlier and opted to help myself to a glass of sweet tea instead. Thalia had argued that Eric said I should be drinking milk. My response was that Eric could "go fish". I had enjoyed my tea, much to her chagrin, and now a small human boy had the gall to criticize her artistic endeavors.

Thalia snarled and put down her red crayon, folding her arms in front of her chest and looking ready to rip someone's throat out. Hunter just passed her another crayon.

"You should make the sun yellow," he said. "I'm done with the yellow. You can use it now."

After a few moments of sulking, Thalia unfolded her arms, picked up the yellow crayon and began to fill in the big round sun on the page, staying carefully inside the lines. Hunter went back to working on a clump of flowers on his own page, showing surprising acceptance of his new coloring companion.

Thalia was pretty small, and when she wanted, she could look pretty harmless, but I doubted that was the reason for Hunter's comfort level. It was more likely because she seemed to focus so intently on everything the boy did. After all, what kid doesn't just eat up that kind of attention? I personally thought her fascination with him was borderline stalkerish (if that was even a word), but I didn't consider her a threat to him in any way. Thalia would never hurt a child.

Then there was the fact that as scary as vampires could be, there was something very attractive about their relatively quiet brains after the constant bombardment of thoughts that emanated from humans. When they weren't trying to kill you, vamps were actually quite peaceful to be around.

Cat sat across from Thalia at the table, her knitting needles clicking softly against each other with a soothing rhythm. She was making quick work of a new afghan to replace the one that had gone up in smoke along with my kitchen table. This one would be a nice shade of blue. No doubt Eric would consider it a big improvement over my old one, whose colorful crazy-quilt pattern he'd described as "truly hideous".

She looked up from her work and smiled approvingly at Thalia, as the vampire painstakingly filled in the outlines of a sun that she could never again witness in real time. Unlike Grace, who more often than not scowled disapprovingly at the vampires, Cat seemed to be very content around vamps, much like the other part-demons that we knew, Mr. Cataliades and Diantha.

"Compton is at the front door," Pam said, disrupting this homey little scene as she walked into the kitchen, acting like she had just stepped in dog poo in her new Jimmy Choos.

Pam was just never going to like Bill, even if he had tried to get into her good graces. Not that he would try. Their dislike was mutual.

"What does he want?" Thalia said, laying down her crayon. Her fingers began twitching as if she was missing the feel of a blade in her hand. Thalia hadn't joined Bill's fan club either.

"He says he has something important to tell Sookie and Eric," Pam replied, examining her fingernails for chips in the polish.

"Well, invite him in, Pam."

The exasperation I felt colored the tone of my words. I couldn't quite understand what it was about Bill that made the other vampires despise him. At first I thought it was just the fact that I had been with Bill before I was with Eric. Or maybe that Bill had betrayed me, although that wasn't generally known. But more and more I suspected that it was something more fundamental than that.

Bill always maintained the façade of a southern gentleman, well, most of the time anyway. He couldn't very well do that when he was in the midst of the kind of mayhem that so often surrounded vampires, but in general, he was polite and courteous, if somewhat reserved. In other words, he did not act like a vampire.

At some point, Eric had said that Bill could never be anyone of consequence in the vampire world because he was too focused on his own self-loathing. I wasn't sure if that was really true (although I would go so far as to agree that Bill was a little self-absorbed) and since I didn't have a PhD in my list of accomplishments, I wasn't going to try to analyze his mental health.

Not that I really thought much about him anymore. I had gotten over Bill a long time past, even if he hadn't quite gotten over me. And until that happened, I didn't see how we could even really be friends. But I wasn't going to leave him standing outside the door. I happened to appreciate southern hospitality, and he had once saved my life after all.

I got up and went to the door, Dante dogging my steps and almost knocking Pam off her feet as we pushed by her. Hunter's little dog Sam came bounding up behind us, sniffing the air to decide if he liked the smell of this new visitor.

"Come on in, Bill. Can I get you a blood or something?" I said.

"Thank you, Mistress, but I've already fed," Bill said, as he bowed from the waist in the doorway.

I rolled my eyes at the "Mistress", but didn't bother to comment. Bill wouldn't earn any brownie points by being informal with me. Eric was a real stickler about that kind of thing, and Pam was sure to report any "indiscretions" on Bill's part.

"Have a seat. Eric's in his office. Pam, maybe you can tell Eric that Bill is here?"

Dante was busy giving our visitor a good once-over, and Bill looked vaguely uncomfortable when the hound (in typical dog fashion) sniffed around personal places that I didn't want to think about. It wasn't like Bill could do anything to curb the animal though. Dante wasn't a pup anymore, and could no doubt give Bill a run for his money if he decided he didn't like the vampire.

"Dante, go lie down."

My faithful guardian obeyed the strict sense of that command and plopped himself down on the floor, a few feet away from the couch but well within striking distance if the visiting vamp decided to do something Dante didn't approve of. Sam promptly laid down at Dante's side, mimicking the hellhound.

"How've you been, Bill? Everything okay over in Bon Temps?"

A vampire's health didn't really vary unless they suffered an injury, but their circumstances could change just like anyone else's. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen Bill. His skin had lost the gray pallor of the silver poisoning and his body looked well nourished and healthy again. In fact, he looked just exactly as he had the first day I had met him in Merlotte's. It seemed such a long time ago now. Lots of water under that bridge, Gran would have said.

"I have been well and my work keeps me quite busy. Things are relatively quiet in Bon Temps, but you would know that from Amelia. I see your brother occasionally, at the shifter's bar. He seems…the same."

Bill had about the same opinion of Jason as the rest of the vampires – that he was two bricks short of a load. For my sake, though, he treated him with respect.

"I haven't seen Jason in a coon's age. It's just been so busy around here with the kids and all, that I don't get out much these days."

I didn't need to mention that my energy level for going out was at an all time low too, now that I was seven months pregnant. Even the monthly trips to meet with my great grandfather had been put on hold until the new baby was born. I did want to make one more trip over to the house before that though. I'd been thinking it would be nice to collect all of my gran's journals and the photos that I had left in the trunk in the attic. Of course Amelia could always bring them over, but it would be nice to say hello to Sam too, and maybe see Tara and Jackson.

"The child is expected soon?" Bill asked.

"Yeah, another month or so." I ran one hand over my protruding stomach. It was more like Mt. Everest than a "bump" these days, and the baby kicked like a mule. If he was anything like his father, he was going to be huge, which did not make me look forward to the process of delivery. Not that I would be looking forward to that in any case.

Pam glared at Bill, and he transferred his gaze from my middle to the portrait that hung over the mantel of the fireplace. Besides the outfit, I looked pretty much the same as I had when Jan had painted it.

The conversation pretty much died at that point. There was no point in asking what brought Bill over to the house in Shreveport, as he would just have to repeat it for Eric, and the days of small talk with Bill were long past. I almost wished I could offer him a piece of Grace's delicious pecan pie or something, since I felt like a pretty bad hostess just sitting across from the empty table without anything to say.

"Compton," Eric said from the doorway, putting an end to the awkward silence and prompting Bill to stand up and give a brief bow, recognizing Eric's position as king. "What brings you to disturb your mistress, rather than making an appointment with me?"

I huffed at Eric's rudeness, but kept my mouth shut. The vampires had their own protocol, and as much as Eric appreciated my southern hospitality, he didn't bother to exercise it himself in the company of his "subordinates".

"It is a matter of a personal nature that I thought you would prefer to discuss in private," he said.

Eric looked dubious, as if there was nothing of a personal nature that he would ever want to discuss with Bill, but he said "Very well," as he turned back down the hall to his "at home" office.

Supervising three kingdoms was turning out to be more than a full time job, especially when Eric could only work at night. Even with Jordun taking a good deal of the responsibility for California, and Pam for Nevada, Eric wasn't home as much as we would have liked. So, on the nights when he didn't need to see anyone face to face, he worked from home instead of going over to the office at Fangtasia.

I followed the two men into the office, closing the door behind me, and taking a seat on one of the comfy leather chairs that faced Eric's desk.

"So, what is it?"

Eric's voice grated a bit, sounding impatient as he sat back in his own chair, his long legs stretched out under the desk. Bill didn't bother to sit down, but used the other chair to set down the briefcase he carried, opening it and pulling out a manila envelope.

"This is a report concerning the individuals that you asked me to monitor," he said as he pushed a sheaf of papers across the desk towards Eric. "Two of the subjects appear to have gone missing."

Eric didn't bother to look at the report on his desk, but just focused on Bill without responding to this news.

"The people that Niall was keeping track of?" I asked, and Bill nodded gravely.

With all the stuff going on in my own life, I had sort of forgotten all about the other subjects of Niall's genetic studies. Bill had been sent to "follow up" on them at some point, but it seemed in everyone's best interests to keep our distance, hoping to keep them off any other vampire's radar. I hadn't realized that Eric was still having them monitored.

"Yes, two females."

I always wanted to say something when the vamps called women "females" like they were talking about animals or something, or maybe just "moo" at them, since as Eric said, we were looked at much the same way humans looked at livestock. Okay, to be fair, if it was Andy Bellfleur giving a report at the sheriff's office, he would be doing the same thing. "White female, aged seventeen, last seen…blah, blah, blah." But still, I didn't like it.

"The first is Eleni Petrou, twenty two years of age, unmarried, unemployed and resident of Fyli," Bill continued.

"Fyli?"

"It is a suburb of the city of Athens," Bill said. "An agricultural community."

"The circumstances?" Eric asked.

"I have enclosed a printout of the newspaper article along with a translation."

I wouldn't be surprised if Eric could read it in the original Greek, since he spoke so many different languages, some of them quite ancient. There would be no reason that I knew of for Bill to know Greek though. They may have still taught it in schools when he was a kid, but I didn't think Bill had gone to school for more than a few years. His family, like mine, had been farmers, and he had gone off to fight in the Civil War, not to study at the university. Like many vampires, he was mostly self-taught, unless they happened to go to night school at some point.

"Apparently the girl was resident of what we would call a half-way house for the mentally disturbed. She was participating in a supervised outing of some sort, on Mount Parnassus. She wandered off from the group and has not been found. It has been a week."

"So she could have just gotten lost in the woods and had an accident or something?" I asked, knowing that probably wasn't going to turn out to be the case. It was probably not the case that she was really mentally ill either, but depending on how she had coped with the "defect" of telepathy, she might well have been disturbed.

I could tell that Eric was thinking the same thing, and he was disgusted at how little value humans placed on ability that the supernatural community considered a gift and an asset.

"It is possible," Bill said, answering my question, "although a thorough search was conducted by the authorities. No remains have been found."

You didn't always find remains though. I knew that, since I still had a body buried somewhere in the woods near my house in Bon Temps. Only Eric knew where that body was, and he wasn't telling. Not that I ever wanted to know.

"One disappearance might not have set off any alarm bells, but another of the subjects went missing around the same time. Kate Cameron, aged thirty-three, an unmarried housekeeper in Stavely in Derbyshire, England. I noticed a lack of any financial transactions about ten days ago, and sent someone to investigate. No one has seen her, although the police have not been notified at this point. Apparently she was quite solitary except for her interaction with her clients and her landlady, who said she had not given notice or talked about any travel plans."

I got up and took the papers from Eric's desk. Along with photos and a pretty comprehensive accounting of bank and phone records, there was also a copy of a medical file for the girl, Eleni. It looked like she had been under psychiatric care most of her life. Her parents must have given up on her, since there was no mention of them after she had been made a ward of the court at age ten.

I had been "crazy Sookie" to most of the town of Bon Temps, and my own family had spent what to them was a small fortune on doctors to figure out what was wrong with me, but at least I had had my grandmother after my parents died. I couldn't imagine what would have happened if there had been no one to accept me for what I was. I might have ended up in some halfway house or something too, instead of here in Shreveport with a loving family surrounding me, even if most of them were vampires.

"You don't think it was a coincidence that they are both missing at the same time," I said.

It was a statement more than a question, since Bill wouldn't have come to talk to Eric about it if he saw it as coincidence.

"I have never been a big believer in coincidence," Eric said, not giving Bill a chance to answer. "Not when it concerns the supernatural community."

"So who do you think would take them? Do you think Bob might have known about them too? He obviously knew about Hunter. If he told the vampires…"

"He did not disclose that information," Eric said, sounding very certain.

Eric and I had never really discussed Bob the witch's interrogation, but I had no doubt it had been thorough.

The night Bob was questioned, I had stayed inside with the kids. That hadn't kept me from feeling some of what Eric was feeling at the time. I had thrown up my shields of course, but I hadn't been willing to sever the connection of our bond completely (if I even could) after being so disconnected from Eric during the time he had been in a coma.

As Eric "questioned" Bob, I had experienced his rage, had tasted the sweetness of his revenge, and had shared the primal satisfaction that only comes with the last beat of a heart, when all of the life force of a human has been taken by the vampire. When Eric had come in later that night, his flesh still warm and flushed with color, I hadn't turned him away, even though his mouth still tasted of Bob's blood. I had long ago accepted Eric for what he was, even if I still couldn't quite accept everything that he did.

"Who have you sent?" Eric asked Bill.

"A were that runs a private investigation service out of New Orleans. I've used him in the past and he is very discreet. His particulars are in the report."

I wondered for a moment if Bill's use of him in the past had included having me investigated before he conveniently showed up to take over the old Compton estate, but I didn't ask. Water under the bridge.

"We could send one of our people, but I thought a strange vampire in the area might be reason for the local vampire community to become too interested."

"If they are unaware of the woman's existence, I would prefer to keep it that way," Eric said, looking pleased at how Bill had handled things so far. "Let me know anything else the were finds out."

With that, Bill gave a brief nod to Eric and me and headed towards the door. Since Eric was being his usual rude self, I decided to walk Bill out. I wanted to talk about all of this with Eric, but it could wait a few moments in the name of courtesy.

As soon as we opened the door, Hunter's voice called out in a beleaguered whine.

"Aunt Sookie, do I have to have Claudine in the tub? She always splashes me and she's a girl!"

When he saw that a strange vampire was in the hall with me, he began to back up, knocking right into Cat who had been following behind him, carrying a stack of clean towels.

"Bill, this is my cousin Hunter. He has come to live with us. Hunter, this is Mr. Compton. He's my neighbor over at the house in Bon Temps."

"Hello, Hunter," Bill said, giving the child a quick once-over. It was probably obvious to him that this was Hadley's son, since Hunter looked so much like his mother.

"Manners, Hunter," I prompted, and heard a muffled, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Compton," from behind Cat's skirts.

"Mr. Compton was just leaving," I said as I stepped forward, leaving Bill to follow me to the front door. "Go ahead and take your bath, Hunter. Claudine can have hers in the morning," I threw over my shoulder.

"Thanks for coming by tonight, Bill," I said to our guest when he'd opened the door and stepped out on the porch. "I appreciate all the work that you do for us."

"My pleasure, Sookie," he said, using my name now that Pam was not close enough to hear. "You know I will always be at your service."

"Goodnight, Bill," I said.

I hated to sound so abrupt, but on the other hand, there was just no way to maintain more than a working relationship with Bill. Besides the obvious fact that Eric was unreasonably jealous about what had transpired between us (vampires seemed to have written the book on possessiveness), Bill and I really didn't have much to say to each other anymore. In many ways, we never had. In retrospect, he had had much more in common with my grandmother than he ever had with me, and even considering his relative youthfulness in the vampire community and his interest in current technology, he was much more a creature of the past than Eric was.

Bill hesitated, looking as if he would like to say more, but instead he just bowed, turned around and headed to his car.

Lingering on the porch, I listened to the faint hum of activity in our compound. The place never really slept, with construction going on during the day, and vampires or weres coming and going at all hours of the night. Sometimes I missed the comforting sounds of the birds and insects that always seemed to surround our old farmhouse in Bon Temps. Night had been so peaceful there. Until Bill had arrived and pulled me into the world of the vampires, that is.

And here he was again, almost like an omen.

I headed back to the office to see what Eric's take on the situation would be.

Author's Note: Thank you to my readers for being so patient while I have been on hiatus. I have managed to catch up a little on my real life, and hope to have more frequent updates on the story. I hope you enjoy them. I appreciate all the personal messages and the reviews and alerts that readers have posted. They always encourage me to keep the story going.

Charlaine Harris holds the copyright for many of the characters and situations portrayed in this story. I am just borrowing them for this derivative work, and have reaped no financial benefit from their use. The rest of the characters are mine, and I take full responsibility for their actions, even when they sometimes do or say something that I wouldn't.


	120. Chapter 120

CHAPTER 120

Fee had managed to find his little bottle of pollen again. It didn't matter how well Grace kept it hidden, he was as good as a coonhound at sniffing things out of their hiding places. Since he was a grown-up (no matter that his size and behavior sometimes made me feel like I was dealing with a youngster) I wouldn't let Grace toss it in the trash. Even I liked a good stiff drink once in a while, although I wasn't generally a big drinker, and I certainly didn't indulge when I was pregnant.

I found it a little worrisome that Fee seemed to indulge a little too frequently these days, especially now that Hunter was in the house. It didn't set a very good example for the kid. When I had a chance to get a little time alone with him, it might be a good idea to have a heart-to-heart with Fee and see if something was bothering him.

In any case, Hunter had started his bath, and Fee decided that a tub-side serenade was called for. None too steady as a result of his inebriated condition, the little creature had managed to fall in over the side. Not that Fee was in any danger of drowning. It wasn't the first time his headlong dives into a sink or tub full of water had left him waterlogged and sputtering, but Hunter didn't know that. My little cousin began to holler loud enough to wake the dead and Cat went racing into the bathroom.

By the time the dripping angel had been scooped out, dried off and tucked safely into his bed, Claudine had managed to strip off all her clothes. Deciding that she didn't want to wait until morning for her bath, she had attempted to climb into the tub with Hunter. The poor boy, determined to bathe by himself, had managed to empty a good portion of the bathwater onto the floor, splashing the squalling toddler in his battle to keep her out.

I walked into the middle of the water fight, and ended up fairly well drenched myself before Cat and I got both kids washed, dried, dressed and settled down in their beds for the night. They were still making rude noises and sticking their tongues out at each across the across the room as I switched off the light.

"Leave that and come to bed," Eric said as I threw the last of the clean towels down onto the bathroom floor puddle. "Your brownie will take care of it in the morning."

"Grace has enough to do already and all this water will damage the floor, Eric."

"I am sure that we have flood insurance, Sookie," he said. Surveying the swamp that the kids had created, he raised his eyebrows and added, "It might be prudent to increase our coverage, however."

It was questionable if Eric fully understood how our insurance worked if he thought it would cover bath-time water fights, but then things like homeowner's insurance were usually left for Bobby Burnham to handle. Eric was kept plenty busy with the day-to-day running of the kingdoms, and couldn't be bothered with those kinds of details.

I kind of liked that I didn't have to bother with them either. It had taken me a little while to get used to having staff like Bobby to take care of things, but I was thankful for it these days. There was enough to worry about already, and I was pretty much running on empty by the time I curled up in bed each night (or morning actually, since I was keeping vampire hours a lot of the time).

"I'm thinking we may have to build an ark. Those two kids are like a natural disaster waiting to strike. I have no idea how we'll manage when the new baby arrives," I admitted as I scooped up the dripping towels and threw them into the tub. "It seems like utter chaos around here half the time as it is."

"I have complete faith in your ability to keep us above water," Eric said, his voice filled with amusement.

"Well, I hope you're not too determined to stay dry, sweetie. I was just about to invite you to join me for a bath. We have a lot to talk about."

Eric's eyes darkened with lust in response to my invitation and I quickly became very conscious of the way the damp fabric of my shirt clung tightly to my breasts. His nostrils flared a bit as he inhaled, taking in my scent, and I found my concerns about the evening's previous events flying out the window.

"Au contraire. I am more than happy to share your bath anytime. There is nothing I appreciate more than the sight of you dripping wet. But perhaps we might table our discussion for later? Can I interest you in a demonstration of my exceptional diving skills instead?"

I ran my tongue slowly over my lips as I considered that vampires didn't need to breathe underwater. Eric's fangs dropped down as his gaze focused in on my mouth, then his eyes moved down to linger hungrily on the pulse beginning to flutter in my neck.

"Hmmm. It might not be safe to go near the water," I teased, humming a few bars of the theme music from Jaws.

He laughed, but his face maintained a predatory look as he turned to evaluate himself in the bathroom mirror, no doubt assessing how he stacked up against the shark that had terrorized a New England coastal resort onscreen. As scary as the great white had been, I had no doubt that Eric could take him. He snapped his teeth together in a mocking imitation of a shark before he turned back to me with a smug grin.

"Not jaws," he said, waving his hand in dismissal of the thought. "Perhaps Moby Dick."

"Moby Dick?"

I thought back to Melville's incredibly dull novel that I had been forced to slog through in high school. I gave Eric my best quizzical look and he raised one eyebrow.

"Do you not see the resemblance? A magnificent creature - so very large and formidable, and quite pale. A true master of the deep."

He stretched a bit, his chest expanding as he struck a pose for me, just in case I hadn't noticed how very big and pale he was.

My eyebrow went up to match his.

"I see your point, but some people might consider it a little bit mean to bring up the subject of whales when I look like this," I said, unable to keep the amusement out of my own voice as I ran my hands over my very protruding belly.

He stepped forward quickly, wrapping his arms around me, bending down to place a cool kiss on my forehead. It was a good thing his arms were long, since it was quite a reach over all the blubber I'd gained while I was pregnant.

"Come, my little cetacean," he said playfully. "Let's take our bath. Maybe I can interest you in a demonstration of my harpoon."

I was still laughing when we reached the door to our room.

It wasn't long before I was lying back against Eric's chest in the tub, sated, yawning and completely drained of energy.

"What do you think about those missing women, Eric?"

"I think we should move this discussion to our bed, Sookie. The water is cooling rapidly, and I believe you are beginning to shrivel."

Unlike Eric, who neither shriveled nor showed discomfort from the chilling bathwater, I was definitely pruning up and beginning to get cold. The thought of a warm, soft bed sounded very appealing.

Eric helped me haul my tired body up and out of the tub, then handed me a big, fluffy towel to dry off with. I didn't bother with a robe, but just headed straight for the bed, crawling naked under the covers and scooting to one side to make room for him. Modesty wasn't an issue these days, since we no longer had a baby sleeping in the room, but that would change soon. Another month, and the cradle would be back out.

"So, should we put guards on the other telepaths? Do you think vampires took the two women?"

"To answer your first question, no. It would not be a good idea, even if such a thing were feasible. If they are not already in the spotlight, it would be better to keep them under the radar."

"What do you mean?"

"Human guards would be ineffective against any concerted supernatural attack. They could certainly make a kidnapping inconvenient, and could alert us to anything unusual, but that would be the extent of their effectiveness. To send in Weres would require that we work with the local packs. They would not tolerate interlopers in their territory unless we made a prior arrangement. To set up something like that would take time, and would prompt questions that would bring the telepaths unwanted attention."

"Okay, I can see that. And I suppose using vamps would be pretty much the same."

"Yes. I cannot send our people into another's territory en masse. One vampire might have a reason to visit an area for a short while, as Bill did, using his database as an excuse, but to stay for any length of time, he would be required to swear at least temporary fealty to the ruler there. And of course, he would be under observation, just as any new vampire would be here."

"Then how are we managing an investigator?"

"One were will not be noticed if he keeps a low profile. He can gather information for a few days and then leave. However, it is doubtful that he will find out much. The perpetrators have no reason to linger since they already have their prey. We can only hope that they have left some clue to their identity."

Eric didn't need to say that it had probably been too long since the victims had gone missing for there to be any viable scent trail to follow.

"Well, I can see your point," I said. "If it were vampires, we might hear about what they've done with the women through the grapevine, though. They probably couldn't keep them hidden indefinitely, not if they were going to use them effectively."

Many of the vamps kept spies in other vamp's courts, and I assumed that Eric did too. And there was always information available if the money was right. If a telepath showed up in one of the courts, we would hear of it eventually, and sooner if we were willing to pay the right people.

"Knowing where they were taken would not mean that we could retrieve them, since we have no prior claim to the women. However, I don't think it was vampires," Eric said.

"Well, who else would want them?"

"Think about it, Sookie. Who wanted you, and why?"

"Vampires of course, for obvious reasons, and well…I guess the FBI. They wanted me to root out terrorists or something. I'm sure other law enforcement agencies might want me too. I don't know what they have over there in Europe. Interpol or something? I guess they might not be above kidnapping, if you believe all the stuff you read about in the newspaper."

"Certainly, either vampires or law enforcement might want a telepath…if they knew of one besides you. But the question is how would they have find out about them - not just one, but two - and at almost the same time. The timing is too convenient for them to have been just 'stumbled upon' as you were after the bombing at Rhodes."

"Well, you're sure that Bob didn't reveal this information, and the only other person that would know about Niall's lab experiment would be that lab guy, Carl. There's Bill, obviously, but I don't think Bill would sell them out."

Not that Bill hadn't sold me out in the beginning (or at least that had been his original intention), but I knew he wouldn't betray me like that now.

"I agree with you about Compton, and the lab guy, as you call him, no longer remembers working on any genetics project for you or your family."

That was news to me, since Eric had never bothered to mention that he'd had the man glamoured, but there was no reason to fuss over that after the fact. I should have known that Eric would take care of that little detail. Mr. High-handed.

"Neither do I think Cataliades would reveal any information he had about your great grandfather's project," Eric continued. "So who does that leave? And don't you find it significant that the two that are missing are both women of child-bearing age?"

"You think Niall took them," I said.

"Yes."

Eric pulled the covers tighter around us, then wrapped me in his arms. The weather was still cool at night, although all the signs of spring were in evidence outside. I didn't think the temperature in the room was the reason for the shiver that ran over my skin.

We had had months of peace and quiet. Sure, things were awfully busy, and the house was often like a three ring circus these days, but no one had tried to kill me, or run off with me or one of the kids. My little habit of flinging fire (along with our now very well-known association with the Prince of Darkness) must have been enough to keep even the boldest of the vampires from going after Eric or anyone in his retinue.

Even the Fellowship of the Sun had been keeping a low profile since the destruction of so many of their headquarters and the disappearance of Steve Newlin. No leader of comparable charisma had risen to take his place, and now that the weres were out of the closet too, the vamps were sort of old news. Not that we wouldn't have any trouble with the human fanatics down the line. It was just a matter of time. But I had been enjoying the peaceful interlude in my otherwise chaotic life, and I really didn't want to deal with any fairy crap. Not that Niall's current antics were necessarily going to involve me in any way. But somehow, I felt that I ought to be involved.

"Why would Niall do this, Eric? I have been meeting with them, me and Claudine, and two of their women are already pregnant… one with twins. I told him I was going to pass on meeting up with them this month, but we planned on scheduling another meeting after Gabriel is born. Maybe Niall is still trying for an angel but Dermott told me that the fairies believe that they could never produce an angel as a child of rape, so what good will it do to take those women?"

"Would it be rape, Sookie?"

"Of course it would, if they were kidnapped," I said, surprised that Eric would even question it.

"They may very well have gone willingly," he continued.

"I don't know if you can call it willing if the fairies used their glamour or whatever on them."

"If they used compulsion, no, but if the women were seduced by the fairy's natural attraction, then it is hard to say they were being forced."

"Oh come on, Eric. How can you defend them?"

Eric was one of the last people on earth that would defend a fairy, after what they had done to me, even though he did cooperate with them when it seemed to be to our advantage.

"I do not defend them, Lover, since I as yet do not know if the fairies were responsible for anything. But consider this. When one woman after another falls at the feet of your brother, is that rape?"

Actually, women pretty much fell at Eric's feet too, even when he just walked over their bodies and paid them no attention at all.

"I don't think that's comparable, Eric. My brother is only a little bit fairy."

"But the part that he inherited is what makes him so irresistible to women, is it not?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not the same thing at all."

I probably sounded a little bit angry now, in defense of my brother, although Eric had made a very good point. I could call my brother a man-whore, but I could never say that he had forced himself on anyone just because he was so attractive. Granted, I didn't quite see him the way other women saw him (he was my brother after all) but there was no doubt that he had some innate magnetism that drew the women in, just as Eric did.

I realized that Eric was using the same reasoning that Niall had used with me the first time he and I had met, when he had argued that Fintan hadn't raped my grandmother, but had admitted that his half-human son could be almost irresistible to women. I had accepted Niall's argument then, and I guess I had to accept Eric's now.

"Perhaps not. However, regardless of how they were taken, I suspect that we will not find them again," Eric continued.

"You think they are in the fae realm."

He didn't have to say anything in answer. I could see that was what he was thinking.

"I don't get it. I just don't get it."

"Exactly what don't you get?"

"He left me alone all those years, and the others too. I mean, he studied them, but he never interfered with their lives. Why now?"

"First of all, we are not certain yet that that is the case. But think about it, Sookie. You were guarded or shielded somehow by your grandfather Fintan for most of your life. Niall couldn't find you. And by the time that Fintan was out of the picture, and you were old enough to reproduce, Breandon became a threat to all humans of mixed heritage, so your great grandfather kept his distance. It was only after you were noticed by other members of the supernatural community that he sent family members to you, to protect you."

"And we see how well that worked out," I hissed out under my breath.

Eric ignored that remark, although a dark cloud passed over his face. I might have forgiven him for not being there to rescue me but I didn't think he would ever quite forgive himself.

"Until Claudine's birth, there was no evidence that Niall's speculations about bringing back the angels were any more than that – speculation," he continued. "But now, you have shown him that there is a real possibility to reinvigorate his race. I expect that he is reconsidering the value that these others might have."

"Oh God, Eric. You don't think he will try to take Hunter, too, do you? I need to talk to Jerahmeel. If Hunter has the Demon Mark, then he'll be safe, right? Niall wouldn't want to take on the whole demon world. Maybe the Prince will mark the others too. They're his kin, after all, descendents of the angels, right? He won't want to see them come to any harm. Look what he did to the vamp that killed Thalia."

I could feel the faint movement of air over my bare shoulder as Eric sighed.

"Talk to your Prince of Darkness, Sookie. But I have a feeling that he may not be as amenable as you expect."


	121. Chapter 121

CHAPTER 121

There was a time when I didn't have a cell phone, not that I didn't want one, but it just wasn't in my budget. Now, I had a phone that could do more than the computers that had guided the first men into space. I could surf the net, pay my bills, read a book or watch a movie on my phone, but the one thing I couldn't do was make a call to the demon world. Usually when I wanted to see Jerahmeel I just relayed my request to Mr. Cataliades. How he managed to reach the Prince was a mystery to me.

The Prince had told me I could always call to him in my mind and he would come, but I thought it best to save that for emergency calls. I didn't want to be one of those idiots who cried wolf at every minor annoyance and ended up being ignored when they really needed help, but I did want to be able to get hold of Jerahmeel without having to go through my lawyer.

"Where there's a will, there's a way," Gran used to say. I just needed to approach this creatively.

"Claudine," I said. "Can Mommy look at your emerald?"

The emerald, set in the necklace that had been a gift for Claudine's first birthday, never left my daughter's neck now. From what Jerahmeel had said, it was a hotline to the demon world. It always just looked like a gemstone to everyone else, but Claudine could obviously connect with it. I wondered if I could too, if I really tried.

Claudine was busy with her favorite stuffed toy, the now very abused-looking mole that Amelia had bought for her. She seemed determined to have it ride on Dante's back, and he seemed equally determined that it would not. She followed after the hound until he stopped, plopped the mangy looking toy on his back, and then stomped her pretty little foot each time that he shook it off.

"Claudine, let Mommy see your necklace," I asked her again.

"Mine," she said.

Her vocabulary was still small enough that every word she spoke would usually draw praise from the closest adult. I had a feeling that a few of those words, namely "no" and "mine" were going to get old pretty fast.

"I know it's yours, baby, but I just want to look at it for a moment."

I held my hand out, giving her a big encouraging smile. I wouldn't pull out the mean mommy card until I had to.

"Mine," she said again, picking up her mole and running into the kitchen after poor Dante.

"Angel, my ass," I thought, as I hauled myself out of my chair and waddled after her.

Clovache was sitting at the kitchen table, looking almost as tired as I felt. She had gotten pregnant not long after I had, but since Britlingens had pretty much the same gestation period as pure blood humans, her and Jan's baby wouldn't be arriving for about three more months. At the rate she was growing, I personally thought Clovache would explode before that time was up.

"Hey Clovache. Do you know where Cat is?"

Cat would get Claudine to give up the stone. Claudine was always more cooperative with her nanny than she was with me. I hadn't quite figured out why that was yet, and it irritated the hell out of me, but I wasn't beyond using it when the need arose.

"She went with Hunter to the Wal-Mart. She wanted some more yarn I think, for her knitting project."

Jesus H. Christ! I had no idea if it was safe for Hunter to leave the property or not, but until we knew what was going on with the missing telepaths, I didn't like the idea of him going out. Since I hadn't told any of the guards what was going on though, there would have been no reason for them not to drive Hunter and Cat to the store.

Clovache was giving me a strange look, and I realized that I had missed most of her last comment.

"Sorry, Clovache, I was just thinking about something. What did you say?"

"I said that the guards were talking about having a soccer tournament, and Hunter wanted to go with them to get a new ball. They were going to procure some armor for the game too."

"Shin guards. For soccer they call them shin guards."

"Yes, as I said, armor. This is a dangerous game, this soccer?"

"Well, I suppose it could be," I said. "You could get kicked I suppose, or hit in the head with a ball, but I don't know that I'd call it dangerous. Kids play it all the time."

"Ah. From the way the men were talking, I was thinking we might see some real sport."

The Britlingens were somewhat bloodthirsty, as women go, and rarely missed an opportunity to watch a good knock-down-drag-out. If no one was expected to get maimed or killed, they weren't likely to get worked up over a game though.

"Oh, you know how men talk things up. My brother and his friends make a contest out of pissing into the campfire. They take games like soccer real serious."

Clovache just rolled her eyes, as she usually did whenever I mentioned Jason.

"It is the same in our world. The men spend their time with such frivolous pursuits as gaming while the women have the more serious business of killing."

Not quite like our world then, I thought.

"Listen, Clovache. Do you think you could grab up Claudine the next time she runs by your side of the table. I want to look at the emerald."

I had been trying to sneak up on Claudine, but she kept managing to evade me. It had become a game with her now.

In the blink of an eye, Clovache (who had much quicker reflexes than I ever would) had grabbed up the wriggling, squealing child, slid the necklace over her head, and tossed it across the room in my direction. I snatched it out of the air (maybe I wasn't so slow as I thought) and gave Claudine a look of triumph. She pouted, but I guess she decided it wasn't worth throwing a hissy fit over, so we didn't have to deal with tears.

"I will take her outside for a while," Clovache offered, ignoring Claudine's protests and attempts to get down. "Batanya wants to practice throwing the killing stars. She says we are getting…how do you say it? Rusty."

The appropriateness of the baby hanging out while the two women practiced their ninja moves was questionable, but I knew they would make sure she didn't get hurt, and I wanted a few minutes alone with the emerald.

"Okay, I'll be in my room for a bit then," I said and headed down the hall.

There was nothing about the emerald to indicate that it was any more than an oversized, priceless gemstone. Not that that wasn't remarkable on its own, but I wanted it to connect me to the Prince of Demon, and how to accomplish that wasn't obvious. But then neither was most magic, and how it worked. So, I just stared down into the stone, and started to talk. Whoever was on the other side would either pick up or they wouldn't.

"Hello? This is Sookie Northman, calling for Prince Jerahmeel. Anybody home?"

I focused on the stone, much like I would on someone's mind when I wanted to hear their thoughts, and sure enough, something happened.

The brilliantly clear stone seemed to cloud up, and I heard a greeting. Since it wasn't English, I had no idea what they said, but I figured they would know who the Prince was, so I just said, "Can I speak to Jerahmeel?"

The stone went clear again and I wasn't sure what to do. Was I being put on hold, or had I just been hung up on? I decided to wait.

I recognized Jerahmeel's voice just as the stone went cloudy a few moments later.

"M'Lady, may I be of service?"

"Oh, hey. I wasn't sure this thing would work for me. I hope you don't mind that I called."

"It is always a pleasure to communicate with you," he said politely.

"Thanks. The reason I called is that something has come up, and I was hoping you and I could talk about it."

"Are you or the child in any danger?"

"Not that I know of," I said, since it wasn't me or Claudine that I was worried about. "It's actually kind of a long story, and I thought if you could stop by, at your convenience of course."

"It would be my pleasure," he said.

We arranged for him to come over a little later in the afternoon, giving me time to fix up a little snack to serve. Cat would be back from the store by then too, and could watch the kids while I talked to the Prince in the office.

The shoppers returned with several bags full of goodies, including shorts, cleats and "armor" for Hunter's first real soccer game. The were guards had taken quite a fancy to my little cousin and had introduced him to quite a few of their favorite pastimes. Travis swore that Hunter was becoming quite a card shark, even if his game of choice was still Go Fish. He could move his thumbs on the controllers with the best of the men when they played video games and if he couldn't quite hit the ball with the bat, he certainly had a mean swing. As long as the guys didn't have him chugging down beers, I was fine with the male bonding.

Our vamps, on the other hand, tended to appeal to Hunter's more intellectual side. Daniel had taken to choosing reading material that would appeal to a young boy. Hunter's imagination was fueled with the tales of heroes and heroines, quests and battles, and myths and legends. Jan had already set the boy up with his own easel and paint set, and Thomas was taking charge of weapons training, beginning with a small wooden sword that one of the weres had crafted for the purpose. Remembering that Chow had been killed by a wooden knife in the skirmish with Hallow's witches made me a little nervous about that idea, but Eric was adamant that any vampire that could be taken out by a six year old with a toy blade was not worth the cost of blood to keep him anyway.

"Aunt Sookie, look at my new uniform," Hunter said proudly once he was dressed.

He really did look pretty cute in his soccer shorts and knee socks.

"You look great, Hunter. Maybe you'll score a winning goal today." Always good to give a little positive reinforcement, I thought, before I added, "Don't let Grace see you with those cleats on in the house though. If they scratch the floors, she'll kick your butt."

"I'm goin' outside for practice anyways," he said, and scooted out the door before Grace could catch him out.

"And don't let Dante get hold of the ball. He'll probably swallow it," I shouted as the door slammed shut.

It sometimes saddened me to watch Hunter grow up, day by day, knowing that my cousin Hadley would never get to see what a beautiful child she had created. Did she ever consider, when she had consented to be made vampire, the possibility of outliving her own son? It hadn't quite worked out that way though. There were just no guarantees in life, and more and more, I was convinced that nothing in this world (or maybe any other) was really immortal.

Jerahmeel popped in just as I was pouring out the glasses of sweet tea. I had never asked him if the demons were as sensitive to lemons as fairies were, but I made a point to not set any out with the tea. I did put out some sliced fruit and a small plate of cookies. This meeting was more in the way of business than a social call, but it never hurt to be hospitable.

"I'd better tell you about Niall's genetic project," I told the Prince after we had gotten past the pleasantries.

Since Eric might be right that the Prince wouldn't take kindly to my grinding up one of his own feathers for research without his consent, I didn't bother to mention that part of the story, but I told him what I'd found out about myself, Claudine and Dermott.

Jerahmeel sat very quietly as I related the information, giving me no clue as to what he thought about it all. You'd have thought he was a vampire, with his ability to stay so still, if it wasn't for the faint, occasional flutter of his wings.

"So, since Niall left the lab to me, after he first closed the portals, we were able to make sure that all the evidence of the project was taken out of there and wouldn't fall into anybody else's hands, but we knew the names and locations of the other subjects. I had met two of them already – a guy named Barry that works for the vamps in Texas, and my cousin Hunter. Anyway, Eric had one of our trusted vampires go and check on the rest of them, and they are all telepaths, and now two of them are missing. Both are women, and Eric thinks it's significant that they are of childbearing age. He thinks Niall took them."

"He is becoming desperate then."

His voice was so soft and quiet, I wasn't completely sure if I'd heard him right at first, or if I'd just read that thought in his mind.

"What do you mean?" I asked, figuring he had to be referring to Niall, but not having a clue what Niall would be so desperate about. I was already helping the fairies with their fertility issues.

"What did you hope to learn from this scientific experimentation?" he said, blatantly ignoring my question.

His voice was cool, and his eyes seemed just a shade darker than they had been a few moments before. I couldn't tell if he suspected I'd included his genes in the research, or if he just didn't like the idea of it in general. I kept my shields locked firmly in place and willed my facial expression to give nothing away. I'd had a lifetime of practice at that.

"I wanted to find out what I really am," I answered honestly, "and what Claudine is."

"And finding this out has been useful to you?"

I had to think about that one. Knowing how we were the same and how we were different hadn't changed my relationship with any of the people involved, and I doubted it ever would. Unlike Niall, I hadn't really had an agenda that involved using the information. But on the other hand, I couldn't say that it had been useless.

"Yes, I think it has, but not in the way that I originally thought it would be."

The Prince crooked an eyebrow much in the same way Eric often did when he listened patiently and attentively as I told him about my day – as if at any moment I would reveal something of real import. It made what I was thinking seem kind of stupid all of a sudden, but I just spit it out anyway.

"I don't know how to explain it really, but I didn't want to be the only one - Crazy Sookie, the freak of nature. On the night when I met my great grandfather, he asked if there was anything he could do for me. The first thing that popped into my head was to ask him if he could take away my telepathy."

Jerahmeel looked truly horrified at the idea, as if I had said I wanted to have my own head cut off.

"Niall said he couldn't of course, that it was part of the fiber of my being, but I guess it took seeing it in black and white in that DNA report to truly accept that, and to make me finally stop questioning what I was, and why, and start thinking about what I can be instead."

I paused for a moment, thinking how best to say what I wanted to say. When it came to me, I had to grin.

"You probably don't know who Dr. Seuss is."

Jerahmeel shook his head.

"Well, he sort of says it best, I think. He said, 'Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.'"

Jerahmeel nodded, as if that was a very reasonable statement.

"He is one of your philosophers, this Dr. Seuss?" he asked, and I couldn't help letting out a small sound of amusement.

"No. Well, maybe he is, in a way. He writes books for children. Some of them are just rhyming books. Claudine's favorite is 'One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish'. I've been using them to help Fee learn our language actually. But some of what he says is profound in a strange kind of way. Does that make any sense?"

"I believe I understand what you are saying."

If anyone could understand, it would be Jerahmeel, I thought.

"Well, I think that my new powers were just kind of lying under the surface of my own denial of what I am – that I'm not really human. Kind of like when the vampires came out of the coffin and it opened up a whole new way of life for them. My acceptance of myself opened my mind up to my other abilities. And I think that someday, those abilities may make the difference between life or death for myself or the people that I love."

Of course I wasn't completely confident of that, which is why I had called on the Prince of Darkness.

"What is it that you would ask of me, M'Lady?" the Prince asked, as if knowing my thoughts had come back round to why he was there.

"Well, I guess mostly, I'm worried about Hunter. I mean, it's not like I'm not concerned about the others too, but I don't know what I'd do if Niall took Hunter. The poor kid's already lost his folks and he's just now starting to really be at home with us."

Jerahmeel just sat there, waiting for me to spit out my actual request.

"So, I thought maybe you'd want to put your mark on Hunter and maybe the other telepaths too, like you did for me. I guess they're all your people after all, even if it's only a distant connection. Eric says we can't really protect them, but I figured your mark might. So what do you think?"

I watched Jerahmeel as he considered my request. He was wearing his usual embroidered tunic and close fitting pants, and his hair flowed like a waterfall down his shoulders. He really was a beautiful man, in the same way as all the men of fairy that I had met. Eric was right. There was no need for the fae to threaten or coerce. Pretty much any woman would follow wherever the fairies led.

"The others must choose their own path," he finally said. "As to the child, I make this offer. In return for my mark, I would have Claudine come to my realm for one week of every four, by your human calendar, from the time of her first blood until she attains the age of majority."

That was not the answer I had expected at all. I was rendered speechless for a moment, then all I could say was "What?"

I had been so sure that he would just agree. What was the word Eric had used? Amenable? He had always been so amenable when I had asked things of him before, that I wasn't prepared for him to offer a bargain, especially one that involved Claudine. And what did he mean by first blood? Well, okay, I guess I could figure that one out. She wasn't a vampire after all, so what else could it mean. Good Lord! I could feel my face flush red just from the fact that he was talking about Claudine having her period.

"You can't be serious," I sputtered. "She will still be a child at that age, and there's no way I'm agreeing to that. What are you proposing exactly?"

No doubt he could hear the anger in my voice, if he hadn't already seen how my spine had stiffened and my fists were clenching. Oh, Eric was going to be pissed when he heard about this.

"Do you think I would offer insult to your daughter?" he said, his voice sounding surprised and affronted at my reaction. "I would have her know the world that she may one day choose to rule. What choices will she have here - to live her life in hiding as her father was forced into for a thousand years?"

"I can't even discuss this with you. I told you I would never bargain away my daughter. If you don't want to help Hunter, then be man enough to just say so."

I thought he would respond angrily, but he just looked puzzled.

"Perhaps it is time for me to take my leave, M'lady, so you may consider what I have offered," he said. "Discuss it with your king, and you may give your answer to Cataliades. I will have him draw up a contract."

"Don't bother," I said, just wanting him to leave at that point.

I didn't wait for his exit, but just walked out of the room. A moment later, the faint hint of sulfur washed through the air of the hallway, and I knew that he had gone.

"Who the hell does he think he is?" I mumbled. "Discuss it with my king! Ha! I don't have a king and this isn't the fucking middle ages."

"Aunt Sookie, you're not supposed to say that," I heard, just before I almost plowed into my little nephew.

He was wearing his cleats in the house again, but I didn't have the heart to say anything about it.

"Come here, Hunter," I said, squatting down to his level and putting my arms out to offer him a hug.

He threw himself happily against me, and I snuggled him close. He smelled of the fresh cut grass that was now staining his knees and his new shorts. Thin trickles of sweat had traced little paths through the dirt that covered his face.

"You're right, Hunter. I shouldn't be saying that word. I'm sorry, and I'll put a quarter into the swearing jar when I go into the kitchen."

"Okay. Aren't you gonna come out and watch me practice?" he said, squirming out of my grasp in his eagerness to get back outside to play.

"Sure. I'll be out in a minute," I said.

"Okay, well, hurry up, Aunt Sookie. Travis is on my team, and he said we're gonna kick butt."

I took a few minutes to collect myself, gathering up the tea glasses and the uneaten snacks I had laid out for the Prince of Demons. I had a lot to think about. Had I overreacted? Should I have given Jerahmeel a chance to explain himself a little bit more before I'd flown off the handle? Had my own experience with Uncle Bartlett colored the way I saw the situation?

Did Jerahmeel have Claudine's best interests at heart, or only his own goals? He was right. Claudine would be forced to hide who she really was in this world. What kind of life would that allow her to lead? And how long would that life be – a thousand years like her father? Yeah, I'd discuss this with Eric, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought that Eric might not be so opposed to this proposition.

I headed out the door to watch Hunter play soccer and even though I was still upset, I found myself smiling as I asked myself what Dr. Seuss the philosopher would say.

"Oh the places you'll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all."


	122. Chapter 122

CHAPTER 122

"Did you put your quarter in the swearing jar, Aunt Sookie?"

I flushed a little with embarrassment at Hunter having to remind me to put in my quarter, especially because he had caught me red-handed saying the "f" word of all things. At the same time, I wasn't too happy that he was calling me out in front of the whole family at the dinner table, the little snitch.

We had started a swearing jar (or "cussin' jar" as Gran always called it) after I had to remind my brother one too many times that little pitchers have big ears. Gran had kept one going at the old farmhouse for years, trying to get Jason to clean up his language. Of course it had only been a nickel then, since us kids could rarely come up with a quarter. When the pint-sized Mason jar was filled to the brim, the money got donated to the church's poor box. That always irked Jason since most of the nickels were his, but the one time he'd argued that we were as poor as church mice ourselves, Gran had taken him out back behind the woodpile with Grandpa's belt - to teach him some charity, she said.

Our jar was still pretty empty, since Jason didn't visit that often and the vampires rarely swore, or at least if they did, it was in another language and the kids didn't have to hear it. But occasionally I would have to cough up a quarter, and Amelia had donated to the cause a few times too.

"Ummm, I guess I forgot, Hunter. I'll do it now though." I looked around for my purse, but remembered that I had left it in the bedroom.

"You got a quarter you can loan me, Eric?" I asked my vampire.

Eric patted his pockets, but as well as his pants fit, I could tell he didn't have a pocketful of change handy. He shifted forward in his chair to reach into his back pocket and took out his wallet. He was grinning at me like I'd just got caught with my hand in the cookie jar.

"Will this do?" he asked, holding up a credit card.

I just rolled my eyes.

"I'll have to owe it, Hunter. I'm sorry about what I said," I admitted, a little shamefacedly.

Eric kept looking at me, his brows knitting together, and I "heard" the question before he voiced it.

"You swore at the child?"

"No, of course not, Eric. I was swearing at the Prince…well…not actually at him, but about him. I don't want to talk about it at the dinner table."

"I think you should have to put in two quarters," Hunter persisted, no doubt enjoying his position of power over an authority figure. "You said two bad words."

I was about to argue with him, but thinking back, he was probably right and I wasn't going to stoop so low as to argue with a six year old about how foul my mouth could get.

"Fine, Hunter. Sheesh. I'll go get my purse, and then we can put this behind us."

I got up from the table, having to haul my bloated self out of the chair with a little boost from Eric. I was soooo ready to just pop and have this baby. There is nothing good to be said about the last month of pregnancy.

Of course, Eric had to follow me to the bedroom. I could see the curiosity about why I'd cursed out Jerahmeel eating at him like the itch from a mosquito bite.

"What did your Prince of Darkness say to upset you, Lover? Your irritation has been flowing through the bond since I rose. I gather he was not amenable to your request… as I predicted?"

"Don't gloat, Eric," I snapped, although he wasn't actually gloating. I hated it when he was right and I wasn't.

"And no, he wasn't amenable. Well, he was, but he wanted to make a bargain, and I didn't like what he was offering."

Eric put his hands on my shoulders and steered me over to the bed.

"Sit, and tell me about this meeting with the Prince."

I told Eric everything we had said, minus the part about Dr. Seuss since that was not really important.

Instead of sitting down with me, Eric remained standing, making me crane my neck to look up at him. I expected to see anger on his face, but instead, he just looked speculative, like he was considering options.

"One in four is unacceptable. I think we might counter with one in twelve."

"What? You want to haggle about this?"

Was he really considering this whole thing?

"Well, of course, Sookie. It is expected, and we have the upper hand, since it is unlikely that Niall will take the boy in any case."

"Wait a minute. Hold your horses. You don't think Hunter is in any danger?"

"I do not say that. He is a telepath, and part of our retinue, so his vulnerability is a given, but I doubt that a threat is imminent or that it will come from Niall. What would Niall want with a small boy? He is too young to be bred."

"Just the way you say that makes me feel a little ill," I said. "You make him sound like a farm animal."

Eric glared at me, exasperated. "I have shown the boy nothing but care and affection, Sookie. It is your great grandfather that will consider him livestock."

"You're right, Eric. Sorry. This is just all so bizarre. Actually, I am just disgusted by the whole damned thing. He wants her to start her visits as soon as she is old enough to start her period for God's sake."

I blushed just saying that in front of Eric, which was completely ridiculous considering what he and I got up to. But as a good Christian raised in the south, you just didn't talk about that kind of stuff, at least not with men.

"I think you had better find another quarter in your purse, Lover," Eric said, grinning, and if he had been sitting next to me, I would have punched him.

"Are you making fun of me now, Eric?"

With a sigh, Eric came over and sat down next to me, wrapping one arm around my shoulders.

"Let's not fight. I am not the enemy here, Sookie."

"Are you saying that Jerahmeel is?"

"No. Neither will I say that Niall is, although I do not trust him."

"But you trust Jerahmeel."

"As much as I trust anyone outside of our family," he said, which meant that he still had reservations.

"Okay. Let's not fight," I agreed. "Explain to me why you aren't pissed off at the Prince for what he proposed today, especially since he intends to add the clause about her being of childbearing age. How is this any different than what Niall is doing?"

"When a girl reaches the age of…" He paused for a moment, in deference to my delicate sensibilities I supposed, and then rephrased. "Claudine will be old enough at that point to be away from her home, although it would still be appropriate for a female relative to accompany her."

How archaic was that, I thought. "She doesn't have any female relatives, except me."

"You will not be going. You are mine," he said.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," I thought to myself as I heard that word "mine" for the hundredth time that day. Eric sounded just like his daughter.

Eric fixed his gaze on me, unblinking in that creepy vampire way, while he waited to see if I was going to argue the point. It would have been useless even try to sway him on the issue of me leaving the human world, so I didn't bother.

"Maybe Cat can go with her. We could make that part of the deal," I suggested.

Deal? Were we going to make this deal? Apparently we were.

Eric looked pleased with my idea about Cat, and nodded before he continued.

"The Prince is correct that it will be time for her to familiarize herself with the world of her own kind. By the time she has reached adulthood, she will be able to make an informed decision if he offers for her hand."

I thought about what he had said, and realized it wasn't far from the same conclusion I had reached earlier.

"I just want her to have choices, Eric."

"How can she choose wisely, if she has no experience to inform her decision. To a man that is starving, even a bowl of rice is a feast, Kjære."

"I know that, but… it comes back to what we were talking about last night. How much of a foregone conclusion is it, if you throw an irresistible man in front of a horny girl, primed and ready with hormones?"

"Are you speaking from experience, Sookie?"

"Maybe," I said hesitantly.

His brow furrowed slightly as he waited for me to elaborate.

"Well…I mean…it isn't Jerahmeel I find irresistible."

His expression lightened and he cocked one eyebrow. "Who is it that you find so hard to resist?"

He got that shit-eating grin on his face that said he knew he was God's gift to women and I wondered (not for the first time) if his head would ever actually explode from the size of his ego.

"Tell me, Lover. Are your hormones raging now? Mine certainly are, and I am finding you quite irresistible."

"Gads, Eric. I don't have the strength for anything to rage these days. And quit grinning, this is your daughter we're talking about for Christ's sake."

"I can't help myself, Lover, since it is almost always to my benefit when there are hormones involved in the conversation. By the way, does the abuse of your god's name require a deposit into the swearing jar? You are going to bankrupt us, wife."

His grin spread even wider now, if that was possible.

"Sheesh," I said, careful not to swear again, since he might be right about the bankruptcy if I didn't get my mouth under control. I was just so out of sorts these days.

Eric ignored my scowl, and reached around to my ponytail, carefully easing out the hair tie as he ran his fingers through my hair.

"I don't know that I'm in the mood, Eric. I'm tired, and I'm irritated, and I feel like…well…like I've swallowed a watermelon."

His fingers trailed slowly down from my hair, over the ridges of my spine, caressing my lower back. I closed my eyes, luxuriating in the feeling of his touch.

"Look at me, Lover," he said, his voice low and seductive. "Watermelons are sweet and juicy, are they not?"

I looked over my shoulder and noticed how his eyes seemed to darken with lust – a look that I could never resist.

"As if you'd know what a watermelon tastes like," I said, licking my lips now in response to him.

"I know I have good taste," he said. "I chose you, did I not? And I am quite familiar with sweet and juicy as a result."

He quit talking then, as he lowered his mouth to mine.

"Eric, Hunter is expecting me back with my quarters," I said when he finally pulled back a bit so I could catch my breath.

"Hush, my sweet. I want to taste you."

His hands skimmed smoothly over the top of my belly, down the skirt of my dress - his cool fingers leaving a path of tingling skin along the side of my thigh. My breath quickened and I soon found myself moaning softly as his mouth lowered again… for a more intimate kiss. For a few, too-brief moments I forgot all about Hunter, the Prince, and everything else - except my vampire.

"Feeling better now, Kjære?" he said after he carefully sealed the bite mark on my thigh with a drop of his own blood. His voice sounded husky. There was no question about how he was feeling.

"Yes."

It was all I could do to respond, since every bone in my body felt relaxed. Eric moved up to spoon against my back, his hand lazily tracing circles over my belly. Even the baby was still and quiet inside me, giving me a peaceful respite from his frequent tossing, turning and kicking. I wanted to hold on to this moment forever, but unfortunately, I knew that the rest of our household would be waiting for us – Eric had work to do, and the kids would be expecting their story and some cuddling time before bed.

"We should get up, Eric. The kids will be running amok out there."

"And how would that be different if you or I were there?" he teased.

"You have a point," I concurred, since the house was generally chaos no matter who was in charge. "I guess we need to decide what to tell Jerahmeel."

Eric sighed, as if he too was enjoying our quiet moment and hated to go back to the issue at hand.

"Claudine's interests will best be served if she is given the opportunity to familiarize herself with the demon world," he said. "She will want to explore her own abilities and I believe she will most easily reach her full potential under the guidance of the Prince. As to when she goes and how often, that is up for negotiation."

"Maybe in your time children grew up faster, Eric, but I don't know if I can just send her off to another world when she's only twelve or thirteen. That just seems so young."

"We went along with the men on raids by that age."

There was a wistful tone to his voice, as if the thought of rape and pillage was a pleasant memory.

"Weren't you afraid, away from your home and family?"

"Yes. You never knew if you would return home when you said your goodbyes – if it would be the last time you would see the ones you loved. But it was exciting too. The youngest boys were left with the ship when the men went ashore, so we were in very little danger, but the sea itself was a challenge, and to work the boats alongside the men made us feel so proud."

There was certainly no lack of pride in my vampire now. What was it Gran used to say? "Pride goeth before a fall?" But surely she meant vanity, since she would just as often tell us to "Stand up and be proud". And we had been proud – proud of our independence and self-reliance – which was why it galled me now that we might have to bargain our daughter to protect my little cousin Hunter.

"So what does he mean by the age of majority? Is it twenty-one? When she's old enough to drink?"

"A child can vote at the age of eighteen in this country, Sookie, or be sent off to war."

"Yeah, you see how well that turns out."

"People can make bad choices at any age apparently," he said in a sarcastic voice, "but it appears that they are considered an adult at eighteen."

"Old enough to fuck a fairy then, is that what you are saying? Or a demon, as the case may be."

"I think you are going to fill that jar quite soon with your mouth, Lover. And yes, that is also considered the age of consent for sexual congress."

"You sound like you're talking about some total stranger here, Eric, and not your daughter."

"I know very well what we are discussing, and if I thought he had any intentions of laying a hand on my daughter without her adult consent I would have his head if it was the last thing I did."

The problem being, that if his daughter was in the world of demon, there wasn't going to be much he could do about it, not if Jerahmeel decided to keep her there. Of course, I had a magic key. Did that work for the demon world too, or only for fairy? There was no way to know without trying it, which I had no intention of doing.

On the other hand, the Prince of Demons could probably take Claudine whenever he wanted, with or without our consent. Even if we could break into his world with all the vampires in our kingdom, there was more than just the Prince to consider. Jerahmeel's Hounds of Hell were feared by all of the supernaturals, and there was the wild hunt besides. Eric had probably already considered that, but he had his pride, and there was no use in pointing out his limitations in this situation.

"So, I guess we are going to agree to this then?"

"The details will have to be negotiated, but in spirit, yes. We will have to be quite specific with the contract, as we will be giving our word on it, and going back on your word is an unforgivable offense with the fae."

"Well, I have no intention on going back on my word, and we'll have to trust that Jerahmeel's word is good too. I'll leave you and Mr. Cataliades to hack out the contract."

"Do not distress yourself, Kjære. We will be better able to protect the boy, and I think that Claudine will come to no harm through this arrangement."

I had to trust to Eric's judgment and experience. It hadn't failed him in a thousand years.

"And speaking of boys," I said, "Hunter will be wondering what we are up to."

Everyone else in the family could probably already guess, and they certainly would know when I came out of the bedroom with Eric's scent all over me. You couldn't hide much from a vampire. Well, we were married, and there was no doubt that we both had lots of hormones. The lack of privacy in this household was a little disconcerting sometimes though.

I hauled myself out of bed and headed to the bathroom, taking a few minutes to wash up and set myself to rights. I did feel better about the whole thing with the Prince, although I didn't think I'd be doing the happy dance any time soon.

Eric was waiting for me when I stepped out of the bathroom, already dressed for work and sitting on the edge the bed.

"Aren't you coming, Eric?" I called over my shoulder as I headed to the door.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Sookie?"

"No, I don't thing so," I began to say, when I noticed my purse, held up and dangling from one of his fingers.

"Oh damn…the quarters."

"I hope you are flush with cash tonight," Eric said, laughing. "I think you're going to need it."

Author's Note: As the winter solstice approaches and there are holidays to celebrate, I would like to wish you all a "Happy Whatever You Celebrate". I would also like to thank all the wonderful readers who have posted reviews and alerts, and let you know that your support has been very much appreciated, and has made this experiment in writing a very enjoyable experience.

Hoping for peace and prosperity for all of you in the New Year 2012.

P.S. Some of the characters and situations in this story are the property of Ms. Charlaine Harris. I hope she will forgive me for borrowing them for this derivative work. I have garnered no monetary benefit from this endeavor.

All the rest is my fault!


	123. Chapter 123

CHAPTER 123

"Grace, have you seen my purse?"

"If things were put away properly, we wouldn't always be searching for them."

The sound of pans banging around in the kitchen cupboard warned me off from a smartass comeback.

"Sheesh!"

So, Grace was in that kind of mood. As if there is ever any proper place to put your purse away. I had always just dropped it onto the kitchen table when I came home, that is until I moved into Grand Central Station. Now, with kids, vamps, security guards and cranky housekeepers all over the place, it didn't matter where I put it, it was in the way. And it seemed that every time I locked it up in my bedroom, that was when I needed it.

"Never mind, Grace," I called back to the kitchen as I finally spied the purse propped up on the mantel, next to a bouquet of yellow tulips. There was nothing like tulips to make you feel like spring was really here. I loved them; despite the creepy way they had of turning towards the light coming in from the front window. Well, I had plenty of experience with dead things that moved around, but it was still sort of creepy. I gave the vase a quick turn before I grabbed up my purse.

"Good Lord!" I said, almost dropping the bag to the floor when I heard a high-pitched shriek coming from inside it.

I quickly recognized Fee's small voice, obviously startled by the sudden movement of the purse. What was he up to? If he was looking for the angelica pollen, he was out of luck. I'd locked it in the safe after the last time he'd fallen into the tub and scared the crap out of Hunter.

"Whatever are you doing in there, Fee? What if I would have dropped you?"

Fee didn't respond to that, but just darted out of the bag and flew up to my shoulder.

"Bon Temps," he said into my ear, followed by a long string of words in his own language that I had no hopes of interpreting.

"Bon Temps? You want to come with me to Amelia's?"

Fee nodded his head vigorously. I noticed that the little creature wasn't dressed in his usual garb. He mostly wore the pants and shirts that our tailor had custom made for him, although sometimes he'd choose one of the Ken doll outfits that Amelia had picked up at Wal-Mart. It had been a while since I'd seen him decked out in his robes – and he was wearing his little sword too. Maybe he considered it more appropriate attire for visiting.

"Okay, you can come with me, I guess. I'm leaving the kids and Dante with Cat though. You sure you want to come?"

He nodded his head again, and since there was no good reason why he shouldn't go, I headed to the door with him on my shoulder.

"Grace, I'm taking Fee with me. I'll be home in time for dinner. Bye," I called and closed the door behind me.

"All ready to go, Ma'am?" Travis asked as he opened the back door of the SUV.

"Yep, and thanks for bringing the car around the front, Travis. The kids are out back with Cat, and if Claudine doesn't actually see me leave, she doesn't throw such a huge fit."

I felt a little guilty about not taking the kids along. They loved going to the old farmhouse, probably because Auntie Amelia usually had a new toy for each of them. They were both going to end up spoiled rotten. But I was looking forward to a day without the demands of children, and they would be just fine at home, guarded by Dante, Clovache and an assortment of were guards.

Gran's old house was well warded by Amelia, so even Eric was satisfied that I would be safe for the day there, but he had still insisted I take Batanya with me, along with Travis and Mark, all loaded to the gills with weaponry. I climbed into the back with Batanya.

It wasn't like anything would fit on my lap anymore, so I put on my seat belt and then tucked my oversized bag on the floor next to my feet. My purse was more of a diaper bag these days, since I always seemed to need so much stuff whenever I went anywhere with the kids. I carried Band-aids, wipes, a juice box or two, and a pad and some crayons to keep the kids busy in the car, along with the usual junk women keep in their bags. I no longer carried the camera, since I didn't need any more grief with that, but the bag still weighed a ton. Fee sat down on top of it, and we both got comfy for the long ride to Bon Temps.

"Wow, Sook. You're as big as a house," Amelia greeted me as I waddled towards the porch of the farmhouse, bright with fresh paint, but still familiar with the old wooden swing hanging in its usual place.

"Thanks a lot, Amelia. It's not as if I didn't feel fat enough already."

Really, I thought, someone should just slap Amelia. She had absolutely no brain-mouth filter at all. Not that I wouldn't have known what she was thinking anyway, she was such a loud broadcaster, but it would have been nice to not have to hear it out loud.

"Sorry. And you aren't fat at all. Just full of baby, which is a whole different thing. I'm surprised you're out and about when you're so close."

"I should have a couple of weeks yet, and I just needed to get away from the house. Eric's been pacing like a wild animal and everything is just getting on my nerves these days, even the dog."

"Yeah, well, that dog would get on most people's nerves, Sook. I mean, just the size of him now that he's grown. And Eric is just anxious for his son to be born. Any father would be."

There were a few more things for Eric to be anxious about, other than the impending birth, but I didn't feel like I wanted to discuss the Prince and the whole negotiation process with Amelia.

"Well, come on in. I have lunch all ready. I can probably even rustle up some honey for the little bug there," she said, smiling at Fee.

It was hard not to smile at Fee, since he was buzzing about like a hummingbird, his wings going a mile a minute. I was beginning to wonder what he was so excited about, since he usually just hitched a ride on someone's shoulders.

"Great, I'm starving as usual. After lunch I want to go through those pictures again. I thought I'd pull out some of the ones of me when I was Claudine's age, if there are any."

"Oh, that'll be fun," Amelia said. "I bet you looked just like her when you were a baby. She's going to be your spitting image, Sook."

"Hardly, Amelia, since she's got those big wings sprouting out of her back."

"Yeah, there is that."

The weres took up positions around the house, and Amelia, Batanya and I headed into the old farmhouse kitchen. It was always a little bittersweet to come home to Gran's house. Amelia had put her own stamp on the place, and with all the improvements, it was really a different house altogether. But the bones of it hadn't changed substantially, and it still had that warm, cozy feel that only really old houses had. Maybe it was the smell or something - years of fires in the hearth and layers of old paint on the walls.

The table was set with Amelia's brightly colored china resting on straw place mats and there was even a pretty vase full of fresh flowers – tulips again. The coffee made soft plopping and hissing sounds as it dripped into the pot and the smell coming from the oven made my mouth water.

"So, are you going to go by your brother's on the way home, Sook? You won't believe the place. I stopped over the other day on the way home from Shreveport to take that pie Grace baked for Dermott, you know?"

I nodded, curious where Ames was going with this, since it wasn't unusual for Grace to send baked goods over to my great uncle. She didn't give a fig for Jason, but she had expressed concern on more than one occasion that Dermott might not be eating right. Not that pecan pie was going to improve his diet very much, but Grace seemed to consider it one of the basic food groups.

"The place is like Disneyland or something. The garden has come alive, with flowers blooming all over the place, and Dermott's been building stuff all over. There are little benches and a gazebo and it's like the wood comes alive in his hands. I can't even describe it. Jason keeps telling him he could sell that stuff he builds for big bucks if they take it to the shops in New Orleans, but Dermott won't let him move anything. He says each piece has its place in the garden, and it would be a dead thing anywhere else."

"The buildings in the fae world are said to be living things," Batanya said.

Amelia and I both turned at once to the Britlingen, anxious to hear what else she knew about the world of fairy.

"Have you been there, Batanya?"

"No. It is many generations since my kind has been welcomed to Fairy. But there are stories of a time when there was free trade between our races, as there is with the demon world. It is said to be a place of wondrous beauty - the soil of the valleys rich and bountiful, the mountains so high the tops cannot be seen, but never a hint of cold or snow. There are clear, blue streams everywhere and forests grown so thick and deep that only the smallest of the wee folk can make their way through the trees."

"And we already know that their men, and women, are almost irresistible," Amelia added.

"I don't know if I'd go quite that far. I've met a few that I could resist pretty easily." Nieve and Lachlan came to mind. "But yeah, they're pretty darned attractive. How come you guys don't trade with the fairies anymore, Batanya? Did you have some kind of falling out with them or something?"

"No reason was ever given, although there was still a demand in my world for goods from theirs. The art of their woodworkers is especially prized, and now that it is no longer traded, the items that remain are of great value."

"Wow. Maybe Jason is right and Dermott could go into business. I'll have to go over there and see the place."

"We can swing over there today if we get done with the photographs," Amelia said. "But let's have lunch first."

Since Amelia was setting a platter of pot roast on the table, that sounded good to me. I poured out the sweet tea and we all sat down to eat.

"So, what do you know about the wee folk, Batanya?" I asked. "Are they anything like Fee?"

"Speaking of which - where did that little guy get to?" Amelia asked, as she set out a doll-sized plate on which she had placed some fruit, cut up small and drizzled with honey the way Fee liked it.

"He was climbing into your purse not long ago," Batanya said. She was always aware of everything that went on around her when she was on guard duty.

"Fee? What are you doing in there again," I said as I pulled open the top of my bag. "He was in there this morning, rummaging around," I explained to Amelia and Batanya. "I thought maybe he was looking for his pollen, to get drunk again. Sheesh!"

"I guess he was looking for that key," Amelia said, as Fee climbed out of my purse, the magic key to Fairy stuck in his sword belt and covering most of his small back.

"Huh! How did that get in there? I could swear that I put it in the safe when I brought it back from Vegas. I wonder if he was watching when I put in the combination."

So much for hiding his pollen in the safe, I thought.

Batanya was looking at Fee with a new respect, as if she'd never considered him before. Maybe she was wondering if he'd make a good spy or something. Most people didn't bother to hide anything from him, since he never seemed particularly threatening, like he was a pet or something. Sort of like the way we'd treated Bob, I thought.

"Or maybe it moved by itself," Amelia said. She had always thought that the key had a mind of its own and was a dangerous object, right from the day we'd found it up in the attic.

"It is more important to consider why it is here now, perhaps," Batanya said.

While we were discussing how the key had ended up in my purse and now, on Fee's back, Fee was trying out his flying skills with the additional weight of the key on his body. What would have been a relatively small object to one of us was not an inconsiderable size compared to Fee's small stature. The little guy was definitely hampered by carrying it, but he was making his way over to the back door, his wings bearing the strain.

"I think I know what he is doing," I said, not addressing anyone in particular. "His mate is stuck in Fairy, in one of those stasis balls. I think he wants to go and get here back."

Fee turned to look at me, his head nodding vigorously as he pushed at the doorknob of the back door, unable to turn it. His eyes held a pleading look.

"There's a portal around here, isn't there, Sook? That's how Claudine always ended up getting here so quick when you had a problem."

"Yes, it's right out back in the woods, near where I meet Niall, but I don't know if I should let him go through it. He might never come back if Niall catches him there."

"Well, he doesn't belong to Niall anymore, does he? Didn't Niall give him to Claudine?"

"Yeah," I said, a little disgusted at the thought that we might be discussing who Fee belonged to. Even though we might treat him like a pet sometimes, I knew he wasn't one. He was a rational, thinking creature, who could love and be loved, and who shouldn't belong to anyone but himself.

"Then, Niall can't hold him there," Amelia said. "Although I guess he doesn't have to let Fee's mate go."

"No, he doesn't, but maybe Fee would be better off in Fairy with his wife than here with us anyway."

It hadn't escaped anyone's notice how often Fee had been hitting the pollen lately, and how rarely he sang anymore. He might love all of us, and there was no doubt he was devoted to Claudine, but he had to be missing those of his own kind, especially his wife. We would miss the little angel terribly if he was gone, especially Claudine, but that wasn't enough reason to keep him from his mate if that's where he wanted to be. I could only imagine how hard it would be to be away from Eric for any length of time, no matter how pleasant the circumstances.

Fee was looking a little desperate now, and was tapping on the door to get my attention, waiting for me to open it and let him out.

"Fee, wait up. Let's talk about this," I said, walking over to him and putting out my hand, encouraging him to stop for a moment, before he wore himself out trying to get out the door.

"Does he even speak English?" Amelia pointed out.

"Oh, he understands quite a bit, I think, even though he doesn't say much. But he and I can communicate."

Although I couldn't understand the words I "heard" from his brain, Fee often thought in pictures too, and I could usually figure out what was on his mind.

Fee flew over to my hand, and began talking a blue streak, even though I barely understood a word he was saying. I waited until he stopped to catch his breath and I broke in.

"Listen, Fee. I guess you're wanting to use the key to get into the portal and go find your wife. Am I right?"

He nodded his little head and looked expectantly at my face, hoping to see approval of his plan.

"You think you can find where they're keeping the others of your kind and then find your way back to the portal?"

He nodded again.

"Okay. This is what we should do then. I'll go with you to the portal and…"

"I can't allow you to leave this world," Batanya cut in, and I could hear from her voice that she meant it. She would stop me by any means necessary. But I had no intention of leaving.

"I'm not going with him," I told Batanya, looking her in the eye, then redirected my attention to Fee. "I'll carry the key that far, cause I can see it's heavy for you. Then you go and find your people. Maybe if you can be quick and quiet, no one will notice. Let them all loose, okay? If they want to come back here with you, then they're all welcome."

He nodded again at that, looking hopeful.

"Keep track of the key and you can sneak back out. Come straight here to Amelia's and she'll bring you straight home if I'm gone back to Shreveport already. Now, if anyone catches you, you remind them that Niall gave you to Claudine, and I think they'll let you come back. But if they won't let your woman come with you, well then, you just do whatever you need to do to stay with her. Don't worry about us, and don't worry about getting the key back. I never intended to use it myself anyways. You know the words to unlock the spell? Do you think you can break the enchantment?"

He flew up and whispered the words in my ear, the same words that had freed him from the little glass ball that had kept him asleep for so many years. There was no need to keep the magic secret from Amelia or Batanya really, but like many of the supernaturals, Fee knew that knowledge was power, and you didn't share secrets if you didn't need to.

Jerahmeel had spoken the words to me with his mind, obviously not wanting to share them with Niall. I wondered if there was some significance to that. Maybe the person who freed the small ones would then have some control over them, or perhaps ownership. I wished now that I'd questioned the Prince more thoroughly about the whole process, but then he might not have answered anyway.

"Okay, then," I said, turning the knob on the door to open it. "Let's do it."

Fee pulled the key out of his belt in one swift movement, much the way he would wield his sword, leaving it in the palm of my hand as he flew out into the yard. I followed right behind him.

The clearing where I usually met up with Niall and his fairies was just inside the woods that bordered the backyard of Gran's place. I figured the portal wouldn't be far from there, since the fairies always just stepped back into the trees a bit and disappeared when they finished their meetings with me and Claudine. I had never actually looked for it though, not having any real desire to ever go to Niall's world.

It wasn't that I wasn't curious about what the place would look like. Who wouldn't want to see the land that inspired so many tales? But I had no plans of ever going there. I didn't trust the fairies, and I wasn't about to put myself in a position where I couldn't get back home if they decided to keep me. I might have the demon mark, and that might mean that Jerahmeel would come to my rescue, but he'd probably show up with guns blazing - or swords swinging. And when there's fighting among the supes, people get killed, as I'd seen more than once. I didn't want to be responsible for anyone dying, and there was every chance I could be killed or injured in the fray.

And then there was Eric. Neither of us could guess what would happen with our bond if I left our own world, but Eric had been pretty definite when he'd said that he would not survive the breaking of it. No way would I take a chance with Eric's life – besides the fact that Eric would just go ballistic if he even thought I would consider going that far from him.

As it turned out, it wasn't hard to find at all. Everyone followed me and Fee out to the clearing. Travis was pretty vocal that he didn't like me going into the woods at all, since I didn't even have the hellhound with me this time, so he and Mark stuck pretty close. Batanya had a sword out in one hand and one of those throwing star things in the other. She was taking no chances. But nothing jumped out of the bushes, not even a jackrabbit.

It was Amelia that spotted the portal first.

"There's a haze over there, do you see it?" Amelia pointed to a stand of gnarled old trees. "Between those two big sycamores. There's a lot of old magic here – powerful magic."

I didn't see a thing until she pointed it out, but once my attention was drawn to it, I was surprised I hadn't seen it right away. There was a glow, almost in the shape of a doorway. It was similar to the glow I could see around vampires. I thought Fee could see it too, although Batanya and the weres seemed stumped when Amelia pointed it out.

"You sure you want to do this, Fee?" I asked the little guy.

He answered by flying right up to the edge of the glow, holding out his hand for the key. Although I could feel that he was a little fearful about this venture, he was obviously determined and I knew he wouldn't hesitate once he had the key in hand.

"Alright then. You be careful, and we'll see you back here soon."

I wasn't going to say goodbye, since I didn't want to think that he might not make it back, so I just reached out and tucked the key into his belt, expecting to watch him fly away with it.

I barely had time to yell, "Holy shit!" when the ancient magic of the portal washed right over the both of us, and sucked us right in.


End file.
